"Will I Birth My Baby in front of everyone?"
A question you might have been asking yourself is "will my waters break in public? Will I birth my baby in front of everyone?"
This is a very common worry for many people and the answer is - highly unlikely, no! It is very unlikely that you will be walking around ASDA/Boots/Superdrug/Mama's & Papa's and your waters suddenly break and your baby pops out. That would be quite easy really, wouldn't it?
There are 3 most likely, common scenarios that you will find.
You go to the toilet or stand up and you lose some of your waters, with a mini gush. The rest will keep coming away gradually over the rest of the day. Put a pad on and change it regularly, keeping an eye on the colour. Give your maternity team a call and let them know that you think your waters might have gone. You might or might not be feeling any discomfort/contractions. Your baby will not just suddenly appear. Unless of course you are prone to having fast labours. In which case, get to your birth place ASAP.
You are already in labour, you've been having contractions and your waters break. You're unlikely to be out and about shopping if you know that you're in early labour, but if you are and you do decide to go and do some last minute baby shopping, put on a pad before you go out. This will save you the embarrassment of a big wet patch on your bum! If you are in established labour though, you'll be wanting to go home/hospital, find your safe space and get comfortable. You'll not be wanting to continue shopping.
You experience a hind water leak. This is where your waters break at the top of the sac. It's a bit like a small puncture and your waters come away like a slow trickle to begin with. Many women towards the end of pregnancy might experience a small trickle of liquid. It can be tricky to know whether this is your waters leaking or just a bit of urine. By the time you reach 40 weeks, your pelvic floor isn't as strong as it used to be, so leaking a bit of urine isn't uncommon. However, you might be able to tell yourself if its waters or urine. Urine has a strong ammonia smell, whereas amniotic fluid (waters) has a straw like colour or could be brown or green. It might have flecks of white bits in it and doesn't really smell. It's odourless and clear. The chances are that if it's your waters, you'll experience it again and it'll keep on coming. It's always best to contact your maternity team though, if you experience any leaking fluid. Especially if it's green, bloody or brown.
For some women, their waters don't break until they are well into established labour. Some babies (very very rare and said to be lucky) are actually born with their waters still in tact. This is called an En caul birth and often referred to as a mermaid birth.
The majority of women will find that when their waters break, they will still have plenty of time to get to their birth place. It's not at all how you might have seen it on TV. Labour is usually long and slow and stop, start for many people, especially first time Mum's.
Hopefully, that's one worry that you can relax about now!
A great tip that you might want to do, from around 38 weeks of pregnancy, is putting some old towels or plastic sheeting under your bed sheet. If your waters break in the middle of the night, whilst you're sleeping (mine did) you don't want a soggy mattress!
If you have any worries or concerns about your upcoming birth, please reach out and get in touch. I'd love to support you in having a positive birth experience, where you feel calm and confident.
Get in touch if you'd like to discuss any of my packages in more detail.
Julia x