can midwifes always tell if waters have broken?

There is only one foolproof way to check for broken water and that is for an ultrasound to be done.

You maybe just had a 'hindwater' leak, probably due to all that extra pressure from you baby.

If your waters have broken, the UK, guidelines from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence state that it is acceptable to wait up to 96 hours after prelabour rupture of membranes. The danger is that your baby is more vulnerable to infection once the waters have broken.

However, if your midwife is not worried, you shouldn't be either! Even tho it is hard not to be!

Best of luck with baby and delivery.

x

During your exam, she probably either tested the vagina using a special paper that detects amniotic fluid or took a sample to view under the microscope.

A midwife or doctor CAN be wrong sometimes-they are only human-but I would trust that she knows what she is doing. It is relatively easy for a medical professional (including a midwife) to know the difference between urine and amniotic fluid.

It is sometimes embarassing to admit that we may have had a urine leak, but it happens during pregnancy. Towards the end (I believe you said you are 40 weeks) it is likely because of the baby moving down. It could be that labor is starting, and the baby is descending and putting pressure on your bladder, causing leaks. Do not worry about it.

For most women, the water does not break until they are at the hospital anyway, already in labor and it either breaks on its own or is manually broken by the doctor or midwife.

Congratulations, by the way!

They usually ask you to wear a panty liner or use a test strip to see if your waters have broken. My sister had a very slow leak for 24 hours before she went into labour, her midwife was convinced her waters hadn't broken but did a test to be on the safe side - turned out they had broken, but cos the head was so low down it was preventing any more leakage. Apparently, in rare cases, some women can lose fluid and then the sac heals back over so there is no more leakage. I would ring the midwifes number on your notes and get a second opinion - as you are so far gone they may ask you to go into hospital for some tests, possibly even a scan just to see.

Midwives are usually very experienced and are pretty accurate when telling you that your water has broken or not. They can do two different test with a vaginal exam one is using a pH test strip which turns a certain color if your water is broken. The other is a ferning test where they take a swab of the fluid in the vagina and put it on a slide to look at under a microscope. Amniotic fluid when it dries does so in a pattern that looks like a fern where as normal vaginal fluid looks differently. If you are still concerned that your water has broken call your providers office and ask if you can see someone different. If that's not possible you can call Labor and Delivery at the facility you plan to use and see if they will see you. Good luck.

Don't rely on your water breaking as the sign that determines when you should go to the hospital. It is very common that your water will not break until you are pretty far along in labor, even 10cm dilated. If you think your water may have broken (a gush or trickle of fluid that keeps coming out at random times and amounts) then call your caregiver and do what she/he says to do at that time. You may begin having contractions first though and need to go to the hospital before your water breaks. It all just depends.

My mum had a slow leak for a week with me and ok its sometime ago and she was told mmm it maybe but hey mums know best always trust your own judgment i mean even midwifes can get it wrong and you would know if you had weed yourself call the hospital as if they have gone you could be open to infection al the best xxx

Go into the hospital they have specail paper strips in the Labor and Delivery ward that will turn blue if amniotic fluid is present. Go in right away, because you run the risk of getting an infection if you don't deliver soon.

sounds as if youre right, the fluid also smells different too, kind of like a new born baby ! You will prob start properly very very soon !! Best of luck X

You would hope so wouldn't you! If you're really in doubt I'd go to your maternity wing and just have a quick check, I'm sure they wouldn't mind! Good luck

they have little paper strips they can check with. Mine only broke a little and thank god I went in and had it checked because you can get an infection if you don't have your baby once your water has broken!