water breaking - induction, help!

[lucylukes]

hello ladies and bumps

i was just wondering if anyone had any experience or advice on the below.

my waters broke at 1am last night, and i was advised to go to the hospital to be checked out. took them 3 hours to first see me, then another three to see me for the second time. not too impressed, but there we go.

i was (am) planning a home birth with as little intervention as possible. now i am given antibiotics, and have been told i will get induced and home birth or birth centre is out of the question.

i feel fine, i have no contractions, my blood pressure is fine, my temperature is fine, baby is moving well and his heart is fine too.

i have been getting seriously mixed messages at the hospital, and was discharged 'against their advice' eventho there's nothing wrong with me or the baby - all they were talking about is risk of infection after waters breaking (which by their own guidelines increases from 0.5% to 1%). but equally, i was told by one midwife that i am almost term so nothing to worry about, and that sometimes women go on for weeks after their waters have broken, provided they are monitored and all is well.

i am confused as to wheater i am now 'allowed' to give birth naturally, or do i have to go with what they say, and what's the actual risk for the baby if i stand my ground.

anyone has any ideas or even better, experience of similar situations? i would appreciate any thoughts.

T.

Hi lucylukes

hopefully you managed to get some sleep and are now in early labour.

If not, then of course your next steps are up to you.

It sounds like you've done quite a bit of research and that's good. It's important to know the risks of waiting for things to happen naturally (the small increased risk of infection which can be serious in the unlikely event it happens) and I'd suggest finding out if there are any risks specific to you and your baby (e.g. reaction to antibiotics, or existent signs of infection).

It's also good to know the risks of induction itself. AIMS have a very good induction booklet which goes through everything. If you PM me your email address I'm happy to email it to you (though maybe you can make a donation to AIMS at some point).

Once you've got the full picture then of course the decision is up to you. Hospital protocol is just that - it's based on what that hospital/doctor feels is best in general rather than what is best for you.

As a doula I have had a couple of clients decline induction for this reason. One went in to labour just after 24 hours. They weren't keen to send MWs to her homebirth but she had been monitoring her own temperature and baby's movements and she and her partner intended to stay at home. After being repetitive with the MWs they sent someone out and she had a normal homebirth.

The second client went 3-4 days before she went in to labour. She spoke to the supervisor of midwives and explained that she had looked in to it, felt that for her the risks of induction/hospital birth were greater and intended to stay at home as long as she and baby continued to do well when being monitored daily. She had a very swift homebirth (to which MWs were sent without quibble).

To be clear, I'm not saying this is the best course of action. Only you can decide that after knowing that facts and talking to your MWs/docs about what risks/benefits are pertinent to you. For some people induction is the best option and for others a wait and see approach (with regular monitoring) is appropriate).

It's worth saying that NICE only recently reduced the time after which induction should be offered (note the word 'offered') from 96 to 24 hours. There are significant numbers of medics who aren't convinced by the reasoning behind this change (though of course plenty who are).

They CANNOT however force you to have an induction or withhold a homebirth - those choices are yours alone. Look at aims.org.uk and homebirth.org.uk for more information.

If you do decide to wait and see then I'd ask MWs about things like keeping hydrated, monitoring your temp, declining internal exams (as these increase infection risk) and get regular monitoring of you and baby. It will also be important to create a nice relaxed environment for you at home (snuggling with your partner, nipple stimulation, things that make you laugh, some gentle walks, plenty of rest and keeping positive). It might also be worth seeing a local acupuncturist who can help you relax and may be able to promote things to start off.

PM me if you need anything.

BTW - 'almost term', how far along are you? The situation is different if you are, say 35 weeks or 37 weeks. The choice is always yours but birthing a premature baby at home is a weightier risk and one that most choose to shy away from.

But some people prefer to try and keep baby inside for as long as poss with appropriate monitoring and some minor water leaks do reseal. Hadn't quite picked up on poss prematurity here so would be good if you could expand on that.

hi there.

This is all very helpful, thanks so much!
I will PM you now as I would love to read up on it more, thank you!

I am 36+2.

Seen MW today to check baby's heartbeat and it's fine, started antibiotics and am monitoring my temperature and baby's movements. Was told I should go in on Sun for more blood tests, but it looks like they are happy to have me home for now. I am still 'leaking' but was told that as long as the water is clear and not brown or yellow or smelly, that is not necessarily a problem.