rupture of membranes--how?

Hello! I'm 24 wks pregnant with b/g twins. I'm confused about ruptured membranes. What puts you at a higher risk of your water breaking prematurely? I know that falling can, but what about something as simple as a hard belly laugh or a major coughing fit?

Thank you for your insight!

 

Actually I've never read anywhere that falling can make your water break. I'm sure it could happen in a major traumatic accident...but most routine falls won't make your water break. Coughing and laughing certainly won't do it. Although, if your pelvic floor muscles aren't very toned coughing or laughing might make you leak urine...which is why you should be doing kegel exercises...google it for a description...to strengthen those muscles down there. They do theorize that a certain bacteria can make your water break earlier...which is why frequent vaginal checks are not always the best idea in the world. however, in a twin pg you also want to make sure a patient isn't going into labor if, say, she is having ctx...so you have to balance out the risk of introducing bacteria which could increase the likelihood of breaking the waters, with the risk of missing the fact that the patient is dilating. So it's a toss up sometimes. For the majority of women water will not break unless you are in active labor. For some women who do have their water break prematurely, it does not always mean labor is imminent...there have been women on here who have held off labor for a few weeks on hospital bedrest after their water breaks....your body continues to produce amniotic fluid, and although there is an increase chance of infection, sometimes if the baby is too premature it's better to risk infection than deliver simply b/c the membranes have ruptured. For some women with small leaks the sac can actually close back up and a normal gestation can be reached. So it's not as dramatic or final an issue as what the movies make it to be.

My water broke with my first dd when I was hardly dilated at all, but had been having serious ctx for about 3 hours...at 40wks 3 days. With my twins, I reached 37wks 5 days in time for my scheduled c/s, dilated to 2cm, and my water never broke. Some women will actually reach 8 or 9 cm and still without their water breaking. So it just shows that it really varies...but for the most part when it happens you know it...most women will gush water...no mistaking it b/c it couldn't be your bladder...no way that much urine would fit in your bladder being so pg. When a woman is just constantly "wet" it could be either amniotic fluid or a leaky bladder...and lots of women come back from L&D totally embarassed b/c what they thought was their water is just urine leaking.... But it's definitely a good idea to be checked out if you feel like you are constantly leaking out fluid. okay, hope that gives you a little more information..

 

FYI--loss mentioned in this post...



with her first twins, my mom's water broke around one of the babies at 16 weeks when she fell. The doctors told her she had just "wet herself" but she ended up going into labor and losing both twins.

When she got pregnant again with us, (her second twins) they put her on bedrest at the beginning because she had lost the others in the second tri. Well, she had not one symptom of PTL and carried us to 37 weeks.

So, yeah, a hard fall CAN cause PROM, but mom always said it was a pretty hard fall.

 

Susanna+3 and Ladybenz--Thank you for providing me with this clarifying information! For some reason, I am especially paranoid about my water breaking early. I don't know why since this is my first pregnancy (so, I don't have a history of it). I get lots of watery cervical mucus, though, and it freaks me out! I had my doctor check it and she said it was fine. But it's SO MUCH. I feel like I'm always "wet." Anyway, over Thanksgiving, I laughed so hard that my belly hurt! It made me worried that it might cause a rupture of membranes. So, thanks for the information. Ladybenz, I am sorry to hear about your mother's losses. Thank you for telling me about her experience.

 

This will be my fourth pregnancy and I am STILL paranoid about my water breaking early. My water broke when I was almost 37weeks with my first son and had to be broken with my second. I think twin pregnancies just make us more nervous and on edge! I have a cold and every time I sneeze, it terrifies me!

 

QUOTE(excitedbutnervous @ Nov 24 2007, 09:37 AM) [snapback]506943[/snapback]
Susanna+3 and Ladybenz--Thank you for providing me with this clarifying information! For some reason, I am especially paranoid about my water breaking early. I don't know why since this is my first pregnancy (so, I don't have a history of it). I get lots of watery cervical mucus, though, and it freaks me out! I had my doctor check it and she said it was fine. But it's SO MUCH. I feel like I'm always "wet." Anyway, over Thanksgiving, I laughed so hard that my belly hurt! It made me worried that it might cause a rupture of membranes. So, thanks for the information. Ladybenz, I am sorry to hear about your mother's losses. Thank you for telling me about her experience.



ah the lovely discharge, sorry if TMI but you can expect it throughout pregnancy and it might even get worse you can always wear a minipad.
if it is pink tinged or other weird color let your Dr. know.

I was also one of the "embarrassed" to have a big "leak" wasn't sure if my water broke or I just had an accident, fortunately it was the latter..but I was really worried since I was just barely 31 weeks (I think) at the time. :blush: But it is important to get checked just in case too, L&D is used to that sort of thing and is better to be on the safe side IMHO.

I think I started sleeping with a couple of folded towels under my waist at around 32 week b/c I was so sure my water was going to break any day, I ended up having it broken for me to induce labor at 39 weeks so you just never know!

HTH
Alyson