# "My water just broke." Okay, what happens now? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2018, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254 "2018-02-21T07:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/41 "2018-02-23T17:38:40Z")
When my son was born, my wife’s water broke in our bedroom big time. It took nearly 24 hours for the birth from that point. If contractions don’t start in earnest spontaneously, they will make them start. It means more than anything, get your butt to the hospital asap. Luckily enough, by the time I got back over a day later, the water had all dried out from the carpet. Didn’t even smell a bit. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/42 "2018-02-23T22:47:14Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I was in labor for _hours_ before my water broke. In fact, at about hour 7, the doctor told me to resist the urge to push and walked out the room. The midwife then said to me, I swear, “He’s being a jerk. If this wasn’t a high risk pregnancy (it was twins-- an automatic ‘high risk’) I would have broken your water for you. Next time you feel it-- push _real hard._” I did and the first baby head popped right into the birth canal. Never forgot that feeling of “Oh shit! Baby’s coming right now!” > Turns out the doctor wanted to go eat lunch. Heh. My friend had a lot of bleeding in her uterus during pregnancy and the resulting clot growth-restricted the baby. When she went in to have him way early, she wanted to wait for his dad to get there. They told her “If you care about your baby, you’ll do this now”. :eek: I’m surprised I didn’t hear her yell from where I was miles away. She’d been trying to keep him alive and growing and they have the nerve to say that, because it fit their schedule better. She did get an apology later. Another FOAF was pregnant and her father died. She went to get checked before traveling and they discovered that most of the amniotic fluid was gone?! So she had to have an emergency delivery. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/43 "2018-02-23T23:46:16Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Heh. My friend had a lot of bleeding in her uterus during pregnancy and the resulting clot growth-restricted the baby. When she went in to have him way early, she wanted to wait for his dad to get there. They told her “If you care about your baby, you’ll do this now”. :eek: I’m surprised I didn’t hear her yell from where I was miles away. She’d been trying to keep him alive and growing and they have the nerve to say that, because it fit their schedule better. She did get an apology later. > > Another FOAF was pregnant and her father died. She went to get checked before traveling and they discovered that most of the amniotic fluid was gone?! So she had to have an emergency delivery. Be careful with the assumptions - or the stories of friends. I have a friend who was told she should have a c-section. She was high risk. She went to another doctor “you are high risk, you should have a c-section, and I won’t take you on as a patient unless you agree” - She found a nurse midwife who was willing to deliver - because “the doctors just want to get to their golf game - natural childbirth is best.” Whatever the first two doctors saw, they were right, she should have had a c-section. The baby was without oxygen for long enough that she is severely disabled. Thus I hate the “doctors do things for their own convenience” stories. I’m not saying it never happens, but if they are not doing it to get to lunch, and you think they are and don’t agree, the consequences can be tragic. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/44 "2018-02-24T02:44:37Z")
The problem with difficult deliveries is that they are hard to predict — a shoulder gets stuck, things don’t progress, vacuum or forceps are needed… So if you know there are twins or a breech position or previous Caesarian - the risks are higher. Obstetricians probably do too many Caesarians, but many of them are needed. I have nothing against midwives, but some underestimate risk. Home births are fine if nothing goes wrong — and most low-risk deliveries are uncomplicated. But you can’t predict many of the complications. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/45 "2018-02-24T19:32:32Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Be careful with the assumptions - or the stories of friends. No, I agree in general. I think in this case he was growth-restricted and it was time, but an hour wasn’t going to make a difference. It was just the way they said it that was just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/46 "2018-02-24T21:33:54Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The egg white is the cytoplasm of a single large cell, of which the yolk is the nucleus. If an egg is fertilized, that single huge cell splits and splits and specializes and… eventually you get a baby bird. There’s no placenta and no amniotic sac. Egg white (albumen) + yolk is not a single cell of a bird ovum, and the yolk is not the nucleus of a cell. The yolk is the nutrients the bird embryo draws on as it develops. The albumen serves a different function, although it also supplies nutrients to the embryo, but both are external to the ovum and, later, to the embryo. See [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg#/media/File:Chicken_egg_diagram.svg) (vitellus = yolk). ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/47 "2018-02-24T22:26:54Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’ve wondered what can be done in such a situation other than facilitate a premature birth. I mean it’s not like they can stick a patch on the amniotic sac so the fluid can build up again. If the amniotic sac breaks at 36 weeks or greater and contractions have begun, then labor and delivery will proceed. If the amniotic sac breaks at 36 weeks or greater and contractions have not begun, then labor will be induced. The risk of infection is the biggest worry here and the odds of infection are high. It is better to deliver a 36 week infant that is healthy than it is to deliver a 36 week infant who has delveloped an infection from a prolonged, premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). At 35 weeks, whether labor is induced or not will depend on the facility where one reports in. Many hospitals cannot manage an infant of less than 36 weeks gestation. If one is at a facility that can manage a 35-36 week gestation infant, then that facility may try to get another week out of the pregnancy. Before 35 weeks, the pregnancy will attempt to be prolonged. I’ve attended women with PPROM as early as 17 weeks gestation. When the bag of water breaks this early, the outcome for the fetus is often poor. Babies need amniotic fluid for symmetrical growth and lung development. Without fluid, the fetus is compressed and suffers a condition called “Potter’s Syndrome” or “Potter’s Facies”. They may have contractures of the limbs from an inability to move in-utero. Compression in utero also risks damage to the umbilical cord which would normally be floating around in fliud. The cord may bend or kink, disrupting toe flow of blood to the infant- a true obstetric emergency. They will most likely have hyposplastic lungs. (If you opened a package of balloons and tried toblow one up, you would find that ballonn to be very stiff and difficult to inflate. You might stretch it a few times to loosen it up.) Hypoplastic lungs cannot be ventilated well using a respiratory ventilator. They are stiff and tend to rupture rather than inflate leading to rupture and bleeding.) With a PPROM between about 17 and 22 weeks, we would honor the wishes of the family. If they wish to preserve the pregnancy, we will try! If they wish to terminate and try again (or not) later on, we will assist. Any patient we get that is above 24 weeks (viability) but below 36 weeks will be admitted for infection monitoring and delivered when infection begins to set in or at the 36th week, whichever comes first. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/48 "2018-02-24T23:41:47Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > **Spoons** , have you heard from your friends? Not yet. Hopefully, I’ll hear something in the next few days. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/49 "2018-02-25T04:18:57Z")
> [@RadioWave](#): > > Interesting topic! A few more questions if I may… > > How much water are we talking about here? Is the Nile overflowing or are there but a few drops on the chair? Did the bar staff come out and mop up? Did you stay for the rest of the game? > > My kids were all delivered by c-section so we never got this far. The amount of fluid varies. At term, there is usually about a liter or so, but it can also be more or less. It can come out in one big wave leaving a good sized puddle wherever one was sitting, standing, or lying down. We call this the ‘positive footprint sign’ (a rare OB-GYN joke!). Or it can come out in a trickle so small that one is not really sure they are leaking fluid. If someone calls reporting this, we ask them to put on a sanitary napkin and to come in and get checked. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/50 "2018-02-25T05:49:24Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Be careful with the assumptions - or the stories of friends. I have a friend who was told she should have a c-section. She was high risk. She went to another doctor “you are high risk, you should have a c-section, and I won’t take you on as a patient unless you agree” - She found a nurse midwife who was willing to deliver - because “the doctors just want to get to their golf game - natural childbirth is best.” > > Whatever the first two doctors saw, they were right, she should have had a c-section. The baby was without oxygen for long enough that she is severely disabled. > > Thus I hate the “doctors do things for their own convenience” stories. I’m not saying it never happens, but if they are not doing it to get to lunch, and you think they are and don’t agree, the consequences can be tragic. Yep. Thanks for saying that. The reason that many OBs are quick to recommend c-section is because, overall, c-section IS safer for the baby and an emergency c-section can sometimes mean the difference between life and death for the baby. Ask any OBGYN and they will almost certainly be able to tell you about having seen horrible outcomes from situations like a mom who tried to have a home birth who waited too long to get help. Most OBGYNs have ended up having to deliver a dead baby from this kind of situation, when the baby most likely would have survived if they had been monitored at the hospital and a c-section could have been done quickly enough, so of course they are going to be quick to recommend a c-section knowing how badly things can go wrong. Nobody becomes an OBGYN because they are lazy or want to be sure they can get to all their golf games - it is one of the most difficult and demanding specialties of medicine. OBGYNs spend more time working than most other doctors do. Nobody would become an OBGYN because they want an easy lifestyle with predictable hours. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/51 "2018-02-25T06:13:14Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > snip > > Does anyone want to explain the mucus plug to these guys? Cause that’s weird. The mucus plug is just that, a plug of mucus that blocks the cervix to keep out gunk and pathogens during pregnancy. Nothing weird about it, to me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/52 "2018-02-26T03:21:24Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > **Spoons** , have you heard from your friends? > [@Spoons](#): > > Not yet. Hopefully, I’ll hear something in the next few days. Update: I’m happy to report good news. Sue and Tommy are the very proud parents of their first child: a happy and healthy baby girl. No idea what her name will be yet, but Sue and Baby are doing just fine, and Tommy is so pleased and proud. So, good news! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/53 "2018-02-26T17:26:02Z")
Hooray! We are celebrating a co-worker’s new baby boy over here. Fresh babies abounding!!! ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/54 "2018-02-27T01:51:08Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Update: I’m happy to report good news. > > Sue and Tommy are the very proud parents of their first child: a happy and healthy baby girl. No idea what her name will be yet, but Sue and Baby are doing just fine, and Tommy is so pleased and proud. > > So, good news! YAY! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/55 "2018-03-01T18:27:12Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > It can come out in one big wave leaving a good sized puddle wherever one was sitting, standing, or lying down. We call this the ‘positive footprint sign’ (a rare OB-GYN joke!). > > Or it can come out in a trickle so small that one is not really sure they are leaking fluid. If someone calls reporting this, we ask them to put on a sanitary napkin and to come in and get checked. Years ago I read the memoirs by a GYN who said that he’d get calls from patients about their vaginal bleeding. They were usually pretty hysterical (I know I’d be) and he’d sort of reset them by asking, “Is it running down your leg and filling your shoe?” so he could get some useful information about how serious it was. Then one time he got the answer, “Yes!” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/56 "2018-03-01T20:03:13Z")
They want the baby delivered within 24 hours, as broken water means the baby is no longer protected from infection. I believe most women go into labor shortly after that (or may well have already been in pre-labor), but if not, labor is generally induced within a few hours. Sadly, I fell into the latter category, which really, really sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/57 "2018-03-01T20:44:26Z")
Set up a college fund. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/58 "2018-03-01T21:56:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Set up a college fund. > > Regards, > Shodan You should have done that when you had a positive pregnancy test…time value of money is your friend and you’ve lost NINE MONTHS! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/59 "2018-03-01T22:03:37Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Years ago I read the memoirs by a GYN who said that he’d get calls from patients about their vaginal bleeding. They were usually pretty hysterical (I know I’d be) and he’d sort of reset them by asking, “Is it running down your leg and filling your shoe?” so he could get some useful information about how serious it was. Then one time he got the answer, “Yes!” :eek: This happened to my friend upthread – we’re out having dinner and she goes to the restroom and realizes she is bleeding, and into her shoe! Luckily we were a few minutes from the hospital. (She wasn’t having him, but this added to the clot that was crowding him in utero.) ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254/60 "2018-03-01T22:23:19Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Heh. My friend had a lot of bleeding in her uterus during pregnancy and the resulting clot growth-restricted the baby. When she went in to have him way early, she wanted to wait for his dad to get there. They told her “If you care about your baby, you’ll do this now”. :eek: I’m surprised I didn’t hear her yell from where I was miles away. She’d been trying to keep him alive and growing and they have the nerve to say that, because it fit their schedule better. She did get an apology later. I have to side with the doctors on that one - if there’s a medical need, you have the baby _now_, even if the dad misses out. Doesn’t sound anything at all like they were trying to schedule it for their convenience to me, but that they were worried the wait would cause problems. And if that is a legitimate worry, them I’m okay with being rude the patient to get that point through. Biggest issue to me is whether or not it’s more likely to get the patient to agree or to fight it - ie, whether it’s effective. And I took that as “if you wait for dad, you’re increasing the chances the child will die” - it’s cruel to say, but crueler not to make the situation clear to a patient that doesn’t seem to understand that. If they were lying, that’s a whole different thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-water-just-broke-okay-what-happens-now/809254.md?page=4)