as a doula and a child birth educator there is one topic that i get so many questions about
and so today I'm going to do a lightning round on this topic 20 questions on water breaking
the timer's gonna start as soon as my assistant reads the first question
does water breaking hurt no what does water breaking feel like i kind of feel
like release of pressure like a snap a pop yeah does water breaking feel like peeing
when the water comes out it can kind of feel like peeing but it's peeing that you cannot stop
does water breaking make a sound so it can uh people if they report a sound it's kind
of like a rubber band popping or snapping or breaking can water breaking be a trickle
it can be a trickle especially if we have a really low baby that is almost being like a cork
their head a cork and then there's not much water that can get by that causes a trickle can water
breaking be bloody water breaking can have some bloody mucus in it if the bloody show is comes out
with the water when your amniotic fluid comes out does water breaking mean labor so water breaking
is usually happens either at the start of labor or in the middle of labor but if it can happen before
labor begins which is called premature rupture of membranes will water breaking ruin your mattress
so the with if you if your water breaks when you are lying in bed um it doesn't necessarily just
shoot out it really comes out when you sit up so if you are having contractions you feel like your
water broke maybe slide your bottom to the side of the bed and then sit up so that you don't get that
water on your mattress but it's always a good idea to have a waterproof mattress pad anyway
will water breaking wake you up it most likely will wake you up but there are cases where
people are heavy sleepers and they sleep through contractions and then they wake up and notice that
their water has broken will contractions always follow water breaking contractions
generally follow water breaking but in the case of that premature rupture of membranes sometimes
we have to go in to our hospital and have labor induced if contractions don't naturally follow
water breaking what triggers water breaking this is a great question because we don't really know
likely it is pressure within the uterus and the amniotic sac just kind of like a water balloon it
has enough squeeze that the bag of waters the sac amniotic sap ruptures or maybe the baby moves in
a certain way during that contraction and breaks the back bag but we don't really know for certain
can water breaking start and stop so there are cases where there are two bags of water something
called a four bag and a primary bag and the four bag might rupture where the primary bag is still
intact though this is not that common um if that happens though we can see it start and then it
stops and then when the other bag breaks then it starts again does water breaking feel like sweat
no it doesn't feel like sweat because it's a lot more quantity so discharge does increase
at the end of pregnancy and sometimes people think that water if they have a lot of sweat or they
have a lot of discharge that might be their water breaking but water breaking is really going to be
like more quantity and dripping how do you induce water breaking at home
this is not recommended ever so you don't want to try to do anything to try to cause your water to
break at home no don't do it what does the fluid look like so fluid should be clear or maybe some
cloudiness from the membranes or mucousy but if it has a greenish or brownish tent that means
that the baby has had their first bowel movement in the womb and um we will want to call our care
provider and definitely alert them of this what does the fluid smell like so in the case of clear
fluid it doesn't really have a smell not a strong smell in the case of a brownish greenish it will
have a foul odor or if there is an infection you might smell a foul odor which you need to alert
your care providers of that how long between water breaking and birth this is could be any
time could be minutes hours or days so depends on when the water breaks in your labor so we really
have no idea how much fluid is there when the water breaks so the fluid can be depending upon
where the baby is and how the baby is corking up um the exit could be just teaspoons or
tablespoons or it could be like a cup of water but it keeps going as the baby pees what are
the risks of breaking the water so you when the water breaks you no longer have this protective
environment around the baby so it increases the risk of infection do you need to wear pads when
you walk when your water breaks so you want to wear pads so you don't leak all over yourself
okay i don't know i just barely made it in time so if you like this list i got another one for you
right here check this one out next and i'll see you guys next time see ya bye there's my assistant
you