Waters breaking

[GuybrushThreepwodWasHere]

Just another silly question to put to MN,

Just spoken with my mw. She said that I needed to ring triage and come straight into hospital when my waters go. I was under the impression that you only went to hospital when the contractions became frequent and severe. I'm a bit confused and don't want to be going in too early (aside from causing a faff for the staff, me and my partner don't drive and I don't want to be paying for taxis back and forth all night if I'm just going to be sent home and told to come in at X time.)

Your waters might not go before you go into labour, so you may still be in the position of being able to wait at home until the contractions are progressing more. Not everyone's waters break at the start of labour. But if they do go, you do need to go in to have baby checked and make sure he / she is fine. Having said the above, with ds my waters broke everywhere when I got up to go to the toilet at 1am, then the contractions started instantly, 3 minutes apart and strong. I was glad to get to the hospital!

38 weeks and last time instead of putting the code (2/5, 1/5, etc) the mw just wrote 'on brim'

You need to go in if your waters break before contractions start as there is a risk of infection. Waters before contractions is unusual, but happened to me in both pg. I was given a appt to be induced 36 hours later, but contractions started of their own accord by then. A possibly unnecessary taxi journey will be the least if your expenses once your baby arrives.

My waters went during the night with dd1 and were the first sign of labour. I rang up and was told to go in for 7am to be monitored. After a stint on the monitor I came home again until labour was more established. I had about 2 hours at home then went back in and had her 2 hours later. On reflection I wish they'd just kept me in as the tooing and froing was a pita, but I don't suppose they know how quickly/slowly things are going to progress and bed space is tight.

BikeRunSki fair point [embarrassed]

I was told that if waters break, make a note of the time, call hospital and go in. they'll check you out and probably send you back home (unless you're in established labour), then if you aren't in labour within 24 hours they'll induce to avoid risk of infection.

My waters broke with a gush I had been having contractions for a few days they were close together at times an had alredy been into the hospital the evening before to be sent home as I was only 1cm.

Anyway waters broke in the middle of the night I was up as I couldnt sleep they had merconium in them (baby had pooed inside me) so had to be kept in for monitoring due to this. Labour also had to be speeded up as baby needed to come out (not dramatically) and it wasnt progressing naturally. I was still in hospital and in labour for 16 hours. I had a maternity pad on so was able to give this to the mw's in the hospital for them to check everything. I guess this is the situation your mw may be imagining.

As pps have said things need to be checked for infections etc as well.

Please do go to be checked if your waters break. Here's why...

Mine went at 1am with a gush. No contractions at this point. Called the hosp who said to pop in to be checked but I would most likely be sent home until in established labour. Took my time getting my stuff together. Had a leisurely drive to he hospital. By this point contractions had started ith a bang. 3 mins apart and 1 min long. Got to hosp. Midwives were laughing and joking with me as they hooked me up to the monitor. Left me hooked up for a little while in a cubicle with DH & i could hear baby's heartbeat, mentioned to DH that when I had a contraction the heartbeat seemed to disappear but he suggested it was because baby was moving around. 20 mins later when mw came back to check the trace all hell broke loose. Baby's heartrate was dropping each time I had a contraction and they suspected the cord was wrapped around his neck. Cue room full of people and emergency c section. Probably the most scary experience of my life. When they tested the oxygen levels in hs cord after the birth he had been using his own oxygen reserves for several hours without me even knowing I was in labour. The whole thing from waters breaking to him being born was prob 2 hours.

My gorgeous little boy is asleep upstairs. Had I not called the hospital and gone in he would probably be severely brain damaged or even dead. Not worth the risk.