Fear of water breaking at work

[FireflyFan]

I have had an irrational fear of my water breaking at work. I plan to work up until the baby's born (not literally though! You know what I mean!), and this is the first time I've held a FT job while pregnant.

The only time my water broke before labor was when the MW stripped my membranes, so hopefully this fear of mine is wholly irrational.

Still....how common is it for water to break while out in public?

[mamabear&babybear]

I don't think that it is all that common. I've read that it is rare to have your water break before labor begins let alone be in public when it happens. That said, mine did break at work. Fortunately it wasn't a huge gush right away. It stayed at a slow trickle for quite some. Try not to worry too much; as I'm sure you know there a few things that aren't exactly glamourous about being a mom, but you do it anyway.

[bdoody11]

I literally am working up to the end of my pregnancy and have thought about this. I plan on keeping some pads or a prefold with me in my purse so I'm always ready no matter where we are.

[mom2mimi]

I don't think water breaking is all that common. Mine never broke till I started pushing, FWIW.

[Gray's Mommy]

My water broke spontaneously while I was vacuuming the carpet I felt a small pop and leaked right there. I had a pad on, just in case, since I was a few days past my due date. I didn't gush or anything-just changed my pad & panties & went on my way to call DH & my doula.

[sadean]

With my 2nd and 3rd child I literally worked up to the day before they were born.

DC#1- My water was broken by the midwife while I was in active labor:
DC#2- Water was broken by the midwife during an exam to check dialation
DC#3-Water broke spontaniously at home and was a slow trickle for hours...I wasn't even sure that it had broken for several hours

[veggijessie]

I had the same fear that my water would break in public and then it happened! It was really funny! DH, DD and I were at the park. I was sitting on the grass while they were playing when I stood up it just gushed. I yell at DH (he is about 15 feet away) that my water just broke and he says "don't worry about it we have more water in the car" I then yelled that MY water broke and he totally freaked out and started laughing. I then spent the next 3 days dripping before DH delivered our son!

Your water breaking can be scairy but most people help you instead of running from you. If it happens you cant do anything about it but you might get a funny story to tell!

[FireflyFan]

Originally Posted by veggijessie

Your water breaking can be scairy but most people help you instead of running from you. If it happens you cant do anything about it but you might get a funny story to tell!

Actually, Part 2 of my fear is that, because no one at work knows of my HB/UC plans, I don't think they'd understand, and I worry that if I gushed in such a big way that it was noticeable, that someone would call the ambulance or hound me about going to a hospital.

Fortunately DH works nearby - I've told him that IF this were to happen, I'd call him right away and he'd hopefully have a chance to whisk me away before any well-meaning co-workers intervened.

[yonit]

Firefly,

If you NEVER have a vaginal exam, your chances of water breaking before labor go way down. If left on it's own, and never messed with, you amniotic bag generally breaks around 6-8 cm, Not always of course, and there are exceptions but it is very unusual. Your forewaters also may develop a leak, but that would be very easy to hide from your co-workers.

[~*~MamaJava~*~]

:
Lurking in your ddc and had to post!

Not to rain on your parade...but...with ds2 my waters broke while in line at the bank (With ds1 they broke at home when I was in bed). Seems to be the way labor starts for me!

Anyways, big gush and all.

I was wearing a super maxi pad at the time to deal with pee leaks, thank goodness, so no one noticed. I was giggly at the teller though because I was just thinking, if they only KNEW they would have totally freaked.

Anyways, got my banking done and hopped in the car, drove home sitting on dh's old coat. My pants didn't get really wet for the first few minutes, so I had escape time.

Now, in my case, no contractions for a few hours after that. It would be awfully complicated if I had gone into serious labor right then and there, I suppose.

FWIW, with both those pregnancies I had had internal exams, 1 or 2, but several days before my water broke, so I dont think they're related. We'll have to see what happens this time!

So my rec is - and what I do now is - wear protection at all times! I have a super duper cloth pad from Homemade Mama (well, 4 of them) - I don't leave home without it

I have never heard of this happening to anyone else though.

[WinterBaby]

I haven't any advice, but this concern did remind me of one of the goofiest things I've ever read in a pregnancy book, although I can't for the life of me remember which one. It advised carry a jar of pickles (I think this was especially grocery store specific,) and to drop the jar if your water broke to mask the fact. Apparently pickle juice is similarly colored or some such. Either way, as I envisaged myself carrying around a large jar of pickles in the final weeks of pregnancy, ready to smash it to the floor should god-forbid, my water break, I judged that it would be a sign I had finally lost my mind entirely to pregnancy hormones. Sent me into gales of laughter that gave me a lot of braxton hicks. I shoulda read that a few more times in the final weeks, huh?

[yonit]

Originally Posted by ~*~MamaJava~*~

:
FWIW, with both those pregnancies I had had internal exams, 1 or 2, but several days before my water broke, so I dont think they're related. We'll have to see what happens this time!

Actually, I forget the exact time frame but I beleive that it has been found that a vaginal exam up to a week or so before can be directly related to PROM (premature rupture of membranes - breaking before labor begins). Otherwise, PROM would always occur right in the doctors office.

Not saying that that happened in your case, because as I said originally there are exceptions, but I wouldn't over rule it as a contributing factor just because the vaginal exam was done a few days earlier.

Also, I forgot to mention originally, but if this is something that you are very concerned about, taking Vitamin C can help strengthen the amniotic membrane making it less likely to break.

[mama~anna]

Only about 15% of women start labor with their water breaking. So hopefully you will be part of the 85% who begin labor with contractions or other signs. Then you won't be at work when your water breaks

With my first baby the midwife actually broke my water while I was pushing, with my second it broke on its own while I was in the bathtub and had been having contractions for several hours, I was probably about 6 centimeters or so at the time.

[nonconformnmom]

Not in your DDC, but I just have to share. While I was pregnant, I used to wish that my water would break in public. Especially at work. I just thought it would be so funny and such a fun way to start my baby's journey earthside.

Think about it this way, at what other time in life could a massive release of bodily fluids in public be a time of celebration and happy excitement?

[veggijessie]

Originally Posted by yonit

Firefly,

If you NEVER have a vaginal exam, your chances of water breaking before labor go way down. If left on it's own, and never messed with, you amniotic bag generally breaks around 6-8 cm, Not always of course, and there are exceptions but it is very unusual. Your forewaters also may develop a leak, but that would be very easy to hide from your co-workers.

I never had even one vaginal exam the whole pg, no one got near me until he was crowning, that is how I was able to go 3 days with my water broken. I must be part of that small percent where the water breaks first!