and give it a whirl
oh water breaking you guys see that so water breaking so when you are pregnant
baby lives in a fluid filled sac which is the amniotic sac actually let me grab my baby
so baby is inside a fluid-filled sack and just like this one um and when the water breaks the the
actually technical term for it is uh rupturing membranes so that your membranes can rupture
at any time they can you know it's not like the movies the movies always have it wrong
and tv has it wrong where water breaks at the beginning of labor usually you're at the grocery
store or something and there's a huge gush it really doesn't happen like that it re i mean
okay sometimes it might happen like that but generally um the majority of people in labor
see their water break well into labor not at the beginning though it can break any time between
um before labor starts to on very rare occasions a baby can be born inside the amniotic sac
which is called being born in call e-n-c-a-u-l and call so um water breaking so the baby is
inside the uterus we have placenta and inside that is the amniotic sac
with water when the water breaks sometimes it can be a gush um a large quantity at once so then it's
very clear that your water breaks if you see a big gush though sometimes it can be a trickle so if
you can imagine um the amniotic sac kind of like a balloon inside your uterus if there is a high
leak like maybe up here is where the sac broke we might see more of a trickle
and if the baby's head is really low in the pelvis then sometimes the baby's head can kind of cork
the fluid the amniotic fluid from coming out and so you might see an on off kind of trickle
other things to note about your water breaking is the amniotic sac is a protective um component
keeping the baby protected from bacteria and so when your water breaks it's really important to
contact your health care provider and let them know and they're going to ask for a few things
and you can remember them if you remember the word coat so c is for color what is the color of the
amniotic fluid that came out and if it should be a a clear color it might be kind of mucusy
what uh is can be concerning and definitely
notable to let your hair care provider know is if you see any kind of brownish or greenish
color to the amniotic fluid it might mean that your baby has had their first bowel movement
inside the womb and that is um in the amniotic fluid and sometimes that can mean that the baby
has been stressed or is stressed and so it's it's definitely important to tell your care provider
so you want to know the color you want to note um if there's any kind of odor so that's the o
of coat so is there a smell it really shouldn't smell like anything so and a concerning would be
a strong bad smell um and then now if you know it broke while you're sitting on the toilet
you might not notice the smell which is okay we understand um the a of coat is the amount
so you know was it you know maybe just a few drops or like a tablespoon is it a cup
how much came out and then the time so when did that happen so try to make a
note if you got up in the middle of the night you notice your water broke
you know look at the time see what it is and contact your care provider and let them know
so because the amniotic sac is a protection around the baby the water breaking definitely
means that labor is going to happen and it depends on your care provider of how long
they really feel comfortable letting that go before any kind of contractions are maintained
and established if your water breaks before labor starts or or during labor as well so um generally
you are you know monitored and care providers might require that you come in to your birthing
location to your hospital to your birth center to get checked um to be admitted it really depends
on the care provider and their comfort and how they practice as far as what to do when the water
breaks but a couple other things that come to mind questions that people have with water breaking
if whether or not it's okay to get in a tub and it is okay to get in a tub even after
your water breaks but what you don't want to do is to put anything inside your vagina once your water
breaks so you're not going to want to put a tampon you don't need to have sex nothing inside because
what happens is you know that protective layer is gone for the baby and so there's more risk
of infection so we want to reduce risk of infection and one way to reduce risk
a really big way is not to put anything inside so generally providers usually try to limit
vaginal exams after water has broken after again that technical term is rupture of membranes
after that has happened so limiting vaginal exams not putting anything inside your vagina
and making note of whether your water broke or not um and then the other thing just to remember
is that or to know about water breaking that i think sometimes surprises people is that
it's continuous like the fluid flow keeps going so it's not like even if you have a big gush at first
you will still your body will still be generating fluid um and so you will be leaking
really throughout labor so it's not uncommon to even see little gushes when we have a contraction
if you can imagine that water balloon inside your uterus and it's squeezed well makes sense
during a contraction that you see a gush so once you have confirmed that your water has broken
you might want to wear a pad and just be ready to catch the fluid
or have some towels handy so that you know that um everything is caught and i i always tell as
a doula i tell my clients um that if you are you know getting in the car to head to the hospital
you might want to throw a towel in there as well into the the car just in case your water breaks
while you are in the car especially if you have a long car ride it can't hurt so um water breaking
is not like the movies it's usually um well into labor and it is um definitely not it doesn't it
it usually does not surprise you while you were at the grocery store which is you know that classic
idea that i think all of us um get in our heads from the movies so if you have any questions about
rupture of membranes water breaking put them in the comments let me know i'm happy to answer those
thanks for joining me for another spin of the big wheel of birth
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all of the daily spins so thanks again for joining and talk to you guys tomorrow bye