Waters leaking, contractions fizzled out - WWYD?

[NumptyMum]

I had a show at the weekend (Sat night/Sunday morning). Then last night I think my waters went, though only leaking rather than in a gush. I was having contractions but they fizzled out, so perhaps they were just Braxton Hicks. Now I'm not sure what to do. I know I'm supposed to ring maternity assessment if I think waters have gone, but last time this happened to me in hospital, I was on the drip within 24hrs because my labour had fizzled out, lying on my back because to not lie on my back showed baby's cord was being squashed during contractions, feet up in stirrups for a good while as they decided to get prick tests of blood from baby's scalp and kept deciding they'd done it wrong and doing it again (he came out looking like pin-cushion) and he was taken away for IV antibiotics after birth. All because NICE guidelines say that there is an increased infection rate for baby of 0.5% above that for women whose waters have NOT ruptured.

WWYD - do I call the mat assessment to say I think my waters may have broken?? I don't want to put baby at risk, but equally the time I had of it last time didn't give me any greater confidence that what was done avoided that 'risk'.

Really pissed off at my body that it could do this to me TWICE. Bloody hell

Oh - and please please please does anyone have hints on how to get labour going again, given my due date is Weds so I'm not even overdue yet? I don't want to exhaust myself if I do have to go on the drip, but can't help thinking that sitting here isn't helping either.

Any doulas out there with advice/tips? I tried walking round the block several times this overnight but only got tired and nauseous in the end.

The flip side:

MY waters trickled, but I thought I was incontinent!

I went into labour two days later but suddenly developed a high fever, had an infection which quickly got into my blood stream. Was quite ill, and on IV anitbiotics etc. Baby fine though.

Personally I'd ring for checking.

I'll probably ring before too long, just want to give myself a little longer than 24hrs given what happened last time. Was a really rubbish labour, I took ages to bond with DS because he was whisked away from me, I got bad internal tearing; and my DH has been trying to reassure me that this time it could all be different and now it's not looking that way .

Please, anyone?

are you sure it's your waters? were they stained at all? what did they smell like (sorry!)?

put a pad in if you haven't already, MW will probably want to see

walking up and down stairs can help get things going

If it were me I'd call a MW and ask for advice. I think you need to see a midwife (at the very least) today, if it were me I'd seriously consider going in for monitoring, by tomorrow at the very latest, preferably today

my waters went big style and no labour followed. i too am not convinced that the risk of infection is outweighed by the interventions.

i have heard that going up and down stairs sideways is good to get things going. active is good anyway - i sat firmly on a chair which we not a good idea.

I had a show yesterday (Sun) so they were pinkish; now are slightly yellowy/brown. I don't think it smells of wee; think it's more sweet-smelling. I've been through perhaps 3 Always pads, so it's not a huge amount of fluid, but until now I've never had any issue with stress-incontinence which is why I'm thinking it's waters. Not a gush in sight though, and my bump is still firm and bouncy, not saggy.

Tried walking up and down stairs last night, and round block 3 times, but no contractions after that (although pressure of baby did feel greater). So while I'm willing to walk/be active, just not sure whether to do that or whether it will just tire me out if I have to go on the drip later anyway...

Will consider plucking up courage to call mw. Just so dreading the whole 'you've hit a certain timeline so this is what happens now' scenario.

I waited 48 hours before agreeing to be induced with DD2. Went in for monitoring at 24 hours, but no internals, and then went home again. We went for walks and I finally went into labour naturally.

Discuss with your birth partner what you will do at each point when midwives/dr's suggest drips, scans or whatever. Make a point of asking them to leave so you can decide without pressure. And let them know how unhappy you were with the way things ended up last time, they'll be able to see where you are comming from then.

But, I would definitely call someone now, just to make sure things are OK with the baby, and if things do get stressfull then you won't feel like you are getting the 'i told you so' look your midwives.

good luck.

sweet smell sounds more like waters than wee but then slightly yellow - brown could indicate meconium in waters which could mean your baby is in distress

don't panic - it can also mean they've had a bit of a poo and are perfectly happy!

you need to speak to someone and get it checked out today

hope all goes well

Yes contact maternity ward. . .best of luck.!!

Thanks for all the answers - no it's not the sort of brown that's meconium-related, only a lightish yellow/sandy brown iyswim. Spoke to mw and from what she says, sounds like colour is OK. I'm going to ring them back in an hour and then go for examination - but having had this whole shebang before with DS1 (with worse proviso of it all happening in hospital that time, as I'd been booked in for induction) I'm SO pissed off with my body that it is so useless at labour. Really dreading the drip, but it seems so inevitable. And I hate the bloody pressure of wondering whether baby is in danger. You don't get that stress when you just have contractions, so why when the waters have broken? There is plenty of fluid still in there and it's not like I'm poking anything up myself so I'm not sure how they expect infection risk to be much greater (well, it's only 0.5% greater risk statistically anyway).

Sod it.

Nubbins - question for you, when you went into labour naturally after 24hrs, what did they suggest/do re antibiotics? Here it seems to be the rule that IV antibiotics would have to be given, does that mean you can't labour naturally?

good luck nm - be firm and ask lots of questions about what the time triggers are and what are your options at each stage. i am sure your body can do it, but maybe not to the small print of the NICE protocol.

with hindsight it is preposterous that this protocol exists because of risk of infection but it is fine for half the hospital to shove their arm up 'to see what's going on'.

anyway you'll have a lovely little baby soon

You don't have to accept an Induction but at least as you've told them then you and baby can be monitored. Clary sage is supposed to be good for getting contractions going I think.

I went into labour properly about 36 hours after my waters went and had no antibiotics. I had planned a homebirth, and my plans didn't change just cos my waters went early.

We did make it very clear that we were not going to accept induction until it was neccessary and were happy to have momnitoring/scans as they wished but that was all.

I would have waited until up to 96 hours to have the induction, but I was exhausted so agreed to it earlier!

make sure you drink lots, by the way, I got really dehydrated with my waters leaking for so long.

A straw-coloured water is quite normal when your waters break. They may trickle for a long time. Try to keep active, although don't exert yourself too much, sounds like you may need your energy soon!! If you've got a birth ball, it's a good idea to start rocking on it.
From an infection point of view, you're best staying in your own home unless your midwife calls you in. Have you had any other symptoms - feeling sick, diahorrea?

Thanks very much everyone. Am going to get some rest just now as I didn't sleep much last night, then need to go into maternity assessment this afternoon so that they can confirm whether or not waters have broken (they've said they use sterile system to reduce risk of infection during examination). After that will have another walk or go on the birthing ball and use clary sage in some massage oil.

I was just looking over emails from time that DS was born because one friend had same situation with her DS, except her waters 'resealed' and she was left in peace for her home labour after all. So I'll try to hold off routine augmentation and ask for monitoring if it's required...

Did feel a bit sick after stomping around on a walk just last night and just now, not sure if that's what you meant though, DoulaKate!

Thanks again for all the advice/info.

No actual experience, sorry, but here is leaflet from local hospital that might give you more info about pros and cons of waiting, stats etc. www.oxfordradcliffe.nhs.uk/forpatients/090427patientinfoleaflets/091126watersbreak.pdf

Good luck.

Numpty - I know you don't want to hear this and I know you feel let down by your body but I just wouldn't take any risks.

My waters were left to trickle by my hospital (Kings) for several days and I ended up in a nearly catastrophic situation with dd in scbu on iv antibiotics for 6 days and orally for a week or so thereafter. I didn't have strepB but it was some other infection. Not a good start in life for dd.

The hospital changed their policy on length of time left with leaking waters after this.

Thanks BibbityBobbit and Albrecht - hadn't realised that it was Group B Strep that was one of the concerns, but mw mentioned asked about it this morning when i spoke to her. It's not routinely tested for in pg up here, though I did have a test with DS. So will have to see how things go.

BBH - did you feel ill yourself, or was it only realised that your DD was ill only once she'd been born? And how many days were you left? Were you monitored during that time? Hope you don't mind the questions, I'm just trying to get a picture of how long I'd feel comfortable with monitoring and when I'd accept the drip.

I do hope all is OK now.

Numpty - I have to go out so will be brief, hope you don't mind.

I was left for 6 days. With two hospital and one gp visit during that time because I was concerned about waters leaking. I wasn't monitored, as such.

No, I was not feeling ill myself.

Dd's infection at birth was almost a side issue because she nearly didn't make it through labour. The loss of waters and her sudden distress about 7 hours in to labour were not linked, I believe (but cannot be entirely sure, its all a bit of a fug).

But the infection issue on its own was horrible enough for poor little dd (she had skin sepsis, like blackheads all over her body). And the distress of having the iv thing in her hand, which had to be changed once or twice. And yes starting life with a hefty dose of antibiotics in her system. Its not ideal.

Luckily, all well now (9 years on!).

Sorry I never came back to say thanks, BBH - very glad to hear that your DD is fine now, but it sounds like a dreadful experience. I don't think I'd have left it any longer than 48hrs; I had same situation of waters breaking and no labour with DS so knew about them being on antibiotics for first however long. However it's all moot now - when I went to hospital that afternoon they found meconium in the waters and even though it wasn't 'distress meconium' but 'grade 1 meconium' (ie the sort that babies pass sometimes when they are around term) they wanted to get me into labour, and I was happy with that.

HOWEVER it was all so much better than last time around. The Registrar initially talked about putting me on the drip again (and in the same sentence went on to say emergency CS - very pessimistic!) but I pressed him as to why I couldn't just have a pessary and he checked with consultant who said YES! So this time NO continuous monitoring, contractions that were much more manageable and the freedom to change position. I don't think I could have got more from having gone into natural labour myself. DD was born after 5hrs, and within the 24hrs of my waters breaking and all was well.

Thanks once again for all the help and advice.

So glad to hear your positive story.
Congratulations!
Selina

that's lovely numptymum. congratulations on your baby.