Preparation for when/if my waters break...

[nickymorris]

Just wondering what preparation people did for their waters breaking...

Plastic sheets?
Absorbant mat?
Carry around couple of maternity pads?

Any other thoughts / suggestions / recommendations.

Thanks

Nothing
DC1 waters went before labour but nothing major
DC2 waters went v late so was already in hosp

Nothing.

Which I regretted when my waters sprung a leak in the early hours one night. I actually thought I'd wet myself and resolved to do my pelvic floors more conscientiously! A few sanitary towels later and it was time to call the midwife.......

nothing. but i made it to the loo in time for the constant trickle !!

apparently it's unusal for waters to break first

I've bought a pack of maternity mats, and will be sitting on them in the car from about 34 weeks. They are great when your radiators leak in the post partum period (no, that is not a euphenism).

I believe it's pretty unusual for your waters to break out and about - I forget the stats but my NCT teacher pointed it up as one of the major hollywood myths about labour.

Scratching my memory I think (I may be wrong so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon to give chapter and verse!) only 1/10 women find their waters break before labour.

Anyway I made no preparations and they went in hospital.

FWIW I only know one person whose waters went before labour and hers went in bed. The mattress was pretty wet but nothing disastrous and dried off quickly.

nothing, waters broke well after labour was established both time.s

mine went pre labour both times, once on the sofa, once in bed. Neither wet the furniture I was sitting on, only my underwear. I then trickld / had small gushes until labour started.
Neither time did I think of carrying round anything beforehand.

A plastic sheet is too sweaty for sleeping on.

I had a mattress protector for my homebirths. It was basically a non-woven fitted sheet, and it was fine for sleeping on. It also kept the bed clean and dry.

My reason for asking is that a good friend of mine had the full 'hollywood' experience of waters breaking violently, in Pizza Express, in Croydon.

First time round they broke in hospital shortly after I'd been induced. I remember thinking "I'm glad I'm here and not in the supermarket", as itwas pretty messy. Second time round, guess where I was when they broke? To my shame, I didn't tell anyone but just ran out of the shop leaking as I went, leaving a shopping trolley full of food in aisle 9.

To be honest, I don't think a sanitary pad would have helped, it was pretty full on. I did, fortunately, have a large picnic blanket in the car to sit on when I drove home - so pleased I didn't take the bus. The midwife did say it was pretty unusual to happen before any contractions began (that said my two best friends and my SIL all had their waters break before labour started).

The one thing I would do next time would be to make sure I had a mattress protector under my bedsheets...

First time round they broke in hospital shortly after I'd been induced. I remember thinking "I'm glad I'm here and not in the supermarket", as itwas pretty messy. Second time round, guess where I was when they broke? To my shame, I didn't tell anyone but just ran out of the shop leaking as I went, leaving a shopping trolley full of food in aisle 9.

To be honest, I don't think a sanitary pad would have helped, it was pretty full on. I did, fortunately, have a large picnic blanket in the car to sit on when I drove home - so pleased I didn't take the bus. The midwife did say it was pretty unusual to happen before any contractions began (that said my two best friends and my SIL all had their waters break before labour started).

The one thing I would do next time would be to make sure I had a mattress protector under my bedsheets...

Don't think you need to do anything
Mine went pre labour with first birth, flooded the mattress and woke me and DP up! Mattress survived

Nothing.

Mine never 'went'

Well DS1s did in the birthing pool I assume.

But DS2 was born waters intact, they had to cut him out of the sac!, lol.

Mine went on the sofa before labour had started. Soaked my trousers instantly and I jumped up pretty quick and legged it (waddled?) to the bathroom leaving a trail behind me.

You have no idea when or if they'll break on their own and whether it'll be full force or a trickle. Protecting your carseats may be a good idea and a couple of sanitary towels in your bag can't hurt.

I'd been worried about that too and was wondering whether I should start avoiding sitting on people's sofas but with both DC's my water's didn't go until I was seriously far along with the contractions ... with DD1 they 'burst' open all over my hospital room floor while I was dealing with the contractions by leaning over the hospital bed(DH and I were apologising profusely and offering to help clean up to the mid-wives ), with DD2 they 'exploded' all over the room and mid-wife on my 2nd push (I was lying down to be examined and couldnt stop) ... but we didn't have time to contemplate cleaning up because DD2 was out with the 5th push.

Still don't know anyone who's actually had their waters break all over someone's sofa ...

Mine didn't break until I was about half an hour off delivering DS and all I dimly remember is standing by the bed and wailing 'ooooohhhhh! Something's happening! Something's happening!' before midwife and DH whipped my trousers off just in time for the full Hollywood experience (ruined my socks!)- and even then it was only the front sac and I had to have the trusty knitting needle to complete the experience

Mine went in the bath, during early labour, when I was leaning forward to remove the plug from the bath, but carried on gushing out whilst we were in the car- I think some people just have a trickle to start with but mine burst like a balloon! I will be buying some maternity mats for the car and bed.
Short of a maternity dry suit I'm not sure what you could do when out and about.

It's a good idea to get a mattress protector anyway if you're going to cosleep and/or bf in bed after the baby is born.

Can I ask a TMI question - does it feel like you have wee'd yourself when they go. I had mine broken for me and it was a great gush?

Great bloomin' geezer gush ... not like any kind of wee I've ever known

mine werent a gush they were a trickle (is that the hind waters, where the sac goes but the head blocks the flow?). It didn't feel like I had wee'd myself, it was a sort of internal pop then a small gush - wetting my clothes but not the furniture, then a constant on-off trickle. Coming from the wrong place to feel like wee.

It really felt like a balloon had burst inside me and gushed out quite forcefully- it was quite a shock, but I was leaning forwards on all fours in the bath. I had been given an unwanted 'scour around' (as she put it) by a midwife during early stages of labour- she was just meant to be checking how things were going, before I went home for a bath and my bed, so it wasn't an entirely spontaneous thing for me. It all poured out in big floods- drenched the car seat and two pairs of pj bottoms.

I was watching eastenders and felt a pop inside, so jumped up off the sofa and flooded the floor, managed to get to the bathroom, luckily lived in a flat, so only a short waddle away, and no carpets on floor only wood flooring and tiles, my waters gushed again at home, and i sat on a carrier bag in the car, and they gushed again at the hospital, Must of had a lot of water in there!!!!. This time i am slightly concerned, and would hate for them to go whilst out and about, saying that not sure what i could do to stop/prevent it, so just going with the flow!!