water broke at 7 mos

[Cuau]

So a friend's sister in law is pregnant into her 7mo. Her water broke last saturday but was not admitted to the hospital until monday night.

What are the baby chances to make it?

I don't want to be fatalistic, but I don't see a lot of options here

[mtlmommy]

My water broke at 31 weeks (so, in my seventh month) due to a placental abruption. I was admitted to the hospital immediately, given steriod shots to mature baby's lungs, and gave birth 4 days later. My daughter was breathing on her own and did extremely well (no real health issues, except apnea, which is common and normal in preemies). She came home 4 weeks later. In fact, we haven't even reached her due date yet (she was due March 21). The survival rate past 30 weeks is very high, and the odds that the baby will not have any long term problems is good too. The most important thing is that the baby gets the steriod shots in the hospital at least 48 hours before delivery.

[Cuau]

Thanks mama, and congrats on you baby!

What I'm concerned about is that she was not admited in the hospital unitl almost 48 hours after her water broke.
You are right, if the baby's lungs are mature then probably it wouldn't be too bad but we just don't know

[poiyt]

There are women whose waters break but they do not give birth for days afterwards - they key is to drink A LOT to stay hydrated, and to eat healthily. Granted, these women did go into labour on their own - but I would imagine that it isnt a huge deal that she wasnt seen right away.

[plantmama]

My first ds was born at almost 30 weeks gestation. The only problem might be if she had an infection but I'm sure they've checked the baby via ultrasound etc. 30 weekers + typically have excellent results. And I've known of women who don't give birth for weeks after PPROM.
The baby's lungs probably aren't mature. Ds needed help breathing (not a vent though) for many weeks. He was in the NICU for 6 weeks. Couldn't keep his oxygen levels high enough for weeks without a little blow by. Couldn't nurse until he was 35 weeks and then it was very tiring for him. He's perfectly normal and healthy at 5 years old and other than his NICU stay and prolonged newborn stage was a joy of a baby.
I think you are being a little fatalistic. Or maybe you are more concerned about the amniotic fluid? Women replace their amniotic fluid. The baby isn't breathing in there. That should be fine as well.

[Cuau]

thanks mamas, the doctor said 50% chances for the baby so that made me feel a little unsure.
thanks again

[snowmom5]

50% chance the baby will make it? That doesn't make sense to me unless they think the baby is already suffering from infection, in which case they would already have delivered. With a high level NICU, the survival rate for 30+ weeks is quite high, like 95+%.

I had p-prom at 33w, and delivered about 8 hours later (vbac). One of my babies was septic, and I think that infection was probably pre-existing and probably what brought on the p-prom. The nicu was not so fun, but he is alive, after all (pathetically, I never even considered any other possibility at the time). Now he is 6 y.o.

Good luck to your friend's sil. Please keep us updated.

[an_aurora]

I work at a hospital in the perinatal unit and we have several women who's water broke very early (one who had SROM at 16 weeks, one at 20 weeks, a couple at 22-26 weeks). They just watch them closely for months for signs of fever and the vast majority of the time they do very well.

We had one woman who ruptured before 20 weeks (she had a cerclage placed a few days prior) and she delivered recently at 37 weeks. The baby was totally fine but had a small cut on his head from her cerclage stitches, since his little head was rubbing on her stitches without the buffer of fluid.

[SublimeBirthGirl]

50%? THat does not sound right.

I can only say what *I* would do if this happened to me. I would stay hydrated, keep everything out of my vagina, take it easy and monitor the baby very, very often. The BOW can reseal, for one thing. I wouldn't consent to that early of a birth probably, if the only issue was a leaking bag. That's just my opinion for myself.