What do leaky waters feel/look/smell like?

[OnNaturesCourse]

And does it change the way your bump etc feels or baby moves?..

Ive had the usual increase of milky discharge, no signs of infection, all healthy looking but it's getting to the point of filling a liner pretty quickly and I've noticed its soaking in instead of just being caught by the liner the usual (so watery instead of thick)

Had a few times were a very small gush was felt, I use the word gush lightly - it's just I could feel it.

My waters popped naturally and "normally" previously, there was nothing but clear and pink water and no discharge.

With this getting so watery this time I am wondering...

In my case it was like I was leaking urine but more often and I could feel it when I stood up. How many weeks are you? If you’re unsure the hospital can swab you to confirm.

My leaky waters were like you're describing. I thought I was sweaty, then I thought I was wetting myself, then midwife said I had a slow leak, and I had to be induced.

That could be waters - how many weeks are you?

This is rank but can you smell it? It smells different to wee or discharge so you might be able to work it out. (Apparently it smells a bit like sperm!)

My waters went as the first sign of labour with DS2. It felt bizarre TBH like a constant trickle of discharge and then an occasional gush which felt like if you've ever thrown up just water, like that but from my vagina

Pantyliners just got soaked so quickly I was sitting on towels everywhere. As soon as I got into hospital the midwives gave me maternity pads and I felt like an idiot because it had never occurred to me.

I don't think I noticed any difference in my bump.

I spent an entire day with leaking waters and didn’t realise what it was (despite being 40+2), I thought I was just mildly wetting myself and my knickers were just a bit damp really. Happened to mention it to a student midwife friend and she told me to get to hospital and get swabbed, and lo and behold it was my waters.
They smell very much like semen!
If in doubt, get checked.

Did anyone have the milky discharge and waters at the same time? That's what is throwing me - I can see the discharge but my liner is absorbing something (it's very obviously full under the discharge)

Ring triage and take your liner with you. They can put it under a microscope and check for you. If it's waters, apparently it looks different to other types of discharge.

With both my babies, waters going was the first sign of labour. I was told to put a clean pad on, lie down and if there were little gushes of water when I stood up, to go and get checked out.

I'm just looking for others experiences before deciding 🫣

So, no gushes since lying down but occasion bubbles of wetness.

No smell that I have noticed.

100% go and get checked.
Mine leaked but it was so slow I wasn’t too sure if it was / wasn’t.
Anyway, I waited too long and long story short baby ended up in distress and I had to be induced and it was quite traumatic.
If I had just been to get checked then I would have had time to get pain relief and the whole experience would have been safer, calmer and less mentally scarring.
If you’re feeling something that you don’t normally feel then just go and be checked over.

Not had anything else out of the ordinary this morning, even when walking / sneezing etc etc so I think it has maybe been a discharge increase that has now settled?

I did a PH test on it last night - apparently over 7 is likely waters, mine was a 5 (lowest my sticks can record) I know that's not a definite answer but eased my doubts.

It does need checking though because if your waters are broken for too long without labour starting, then you're at risk of infection and also it's not good for the fluid to drain out around the baby for obvious reasons.

Are you at term? Are you worried about being induced? You don't have to agree to any interventions necessarily but it would probably be useful to have the information about what will likely happen next.

@OnNaturesCourse just to echo what @BertieBotts said, my waters went and I didn’t get any contractions so was induced 36 hours later (the hospital wanted to do it sooner but I said no), and me and baby both ended up with sepsis. Not to scare you at all (and we’re both fine now!) but it really is better safe than sorry in these situations x

Mine went with DC2 at 35weeks - it felt like it was gushing out when I moved/ walked. When baby moved (dislodging their head from acting as a plug) it was rather unpleasant. I was walking around the supermarket before going back in to be monitored (they'd already confirmed it was my waters but I wasn't in labour) & felt like I was basically weeing myself in small bursts.

Waters smell like semen in my experience

I would get this checked. Mine went early and it really wasn't very much, and it didn't continue leaking either really. It was only because I happened to have a midwife appointment that day that I even mentioned it. She sent me to triage for them to do a swab test thing which came back positive. I was given antibiotics and steroids, had a couple of extra scans, and blood tests to check for infection, and then induced a few weeks later at 37 weeks.

Having done some researching and speaking on here I don't believe my waters are leaking.

I have been dry all day aside from tiny one episode when I was climbing ladders. (usual discharge, not watery)

If I have any more I will go into my drop in clinic tomorrow.

It really won't be any trouble to go and get checked out tonight if there is any more or you're unsure at all about what it was last night. You don't need to go to a walk in clinic if you're pregnant, you can phone labour ward at any time (or the community midwives' number if you're booked for a home birth).

NHS advice is if it stops within 4 hours then no need to get checked, but any leakage which continues more than 4 hours should be checked out, the same day/ASAP. It's not really clear from your posts last night how long the leakage was happening for.

Since you mentioned bump feel and baby movements, any change in these also needs to be checked esp if it coincided with a possible fluid leak.

It's your choice of course but worth knowing that they would rather check you 20 times and it be nothing than you stay away thinking it's nothing, and it turns out your waters had gone.

If you are worried about being pressured into interventions, you can refuse them or ask for further information, time to make a decision, etc. It's harder to make an informed decision if you are missing some of the information.

I don’t understand the reluctance to get checked really, my waters broke early and it was just a small gush followed by little leaks. I had an induction and had DS just over 24 hours later at 39 weeks.

No worry at all, my main question was if there could be discharge along with the waters as my pads had felt fuller than usual.

I'm honestly pretty confident that my waters are fine now - thank you all for advice though.

I'll definitely get checked if I have any more concerns.

Just a flag to anyone reading this post after the fact, like I am, to absolutely NOT do what OP did. They are not a medical professional and they put their own and their baby's life at risk by refusing to go and get checked at the hospital. It was extremely irresponsible. If you ever have any concerns, go to triage and get checked out, please. It is not worth yours or your child's life.

This has just popped back up on my watch list - so just to clarify I never claimed to be a medical professional, I simply asked if discharge and waters could be mixed in such a way as I describe in my OP and then took the personal decision to stay home and monitor (after which my concerns were settled) I would never suggest others take my own decision as advice, nor would I ask any woman to go against her gut-mum-feeling.

So, for anyone reading this zombie post I'm future, I would say I still don't know if discharge that thick can be present at the same time as your waters but I do now know that discharge can be extremely heavy watery and thick at the same time as this was what I had. My waters were indeed fine and whole and my baby arrived on due date a month later than this post. Always trust your gut and get checked should you feel uncertain or anything concerns you, never take others experiences as certain. Again, I never claim to be a medical expert, I just asked about discharge and waters.