How do midwives break your waters

She recently retired from her position as an obstetrical safety officer, and is currently a freelance medical writer and reviewer as well as a part-time school nurse. Urang has an enduring interest in the Syrian refugee crisis, and prior to the pandemic, participated in five missions to Jordan and Lebanon to provide gynecology and obstetrics care to women in various clinics and camps. Join now to personalize. Photo credit: iStock.

On the pro side, having an amniotomy may: make labor shorter reduce your chances of needing Pitocin a synthetic version of the hormone that stimulates contractions. Umbilical cord compression can cause your baby's heart rate to slow down, which may, in some cases, lead to a c-section.

How is an amniotomy done? Why might my provider break my water artificially? Sources BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world.

Featured video. Do I have to get an IV during labor? Fetal monitoring. Tommy's — the baby charity. What to expect when your waters break.

Amniotic fluid. Show references Hide references. Enter your due date or child's birthday dd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 mm Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec yyyy Trying to conceive? We use your health information to make our site even more helpful. By clicking the button, you agree to our policies and to get emails from us.

Join BabyCentre. Sign up to receive free emails and track your baby's development. Track my baby. Most popular in Pregnancy. See all in Community. See all in Getting Pregnant. See all in Pregnancy. See all in Preschooler. See all in Life as a Parent. See all in Video. You might also like You might also like. Why does heavy bleeding happen soon after birth? Inside pregnancy: labour and birth Video. How long will I stay in hospital after the birth? If your baby requires close monitoring, your obstetrician or midwife may need to break the amniotic sac.

Amniotomy is required when internal fetal monitoring is needed, as a monitor must be placed on the baby's scalp. Breaking the bag of waters must also be done to insert an intrauterine pressure catheter. In this procedure, a catheter is placed in the uterus to determine the strength of contractions.

Breaking the bag of waters can reveal the presence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid. If meconium is found during amniotomy, it gives the healthcare team time to plan appropriate measures, which will depend on the thickness of the meconium.

Before your bag of waters is broken, your obstetrician will calculate a number known as the Bishop's score. The score gives an estimate of the "favorability" of your cervix, which in turn helps estimate if breaking your bag of waters is likely to start labor or not. Your Bishop's score is calculated by assigning points based on the dilation of your cervix, your effacement how thin your cervix has become , your fetal station how low the baby is in your pelvis , as well as its consistency and position.

A score of 8 or more means your cervix is "favorable" and there is a good chance of having a vaginal delivery. Your bag of waters should not be broken unless your fetal station is 0 or positive. If your cervix is not favorable your Bishop's score is less than 6 , induction with amniotomy and pitocin is usually not recommended. However, there are other procedures, such as using prostaglandin gel or Cytotec misoprostol to ripen your cervix, which may be recommended instead.

You may also choose to wait until your cervix is more favorable. There are a few situations in which amniotomy should not be performed. These are usually fairly obvious and can be determined by reviewing a routine ultrasound during the second trimester or later and performing a vaginal exam.

These include:. After explaining an amniotomy and making sure your cervix is "ripe," your obstetrician or midwife will get you set up for the procedure. Then, your doctor or midwife will perform a careful vaginal exam to make sure the baby's head is firmly applied to your cervix.

The membranes will be snagged using an amnihook a large device with a small sharp end, similar to a crochet hook or an amnicot a glove with a small sharp hook at the end of one finger. After a tear in the bag is created, the amniotic fluid will begin to flow out.

It may unleash a lot of fluid at once or begin as just a small trickle. You will continue to leak fluid in small amounts for the remainder of your labor.

Breaking the bag of waters shouldn't be any more painful than a regular vaginal exam to check your cervix. Once the amniotic sac has been broken, the labor team will continue to monitor you and your baby. If you want to get up and walk around, your nurse will give you a large mesh pad to catch any drainage. You may begin to have contractions or feel like your baby has dropped further in your pelvis. Like when labor and birth aren't "normal," FYI: what is considered normal is a wide-ranging spectrum , or when there is a problem and intervention is necessary for the health and safety of parent and baby.

The problem is, artificially breaking water is often done routinely during labor in the United States, whether or not speeding up labor is a concern. In the normal course of labor and birth, your bag of waters technically called your membranes or amniotic sac will break at some point in labor on their own if they haven't already done so before labor began. Less commonly, your baby could be born with the amniotic sac completely intact, which is known as being born "en caul.

So what's the big deal? If breaking your water in labor will speed things along, where's the harm? First, let's make one thing clear: breaking your water in labor does not guarantee that your labor will speed up or that you will get to birth any quicker than if it were intact. In fact, some evidence shows that breaking your water in labor does not have an effect on shortening the length of labor. You might be thinking, "Yeah, but what if it could help? What's the harm in trying?

These are risks and drawbacks to having your water artificially broken in labor:. Of course, there are potential benefits to having your water manually broken, too.