Help! How do I know if I'm 'leaking'?

[FluffyRug]

I am really sorry if this has been asked a million times before, but I'm 40+5 and I think I might be leaking ... but I'm not sure. It's very on/off, and nothing dramatic, but (sorry in advance for TMI!) last night for example, and this morning, I just seemed to get rather damp knickers and just now I sneezed and a little rush of liquid came out. Could this just be wee? I've tried smelling it and it doesn't smell like wee ... but I have been drinking a lot of water. The only reason I am worried is that I saw somewhere that if your membranes have ruptured you need to watch out for infection. And the baby hasn't moved much today although my bump has been feeling very tight. Should I call the midwife/labour ward? Not sure what to do, don't want to bother them over a slight incontinence issue!!

call the MW, they are there to support you!
if you lost some fluid when you sneezed, could be stress incontinence.. if you can stop the flow, it is urine, not waters

also, IIRC, you only need to worry about infection if your forewaters have ruptured and they usually go with a gush rather than a trickle, this might just be a hindwater leak

put a pad on and see what it is like in an hour, but certainly if you are worried, call MW

This happened to me with dd - about 3 weeks before she was due -this went on for about a week and I kept going to the midwife who would do a test and eventually there was enough fluid there for her to determine my waters had broken. She figured the baby's head kept blocking the leak! Anyway, you should get seen to - there is a chance of infection if your waters have broken. I wasn't having contractions so they induced me.

Don't take the risk - the 'waters' as I remember don't really have a smell, but you know it's deffo not pee, even though it feels like you've wet yourself!

Good luck!

This happened to me with dd - about 3 weeks before she was due -this went on for about a week and I kept going to the midwife who would do a test and eventually there was enough fluid there for her to determine my waters had broken. She figured the baby's head kept blocking the leak! Anyway, you should get seen to - there is a chance of infection if your waters have broken. I wasn't having contractions so they induced me.

Don't take the risk - the 'waters' as I remember don't really have a smell, but you know it's deffo not pee, even though it feels like you've wet yourself!

Good luck!

When my waters went with DS, it was a bit on off, and not very dramatic.
When I sat down on the loo, I caught some of the fluid in a glass, and you could see straight away that that it wasn't wee - it had little white flakes in it and smelt of straw.
Prob is your waters - call mw.

i had the same leak. It was hindwaters had a simple test and they induced me. Call mw thats what they are there for.

Thanks for your advice - I called the midwife and they got me in. But nothing happening! I think this baby is determined to say in there as long as possible.

any news?