Reasons for breaking the bag of waters?

[cappuccinosmom]

Why is this done? With my first, the doc just went ahead and did it. :

With the second, it popped on it's own (I heard it, and it was loud!!) when I started pushing.

It seems like it's common practice to make sure it's broken before birth, but why? I'd be willing to push a few more minutes if it meant my baby would be born in the caul--what would be the problem with that?

[momto l&a]

I have fopund that pushing is very hard for me with intact waters but as soon as the water breaks WOW pushing is so easy :lo

that said I would never want my bag broken by anybody. I just dont do interventions.

Actually last week when I was talking to a mw trying to find one near me she suggested that as an option. I about had a cow poor gal!

[ndunn]

I don't think there are any good reasons really, just doctors wanting to speed things up. IMO its meddlesome and I wouldn't let anyone do it to me.

[miriam]

Breaking the waters simply speeds up labor, or is supposed to.

AROM actually can open the mother up to infection and in the hospital, you need to deliver within 24 hours, so you are on the clock once that happens.

[jennica]

Since breaking the water speads up labor, isn't it used when there is some reason, or some perceived reason, to speed it up? Like funky heart tones for example? Maybe it isn't the best course of action, but isn't that one justifaction for it?

[mamatoady]

My bf and I both had homebirths with the same midwife. We also both had out water broke at 9, by our own choice. In my case, I was at 9 for a really long time and the midwife offered, but said it was my choice. It sometimes can speed things up, it can make pushing more powerful, it can also make your contractions hurt a hell of a lot more. She said that the reason my bag probably hadn't broken yet was because it was really thick. It is possible to deliver your baby in the bag of waters.

For me, once I broke my bag, I almost instantly dilated fully, started pushing and baby was born 20 minutes later.

-----------
another one of my friends went to hospital for induction as they idiotically broke her water at 3 to speed things up. she had a c-section later that night.

sarah

[Snowdrift]

I asked for mine to be broken and I still think it was the right thing to do. This was the circumstance:

DD was posterior/asynclitic. I'd been in labor for 32 hours or so. I'd been having some very intense experiences, almost like transition, for about twelve hours. Bc I was vomitting and felt so shaky I was having a hard time drinking and was gettying dehydrated. The midwife offered to attempt to manually reposition DD. I agreed. It worked, but I was afraid she'd turn back. I don't know why, but I was very worried about this--I remember askign the midwife about it twice. After asking about it at least twice she explained that the intanct BOW did make it more possible for her slip back posterior, and that she didn't think it would be problematic to break it at that point, since I was obviously very close to birthing. So I had her go ahead and do it. DD was born about 30 minutes later.

DD was not was going to be born posterior. She had to turn first. She was not descending properly, despite being quite dilated (I don't know for how long--I didn't request any 'checks' for dilation, and at the end I didn't ask, since it wasn't what I was concerned about). Some babies are born posterior, some turn first. DD was not gonna be born until she turned and straightened out. It could have been days longer.

As it was, she was exhausted and had a very hard time latching. Cranial-Sacral helped, but it was a rough couple of days. I think that she could have had more persistant latching and possibly other problems had she had to stay in that poor position for much longer.

I think partly this was a side-affect of pre-natal depression; when I was pregnant I spent a lot of time laying on my couch. This was a bad idea and probably--almost certainly--caused or contributed to her poor positioning.

i don't know if breaking the water was essential or not, but my instincts were telling me that her position was precarious. I wanted to do anything possible for her to not shift back into a back position, but I could not birth in the position that was optimal--it just felt wrong. AROM worked for me. It was done respectfully, reluctantly even, and at my informed request. It was peacefuly and it worked. In the same situation, I'd do the same thing again, but I hope to avoid that situation next time by being more careful about positoning when pg.

Contractions did not get worse, in fact, once the manual repositioning/AROM was done, they hurt a lot less. For a while the contractions felt *wrong*, like the baby was being pushed in the wrong direction, which to a degree was true. After those interventions it felt *good*, except for very slight tearing when her head was born

So that is my story of AROM.

[mwherbs]

it depends there may be a reason- it would be a case by case thing.
I have done ROM 1 time and been around it being done 2 other times outside a hospital or birth center. the time I did it mom 5th baby and mom was getting huge pushing urges- the bag had come through the os and was pooling an ever enlarging water balloon - mom was being triggered to push baby didn't move down actually baby went up higher- so we snipped the bag with scissors and the water drained off -she stopped having such a strong urge to push , almost instant relief and the baby was born 4-5 hrs later- the rupture did nothing as far as increasing contractions or stuff like that-- mom was up and walking around and dancing through the rest of labor and dripping some.
we have had so many recent babies born in the caul- I will need to count them up. with a caul birth we try to get the caul off the face by sticking a finger in at about the armpit and lifting off other wise the baby has a bag against the face that it cannot get air from.

[USAmma]

They will do it for emergency reasons (define emergency: sometimes true emergency, sometimes not). I asked for my waters to be broken at 10 cm because I was ready for her to be born. She practically slid out with a few easy pushes. Now I wonder, if I had waited, maybe she would have been born in the caul. That would have been neat.

My friend had two boys, and she had the bulging bag of water with both of them. She was very tired and pushing but the water was getting bigger and that's it. They broke the water and babies were born very soon after.

[apelilae]

We used Bradley and didn't want any intervention. My midwife recommended it because I was almost 9 cm dialated and my waters were bluging so much that it was causing bad pain and I couldn't walk or stand, but sitting and laying down were so much worse. After she broke them, I felt great and we had a wonderful birth.

[gen_here]

With my second, I chose to have AROM at 10, 100%, +3. I was in a lot of pain, and I asked my doctor to do it (against mt birth plan) if it would help get the baby out. She was out in three contractions (9 minutes).

I would not have asked for the rupture if I still had a bunch of dilating to do. I knew there was no way I'd still be at 10 in 24 hours - the baby was right there. But if the waters were ruptured and still no baby in 24 hours, that would have been an almost guaranteed section.

[Full Heart]

When I had my water broken with my 2nd it was because I was already laboring for 24 hours, 12 of which were at 7 cm. I was beyond exhausted from having transition contrax for that long. We were trying everything. AROM did nothing, and it resealed. I still transfered an hour later when it was clear nothing was working. I still had 12 more hours to go and thats with epidural and pit.

There are times to break it but I do think those times are rare. And not all of those reasons are for physical/medical reasons. Sometimes its done for psychological reasons. Ultimately it should be the mothers choice.

[FreeThinkinMama]

Mine were broken early in labor, I was about 4cm. It wasn't a question, the nurse just said "the dr is on his way to break your waters and start the pit." No one asked me for my opinion and I didn't know of any of the risks(which include from what I've read a prolapsed cord).

Fortunately we didn't have anything like that happen and she was born 7 hours later