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May 2013 Moms
paigenicole23
member
Water breaking means immediately go to hospital?
paigenicole23
member
I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and since the OB clinic is right next to the hospital where my mom works she decided to take me in to see L&D. One of her friends is a nurse there and gave me a tour. I expressed that I would hopefully be able to labor a lot at home since I live 5 minutes away and didn't want much hospital interference with my labor. She told me that "oh no, once you're water breaks you need to come here immediately!". This is because as soon as you're water breaks you and baby are susceptible to infection and need to be in a sterile environment. I know many women who have given birth at home, many who have delayed going to the hospital until they felt they were about to push, and women like my step mom who had no contractions after water breaking and took their time getting to the hospital (she and my dad stopped for breakfast and then Costco on their way lol). In your experience/opinion is it best to go to the hospital immediately after your water breaks with no contractions or signs of active labor? Thanks!
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Re: Water breaking means immediately go to hospital?
Little West #1: Born May 23, 2013
Little West #2: Due April 15, 2015
2U2 Fossil Mommy
Nope. If you are GBS+ or have some other something going on, yes, you should go as soon as your water breaks. If there is nothing going on, you can labor at home for a while if you want.
ETA: Sometimes your water breaks before contractions start and you run more of risk of getting interventions if you go in w/ broken water but no labor. However, I wouldn't stay home more than 8-12 hours, especially if nothing is happening because when your water is broken you are more susceptible to infection and you might actually need help getting labor started. I think it's a personal judgement call.
I would ask you OB and follow their advice.
DX: PCOS/Recurrent losses/MTHFR mutation (compound hetero)
5 hysteroscopies/2 surgical
3 Inject IUIs = 2 m/c's and 1 BFN
IVF #1= BFP. m/c at 7w6d. Needed 2 D&C's and scar tissue removal. Mild OHSS
IVF #2 = BFP. Severe OHSS. 4 Drainings. TWINS!
When my water broke I didn't go to the hospital right away. It was a good several hours before we got there.
EDIT It took a while after my water breaking before the contractions started. I guess it depends on what your OB tells you.
The issue is whether you are IN labor or not - really whether you are having contractions. If your water breaks and no contractions (which occurs rarely) then you have approx 24-48 hours to deliver the baby. After that time, the risk of infection (chorioamnitis or endometritis) increases significantly because your uterus is open to the environment (open cervix plus ruptured membranes). This puts you and the baby at risk.
If you are having contractions and your water breaks then you are in active labor. The docs tell you to go to the hospital because your progression through labor is variable. It could take 45 minutes or 45 hours. There isn't a reliable way to tell how long you will take.
Most women labor for a quite a while before their water breaks. In fact only a small percentage of women have their water break early in labor. Many times the doctor/midwife has to manually break the membranes to help things progress. I don't think this is generally considered and intervention, as several of my friends who had medication-free vaginal births had to have their water manually broken by their doctors/midwives.
However I was the exception--water broke before I had any contractions,at 38 weeks--it was a huge surprise. We were told in birthing class to go to L&D if your water breaks, due to risk of infection. So I took the time to throw some stuff into a bag and headed straight to the hospital.
Maybe TMI, but you should realize that the fluid doesn't all come out at once. It continues to come out over the course of a couple of hours, and there is a LOT of amniotic fluid. I sure wouldn't want to be strolling around Costco or even walking around my house with fluid coming out.
I am usually a lurker, I am a FTM, but I am also a NICU nurse. I always thought the reason you need to go to the hospital when your water breaks, especially if its a gush, not a dribble, is because the baby is no longer floating in the amniotic fluid. When it drops down the cord can get stuck between the babies head and your cervix, which is called a prolapsed cord and is cause for an immediate c section. Also our hospital policy is for the baby to be delivered within 48 hours of the water breaking, to prevent infection, or start mom on antibiotics if its too early for labor.
Ditto. My hospital told me to go in as soon as my water breaks too, and unless my OB tells me something different then that's what I plan on doing. I have no desire to birth at home anyways, but even if I did my OB's orders would win out over my desires.
Yeah, I guess im just confused. If your OB tells you to come in right away if your water breaks, then do it.
DX: PCOS/Recurrent losses/MTHFR mutation (compound hetero)
5 hysteroscopies/2 surgical
3 Inject IUIs = 2 m/c's and 1 BFN
IVF #1= BFP. m/c at 7w6d. Needed 2 D&C's and scar tissue removal. Mild OHSS
IVF #2 = BFP. Severe OHSS. 4 Drainings. TWINS!
My dr's office is call first before you go L&D even in the case of your water breaking, but I know they're going to send me to L&D immediately if I call with that. Infection is just one concern, there are others, such as cord prolapse. Your OB may let you labor at home, or may have you come in immediately.
My water breaking was the onset of labor for me with both my pregnancies. With my first, I need pit to get things going, with my 2nd, contractions had started on their own.
My OB hasn't said anything about it. I plan to ask him this next appointment. It really wasn't a question of mine until the nurse (who has nothing to do with my care, she works in L&D and knows my mom) told me I needed to come in as soon as my water breaks.
This is what I don't understand. Yes many FTM's have long labors, but clearly not everyone does. And you have absolutely no idea what your body or your baby will do, especially as a FTM with no experience on it. Telling someone to wait anywhere from 8-23 hours to come in is absurd to me. The nurse at the hospital said don't even call your OB until you're in the car, just get on your way to the hospital. Call me paranoid, but that's what I'll do if/when my water breaks, and I think it's incredibly foolish for FTM's not to do that.
Exactly. You really don't know what your body will do?...in my experience with the first, L and D wanted to send me home or walk the mall, I cried in pain at 2cm and begged to stay. Good thing I did stay, because we would have made the news having a baby at Macy's or on the freeway. When I had the urge to push after 20m...those nurses gave the biggest eye rolls, like ya right? Then they checked me and it was game on! Lol....once they broke my water, my DS came 45m later. I was very happy to be there at the hospital
I had a tear in my bag 5 days before I actually went to the hospital. I didn't realize that is what happened until I went in for my regular check up. Earlier in the week I'd get a little fluid/discharge throughout the day and I thought it was just that, discharge. But the doc checked when I got in and tested it, amniotic fluid. She sent me to the hospital immediately. I was induced (on pitocin) for 23 hours (never went into labor on my own). They ended up having to break my bag later because it never completely broke open on it's own. Doc says the tear must have been high up.
So you just never know what will happen. But yes, as soon as it breaks, there is risk for infection and they usually want you in the hospital within 24 hours. Luckily DD and I were both healthy and no infections.
BFP#1 09/2009 * EDD 6/19/2010 * Born 6/12/2010
BFP#2 6/03/2012 * EDD 2/09/2013 * MC @ 5w2d 6/13/2012
BFP#3 8/30/2012 * EDD 5/16/2013
Some women's water breaks before they are in active labor. I am hoping to labor as much at home as I can, and plan to do so. If my water happened to break before I was in active labor I wanted to know if there would be risk to baby staying home until labor progressed or if the fact that my water had broken alone was means to go straight to the hospital.
But as a FTM you have no idea how fast it will progress. I mean, knock yourself out and stay at home as long as you want. I personally just think it's foolish to think you know more than the OB or the hospital staff.
With my first son, I was induced and the OB broke my water. I finally gave birth 23 hours later, but since a large amount of time passed since my water broke, both the baby and I had gotten a little infection. Trust me - listen to your doctor!
That's because not every women's water actually breaks on their own. So they generally say contractions being within a certain time frame, or when your water breaks.
That was my question though-is water breaking alone means to go to the hospital immediately. I had never heard to go when water breaks, being that typically you reach the timed contractions point before that happens. In the instance like my step mom, where water breaks but there are no contractions would you still need to go straight to the hospital? It looks like a lot of people say yes because it is better to be safe than sorry.
Ive always heard this too.
DX: PCOS/Recurrent losses/MTHFR mutation (compound hetero)
5 hysteroscopies/2 surgical
3 Inject IUIs = 2 m/c's and 1 BFN
IVF #1= BFP. m/c at 7w6d. Needed 2 D&C's and scar tissue removal. Mild OHSS
IVF #2 = BFP. Severe OHSS. 4 Drainings. TWINS!
I asked my OB a few weeks ago if I could wait a little at home and he said not more than two hours.
It does seem that the general consensus is to go - better safe than sorry.
To answer your questions - no, you don't always have to go into the hospital immediately when your water breaks. However, this is totally dependent on your health, what you're comfortable with, and what your OB recommends.
With DD my water broke at my parents house around 6:30 in the morning. I was told by my midwidfe that as long as the fluid was clear that it was not an immediate issue and to call them when the office opened. My mom and I left around 7:30 for my house (about an hour away from them) and I called my MW when the office opened. They scheduled an appt for me to come into the office after lunch and after confirming that my water broke, they stretched me to hopefully start contractions. It worked and I started having contractions on the drive home.
If the fluid had any colour to it I was instructed to go to the hospital immediatly, but because it was clear the goal of my midwives was to deliver within 24 hour of it breaking.
My water broke the night before my due date. It started as a trickle & it was about 2 am before I called (to figure out if my water broke). I was told to come in. By the time I got to the hospital I was leaking water with each contraction-however I wasn't feeling them. The only reason I found that out was they hooked me up. I ended up running out of fluid, having to have medical fluid put in to replace my water, pitocin, & and an epi in case I had to have a c-section (thank goodness I didn't need one). It all ended up okay & DS was born at 4:30 pm-but I would never recommend waiting after what happened with DS. I just wouldn't risk it.
FWIW...my hospital wouldn't let me go more than 24 hours with broken water regardless due to the risk of infection.
The general consensus is that you should deliver within 24-48 hours of your water breaking. This is when you are at risk of infection. I have never heard that you must go right away.
That being said, labor sometimes intensifies quickly after your water breaks and you might wish you were at the hospital.
At our hospital, if your water breaks, you get admitted... you get to skip triage.
FWIW, my water "broke" as a slow leak and I didn't know it for a day or so that it's what it was. At my normal OB appt, I asked about it, they did a test, I went to the hospital, and 12 hours later, I had a baby.