Meconium in waters - induction?

[Honeymoonmummy]

Hi all,

In my last pregnancy I was induced with a drip; my waters had gone (slowly) 24 hours earlier and I had had some contractions but was not in active labour. The main reason they induced me was because baby had a meconium poo. Should the same thing happen to me again (am 40 weeks on Weds), is a meconium poo in your waters a definite reason to agree to an induction? I definitely don't want to take any chances with the baby's safety but I would like to avoid induction this time if possible. Last time the baby's heartbeat was fine throughout the labour, no signs of distress at all other than the mec poo before the induction.

As far as I know it is. They induce (I think) 72 hours after your waters go anyway. When they broke my SiL's waters and there was mec in them she was taken straight for an emcs.

I was induced with a drip because of meconium staining. Ended in emergency CS. Wish I had have CS straight away rather than the awful drip

Depends on the hospital. I know RBH's policy is induce 24 hrs after waters have gone if labour hasn't started as they found an increased rate of infection after that.

Meconium in waters is an additional/seperate issue, but even if LO seems fine, it could increase further the risk of infection.

Good explanation of meconium and its associated panics/effect here,
midwifethinking.com/2010/10/09/the-curse-of-meconium-stained-liquor/

Also she discusses early waters breaking here,
midwifethinking.com/2010/09/10/pre-labour-rupture-of-membranes-impatience-and-risk/

It's a great blog, really worth a read to get an understanding of various issues.

I had meconium in my waters. My waters broke at 5am and DD was born at 12.33 lunchtime so I guess there where no worries as c section was never mentioned.

Seems a mixed response then ...

I was induced by breaking my waters at which point they discovered mec but were happy to put me on synto drip when breaking waters didnt bring on contractions, started discussing the possibility of a c-section about 10 hrs later when I wasn't progressing and another 5hrs later it was performed.

There is no obligation to be induced at any point, regardless of hospital policy. If the waters have gone, but you don't want to be induced your best bet is to stay home (less risk of infection), practice good hygiene and regularly take your temperature to look out for infection. A good midwife will support you and help you keep a look out for infection. I've known some people who didn't tell their maternity unit when their waters broke to avoid the arguments. Avoiding VE in the early stages will also help keep the risk of infection down.

As stated above, meconium is a different issue, and may, or may not mean the baby is in distress (it may simply mean he is mature and ready to be born), it does complicate the issue. The blog linked above is very good, also homebirth.org.uk has a section on meconium, and one on waters breaking in the "you can't have a homebirth if.." section. Although it is a HB site, much of the information is universal regarding avoiding intervention.

Just to say I don't think you are at an increased risk of meconium with your second if you had it with your first. This is what my consultant told me, I had a similar first birth to you except baby was distressed in 2nd stage but had a natural birth with no problems second time round. Hope it works out for you too.

Exactly the same happened to me, OP, except DDs heartbeat was quite low.

Just had DD2 (3 weeks ago) and there was no meconium this time (and I started contractions before my waters broke, and she was even later than DD) so I wouldn't worry too much about the birth beingexactly the same.

In some ways the induced birth was easier because I was in hospital on gas and air and the TENS machine as soon as contractions started. With DD2 I didn't get to hospital (and gas and air) until I was 8cms and by then the gas and air had very little effect.

Thanks guys