How do you know if your water breaks?

Answer 1

First, a quick definition of what it means when your "water breaks": your baby lives in a sac filled with amniotic fluid. In preparation for birth, this sac will eventually open, letting amniotic fluid leak through the vaginal opening. Since your amniotic fluid is constantly replaced anyway, this doesn't mean that the baby is at any risk - you can go 24-48 hours without delivering the baby before most practitioners consider it a problem, while other practitioners will let women go days with just simple, antibiotic precautions to make sure the baby's environment isn't compromised with bacteria.

The first sign that your water has broken is fluid coming from your vaginal opening. Although books and movies usually depict this as a big gush and splash, it is more commonly felt as just a trickle of fluid. Because a trickle can so easily be something else, such as an increase in vaginal secretions or a bladder leak, women can be confused about whether or not their water has broken.

A reasonable home test you can perform is to clean up and dry off after you detect fluid, and then either put on a clean pair of underwear or put on a dry sanitary napkin. If you're not at home, a sanitary napkin may be easier, since most women aren't carrying around spare underwear "just in case". Then lie down for half an hour; if your water has broken, the amniotic fluid should pool in the vagina. After the half hour, stand up and check your underwear or pad; if it's dry, it is very unlikely that your water has broken. If it is wet, this doesn't mean that your water has broken, but you'll need to check further.

Any time you are concerned about your water breaking, you can feel comfortable calling your doctor/midwife/doula and asking for help. They may be able to suggest additional tests you can do at home, or they may ask you to come in for a test. If you do go in for a test, the doctor may give a pelvic exam. He or she may also take a sample of the fluid and test it by using litmus paper - amniotic fluid will cause litmus to react - or by placing a sample on a microscope slide, letting it dry, and examining it. Amniotic fluid will fern when dried - the dried fluid takes on a pattern similar to a fern - and this will show under a microscope.

Two signs that people will often say to look for to determine whether your water has broken are the smell and color of the fluid. Amniotic fluid is a very pale straw color and has what is generally described as a "sweet" smell. However, the flaw here is that, when you have been working on staying properly hydrated, urine is also a very pale straw color, so color doesn't help much in determining what type of fluid you're leaking. Likewise, when you have dilute urine due to good hydration, it doesn't have a strong smell, so you can easily mistake one for the other. If you are passing fluid that is green or dark tinged call your doctor or midwife as this is a sign the baby has had a bowel movement and needs to be monitored.

Whether or not you are having contractions is also not a great indicator of whether your water has broken or not. Some women go into labor and go to the hospital without ever having their water break; the doctor will break it during delivery. Other women will have their water break and yet not have any real onset of labor for a significant period of time.

Answer 2

Trust me, when you're water breaks more then likely you will know. There may be a sudden gush of water, or it can just leak, kind of like a leaky faucet. (drip drip drip) If you're water breaks and it just leaks, you will probably change your pad 4times in an hour. If you think your water has broken and the fluid is not clear, contact your doctor immediatly, and if you can not reach your doctor, go to the ER. Your baby may be in distress if the fluid is not clear.

Answer 3

Usually it occurs all of a sudden and you may feel as if you have suddenly wet yourself. Sometimes, only some of the waters will leak, and you will find yourself losing smaller amounts of fluid especially during a contraction. It should be clearish in color and can be distinguished from urine by the odor. If the fluid becomes greenish in color, your baby may be in distress.

Answer 4

I'm not being cheeky or anything,

but this 1 is KINDA obvious:

you can tell when your waters have/are breaking during late months of Pregnacy when a huge puddle of water comes from in-between your legs lol, this woz not meant to be sarcastic I just thought u'd b able to work that one out for urself xx

Answer 5

Put a tissue at your vagina then give a light push on your lower belly. if there is a water, means your water bag already stripped. but when it is break you will like you are peeing but you can stop it like real pee.

Answer 6

you start too feel weird