WATERS BREAKING | ‘When my waters broke with my first baby I was shocked,’ says Sandy, 33, and 5 months pregnant with her second baby, ‘I had no idea that one cup or more of clear fluid would pop out of me.’ Your waters may break suddenly to be followed swiftly by contractions and a baby. This can be a surprising (though not painful) moment, particularly if it’s earlier than you’d expected: ‘Celeste came three weeks early,’ says Mary, mother of Celeste and Nell. ‘My waters broke at four in the morning and I felt all this water just gushing and gushing out – I was certainly not prepared for that.’ But the breaking of waters is not the Biblical sign of labour’s onset that popular myth implies. Many women’s waters break ages before they feel any contractions. ‘My waters broke at 11 p.m. and I couldn’t sleep all night, out of excitement and fear,’ says Jennie, 28, mother of Poppy, 3. ‘I was beside myself when nothing had happened by the morning. Eventually, my labour was induced – 24 hours later.’ About nine out of ten women go into labour naturally within 24–48 hours of their waters breaking. If your waters break and labour doesn’t begin, you should call your midwife. The hospital will want to assess you and the baby for any signs of infection if labour doesn’t start soon. They’ll check whether your waters were clear (i.e. there were no signs of ‘meconium’ or baby’s first poo. This makes the waters look green or brownish and can signal that the baby is in distress). They’ll also check the baby’s heart rate and whether you have any temperature, and they’ll do a vaginal swab. The official government guidelines are that if you are having a healthy pregnancy and are ‘at term’ (i.e. your waters have not broken prematurely) you can be monitored like this for up to 72 hours (at which point, they will have to induce labour as the risk of infection rises).
For other women, the waters don’t break until they are well into established labour. Once in a while babies can even be born with the bag of waters intact.
Word of caution: if you think at any time in pregnancy that fluid is coming out of you (even if it’s just a dribble) then call your midwife. It might be a little leaking pee, but it needs to be checked.
IT COULD BE LABOUR IF:
You have been pregnant for at least 38 weeks
You have an increased backache or feel pressure in your pelvis or bottom
Your nesting urge skyrockets
You have soft poos, or diarrhoea
You have a bloody show
Your vaginal discharge changes (more thick and mucous like)
You feel a manageable, but slightly painful tightening in your abdomen that may not be an intermittent Braxton Hicks contraction
You are restless and feel fluey or have much pinker cheeks than usual (!).
Real birth tip:
Don’t assume you’re in labour just because you feel you should be. Sticking rigidly to a preconceived idea about when and how your labour will kick off may be hard to handle, emotionally. Julia had one client, Tia, who insisted (at just 37 weeks) that she was overdue.
‘Her doctor had ventured a guess months before that this small-boned woman would deliver early, and so Tia just moved her due date. By the time her real due date came, she was telling everyone she was two weeks overdue. Eventually her somewhat harassed doctor checked her: her cervix was tight and there was no effacement. Tia was absolutely devastated. Days later, her labour gently and normally began but she would not distract herself and went straight to the hospital, soon becoming frantic about her ‘failure to progress’ (she said this, not her doctor). She relied so much on a perceived timescale for her own labour, that she let it rule her birth.’
WAYS TO HANDLE LATENT LABOUR | Managing latent labour is a key part to managing the birth as a whole. Strangely, though, this crucial stage is often ignored in discussions about childbirth. When you feel the first intermittent contractions, or have a ‘show’, you might feel a rush of adrenalin, excitement or even fear. If you’re overcome with thrills or worries, and have a doula, she’ll be a good person to talk to now. Call your midwife, too, so that the maternity ward knows to expect you at some point. She’ll ask you a few questions and reassure you about when to come into hospital. Talking things through at this stage can be very calming.
This part of labour is all about distraction and rest. The last thing most of us should do, on feeling the first few mild, clenching contractions is fling our bags into the car and speed to A & E. But – especially if it’s your first baby – it’s virtually impossible to say to yourself ‘ho, hum my first contraction: I think I’ll wax the car’. When my contractions with my first baby started, I had my husband massaging my back in a flash, I took each twinge deeply seriously, switched off all the phones, refused to sleep and paced the house. I was convinced I’d meet my baby very soon (and terrified at what it was going to take to get to meet her). Twenty-four hours later I was still in labour. My back was rubbed raw. My cervix was still at 3 cm.
Of course, it can take a certain lack of imagination to put your feet up with a good book when labour arrives. But this is exactly what you should be doing. Your latent labour could go on for a very long time. It’s worth preparing yourself for this possibility: ‘My first was a long labour with regular painful contractions and no dilation at all for first 30 hours,’ says Astrid, 36, mother of Levi (5) and Lilly (3). ‘This was devastating psychologically. I was prepared for a long labour but not for such lack of progress.’ If you lose too much sleep at this stage, you could, if it does turn out to be a long haul (and many first labours are), end up with a sleep deficit of two or three nights. This can make you utterly exhausted when you most need energy (i.e. when you are in hard labour and then have to push that baby out).
One of Julia’s clients was scared that if she slept she’d ‘miss’ this part of her labour. Real, active labour, like a screaming newborn, will WAKE YOU UP. Your real labour contractions will not stop if you lie down or drink too much water (a worry bizarrely common to many first-time birthers). So, take this stage of labour seriously: it is your chance to gather your strength, which you will need as you are going to give birth. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon…. .
Early labour tip:
Midwife Kim Kelly has this motto: ‘Deny labour until you can’t any longer.’
Proviso: If you have a history of precipitous (i.e. very swift) labour, or some other medical condition that can affect this birth, you will have prepared in advance by going over your latent labour routine with your midwife (see When to call your Midwife, above). And if your contractions start strongly, very painfully, and close together, call your midwife right away. Trust your instincts, and call your midwife if you think labour is beginning.
This is how Julia handled her own latent labour:
‘I called my midwife who thought I’d have a fast labour this time (I didn’t) then called my doula. It was 5 a.m. My family was up and excited – my son stayed home from school and the house became very active. I took a walk alone and by the time I got back, my home was packed: a friend to watch my four year old, my midwife and her assistant, the birth tub woman, the photographer and her equipment and my neighbours. I started to feel like the proverbial watched pot. So I cooked. My contractions were still not strong. Hours passed and I became frustrated. We sent everyone home. I took a nap, woke up and stomped on my treadmill for a bit, took a long shower, called my mother, went to lunch, and then, despite knowing better, began to panic that my early labour was taking too long. Having a