this has to be labour right?

[baby1onway]

hi im 40+3, had a sweep yesterday and today had a show-though not a bloody one? then hour later i think my waters have gone.it was clear, defo not wee have been having pains but cant really time them as theyre a bit all over the place.phoned mw she said to just keep monitoring it.i was under the impression that if it was my waters the baby is at a risk of infection now??also the pain ive been gettin is not that terrible-not enough to go to hospital with anyway.sorry 4 long post im not sure what i should be doing next.
(1st baby-bag of nerves!!) (blush)

Your baby isn't really at risk of infection at the moment as your waters only went today, midwives start worrying after 48 hours generally but if you are starting to have pains then it sounds like things will progress naturally so try not to worry.

If you feel OK for now then its probably best to stay at home, work through the contractions anyway that feels right, try to move around, rotate your hips - but if you feel like you can and the pain is not so great have a nap!

Once the pains get a little worse take paracetamol or try a bath,

Once you get to the point you feel like you may need some pain relief go to the hospital!

Good luck!!

Hello, not much help as I was induced with my only child. But I thunk you are 'given' only a certain amount of time (24 hrs?) after your waters break, if nothing is happening after that time, then yes they do get concerned about infection and press you to consider other options. But I think you have a while before infection is a worry, so have a walk, bounce on birth ball while watching some light TV, and keep half an eye on the pains. Hope it gets started for you soon, exciting!

if you are not in established labour 24 or so hours after your waters have gone, then you are at an increased risk of infection and will be advised to consider induction/augmentation of labour

you don't need to do much at the moment, you've advise labour ward that things are happening, make sure your bags are packed and get on with the rest of the day!!

could be hours and hours before you need to go to hospital. you need contractions every 3 -4 minutes lasting at least 50 + seconds, and you need to concentrate on them !

make sure you eat and drink , wee & poo, and rest !

your body will let you know when it is time to pay attention, if you are finding it harder to cope then do call the labour ward again, but home is the best place to be before you are in established labour, or you are going to end up being sent home again from hospital which is disheartening.

just potter on and wait to see how things progress

if nothing happens over night, you can discuss the next step with the midwife

best of luck!

BTW , if you are still losing fluid then it is your waters that have gone, if it was just a leak, it will have been a gush then stopped, if it is continuing, then it is a full rupture of membranes. if it has stopped leaking, it might not be that your waters have fully gone.