Breaking Water

[poisonedpenny]

Explain to me the risks and problems associated with having my water broken in order to induce labor.

[alegna]

In no particular order:

could cause cord prolapse

puts you "on the clock"
thereby increasing your chance of:
interventions
pitocin
c-section

increased chance of infection
if done to "induce" labor, could result in a baby not ready to be born yet


-Angela

[nashvillemidwife]

cord prolapse
cord compression
infection

(The infection risk is real, and that's why you're "put on the clock".)

[alegna]

Originally Posted by nashvillemidwife

(The infection risk is real, and that's why you're "put on the clock".)

It can be *reduced* if NOTHING is allowed in the vagina- no checks of any sort. But it's hard to find practitioners to agree to that.

-Angela

[Romana]

~

[Romana]

~

[alegna]

Originally Posted by Romana9+2

Not to mention that if you have AROM, something has already been allowed in the vagina - at least the amniohook (or whatever it's called).

Very true.

-Angela

[Nan'sMom]

Isn't there also some danger from the hook? As in poking somewhere sensitive on either mom or baby? The thought of it completely freaks me out to tell you the truth!

[danotoyou2]

Speaking of this! I watched a Baby Story this morning (I know, I know)... so the doctor checks the cervix with one gloved hand... then grabs the amnio-hook with his other UNGLOVED HAND, and then puts it in the gloved hand to break the waters.

Um... maybe I'm just a paranoid germa-phobe, but that's how infections happen!!! I don't care if he just washed his hand. That ungloved hand had been resting on the woman's belly, where countless nurses had been adjusting the monitors and feeling the belly for contractions. Ew!

Sorry, just had to vent about that. Makes me sick how doctors put women in harms way, and then do stupid things to make it even worse.

[BakerALM]

I also remember reading a thread awhile ago about the rare possibility of having veins on the surface of the bag. If the hook was to catch the vein a hemorrhage could occur.

[Turquesa]

http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.co...167/frame.html

"Amniotomy was associated with an increased risk of delivery by caesarean section compared to women in the control group, although the difference was not statistically significant (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.62)."

And ...

"On the basis of the findings of this review, we cannot recommend that amniotomy should be introduced routinely as part of standard labour management and care. We do recommend that the evidence presented in this review should be made available to women offered an amniotomy and may be useful as a foundation for discussion and any resulting decisions made between women and their caregivers."

There's more research out there and, if my memory serves me right, most of it says that amniotomy has little to no effect on inducing or augmenting labor.

[rabbitmum]

I had my waters broken to induce my last birth. It did work, so I didn't need any pitocin, but it was stressful for me to know that if I didn't have any decent contractions in XYZ time, they would start insisting on pitocin, which I really didn't want. I felt like breaking the waters made the contractions much more painful (compared to my previous two births) but of course I don't know what they would have been like otherwise.

[tireesix]

I had my waters broken with my first despite having a shoddy bishops score (I wasn't even 2 cm dilated) and it hurt like hell......... The obstetrician said it was the worst one she had ever performed (ummmmmm, so if things aren't looking good, why do it?). Contractions started fast, no easing in to them, one minute there was nothing, the next minute everything started in such an intense way.

I guess for some mums it all works out kinda ok but there is no way I would go through that again.

[Shelsi]

Originally Posted by danotoyou2

Speaking of this! I watched a Baby Story this morning (I know, I know)... so the doctor checks the cervix with one gloved hand... then grabs the amnio-hook with his other UNGLOVED HAND, and then puts it in the gloved hand to break the waters.

Um... maybe I'm just a paranoid germa-phobe, but that's how infections happen!!! I don't care if he just washed his hand. That ungloved hand had been resting on the woman's belly, where countless nurses had been adjusting the monitors and feeling the belly for contractions. Ew!

Sorry, just had to vent about that. Makes me sick how doctors put women in harms way, and then do stupid things to make it even worse.

OT, but when birth first moved into hospitals the women started dying at huge rates and they couldn't figure out why. Turns out the docs were going downstairs, messing around with the dead people, then going upstairs and doing cervical checks without washing their hands (it was before the whole germ theory). Ewwww.