Smell of amniotic fluid?

sunset+skies · April 2011

I've seen a few posts on here about people thinking they're leaking, and being told that amniotic fluid has a distinct smell.

What no one ever seems to post is WHAT that smell is. Any time someone asks, the response always just seems to be "you'll know it when you smell it".

Does anyone have any idea what it will smell like when your water breaks? Is it just completely indescribable, and I have to hope that my maternal insticts pick up on what it is?

KYBABY2011 · April 2011

I've heard it smells sweet. HTH a little.

mum2monkees · April 2011

KYBABY2011:
I've heard it smells sweet. HTH a little.

Yep it will be sweet, mine starting leaking with my last one while I was in bed so that is how I knew it was amniotic fluid.

3Girls3xsTheFun · April 2011

I never smelled mine, but I could tell when I was leaking vs. discharge/pee beacuse I couldn't make it stop.

Like the pps said, it should smell sweet. Whatever the hell that means, haha.

MommaA117 · April 2011

I've heard sweet and then "earthy". Not sure what that means.

musiscout · April 2011

When I first was getting discharge, my OB checked it and said it was fine. So, until I have something different?

wootownlady · April 2011

Sweet smelling is a good sign, if it smells "bad" then you are supposed to get medical attention quickly because it could signal an infection. That's what I've been told anyway.

jboricua · April 2011

when i had my DD's both times the OB broke my water and the smell was like a sweet weird strong smell definately different than anything u would smell any day or any other bodily fluid

edens17 · April 2011

That's interesting because the nurse in our birthing class said it didn't have an odor and that was how you would know. I found that pretty hard to believe that any bodily fluid would have no smell at all. I just decided if it didn't smell like pee then I would know.

J9melissa · April 2011

A nurse told me it's a sweet earthy smell.

sunset+skies · April 2011

I still can't imagine what it will smell like, but at least I have descriptions I can TRY to match to smells.

northtamarack · April 2011

sunset+skies:

I still can't imagine what it will smell like, but at least I have descriptions I can TRY to match to smells.

I'm with you - I've always wondered this same question. Thanks for asking. I too, can't imagine something smell sweet AND earthy. Hhmm.

11kacey · April 2011

All I know is that it doesn't smell like urine.

My coworker said it does not have a smell and I have never asked anyone else so I'm of no real help I guess.

RobinSparkles81 · April 2011

I was never told anything about the smell. I did read that you can tell it's not pee because you won't be able to stop/slow down the flow by "clenching".

DuckDuckGoose123 · April 2011

Yeah, it smells kind of sweet. It's also slightly pinkish (or at least mine was) - when my water initially broke I soaked the two pantiliners I was wearing, and they were tinged just slightly pink. You had to look for it, but it definitely wasn't clear or yellow. And yeah, it keeps coming out whether you clench or not.

TMI, but my postpartum "period" smelled like sweet amniotic fluid for the first week and a half as well. I think at this point the fluid is done and I'm just bleeding, so it doesn't have the sweet smell anymore.

stampygarrett · April 2011

Sweet and earthy... like if I dump a glass of kool-aid in the dirt? Wink

I thought I was leaking but got checked and I am just peeing my pants! Ha! I wasn't sure because it was clear and had no smell - but I drink a ton of water so... hard to say.

Birdies08 · April 2011

I heard that it smells like sperm. I think the point of the smell is that it won't smell like urine, but that wouldn't help if you're just having normal discharge.

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