Premature discharge of amniotic fluid: causes, physician tactics

Pregnancy is one of the most important and crucial periods in the life of every woman. Its most successful outcome is the birth of a healthy and full-term baby. Unfortunately, not everything happens as smoothly as we would like. Sometimes the bearing of a long-awaited baby ends in a premature outflow of amniotic fluid.

What it is?

In medical practice, there are two such concepts as the timely and untimely discharge of amniotic fluid. The second name means breaking the bladder membrane until the fetus can be called full-term, namely, up to 37 weeks of pregnancy. This phenomenon can occur artificially and naturally:

• Natural premature discharge of amniotic fluid is when the patient's labor begins early.
• With an artificial method, doctors pierce the bubble, if there is significant evidence to cause labor, when there is a direct threat to the life of the baby or mother.

Water can also discharge in its entirety when all the liquid in the bladder leaves completely at a time, or gradually, over several hours.

How to understand that water is leaving?

A young girl who is carrying a baby for the first time may not realize that she had premature discharge of amniotic fluid. Diagnosis and conclusion of this phenomenon can only be done by an experienced specialist. In total, several symptoms can be identified, with the appearance of which you immediately need to call an ambulance:

• A large amount of fluid flowed from the vagina at a time. Also, frequent urge to the toilet should be alert (more than 10 times in one hour).
• In addition to a clear liquid, bloody spots can also be noticed.
• The abdomen sank down and seemed to become significantly smaller.
• The fetus in the womb has ceased to make itself felt.
• There were pains in the lower abdomen, radiating to the back and sides. They are not permanent.

After 30 weeks of pregnancy, the expectant mother should be especially attentive to her body and consult a gynecologist if she is confused by something.

Two manifestations of a similar phenomenon

Medical specialists often distinguish two such concepts as premature and early discharge of amniotic fluid. How do they differ among themselves?

• One can speak of an early outflow when the patient feels severe pain in the lower abdomen, the cervix begins to open, and only after these signs there was a leakage of fluid or an artificial puncture of the bladder.
• Premature outflow is a process that proceeds in exactly the opposite order.

In addition to premature and early outflow of amniotic fluid, a phenomenon such as lateral rupture of the bladder is isolated. This can only happen in a natural way. This means that somewhere around the side of the bubble a small hole has formed, through which water partially flows.

Why did this happen?

The girl who so anxiously and affectionately hatched her long-awaited baby will undoubtedly ask the most important question about why premature amniotic fluid flow occurs. In total, there are several main reasons:

• Very large fruit or high water. The mother’s body is no longer able to cope with such a huge load, because of which he begins to prepare for labor.
• A natural phenomenon is the premature discharge of amniotic fluid, when a woman prepares to become a mother of more than two babies at once. Doctors say that this is a normal reaction of the body.
• Often the cause of this violation is the pathology of the mother's organs, for example, she has an irregular shape of the uterus, a neck that is too short or too long, the blood circulates poorly and in insufficient quantities enters the placenta.
• This can also happen after the expectant mother suffered an infectious or viral disease. It negatively affected the course of pregnancy. Because of this, the bubble inflamed, and a rupture occurred in it.
• Such a negative moment can cause absolutely any trauma to the abdomen if a woman fell, hit, or lifted a heavy object.
• Very often the culprit of this situation is the excessive intervention of doctors.
• Sometimes the patient herself becomes the culprit of her condition. The gap may occur due to excessive smoking, alcohol, poor hygiene, constant stress and intense physical activity.

Premature discharge of amniotic fluid during a premature pregnancy can occur in the period from 22 to 37 weeks, during this period, doctors recommend that women treat their health with caution in order to avoid unpleasant situations.

When do doctors decide to inject a bubble?

Separately, it is worth talking about those situations when doctors decide to provoke an untimely discharge of amniotic fluid. Doctors' tactics usually become such if:

• A woman complains of acute pain in the lower abdomen.
• She has a temperature of more than 38 degrees for a long time.
• There was a profuse hemorrhage, most often this indicates detachment of the placenta.
• During pregnancy, there is a strong Rhesus conflict.
• If the child has taken the wrong position in the womb, it is better to call on childbirth earlier, before he reaches a large size.
• If the placenta is low.

All of the above points are a direct threat to the life of the mother and her child. Accordingly, in order to hope for a successful outcome, doctors decide to induce labor activity ahead of schedule. With the help of a special metal hook, a bubble is pierced, due to which premature discharge of amniotic fluid occurs. This procedure is absolutely painless, as there are no nerve endings in the bladder.

Hospital Study

As soon as the girl suspected that a large amount of water came out of her vagina, she should immediately consult a doctor. He should do the following diagnostics:

• Register a call by accepting from the patient all the necessary documents, including an application for medical care.
• Keep a medical history by listening to and recording all the complaints of the pregnant woman.
• Make a gynecological examination on the armchair.
• Take all the necessary tests, measure temperature and pressure.
• Ultrasound is mandatory, it is this diagnosis that allows you to evaluate the general picture of the condition of the fetus in the womb.

Based on the study, the specialist decides on his further actions. The future mother must agree with him, having learned the complexity of the situation. Otherwise, it can harm your own health and the baby.

Several possible solutions

Separately, it is worth talking about what way out of the situation medical experts can offer, when they found out the cause of premature amniotic fluid discharge.

• If partial leakage occurs, then they try to maintain pregnancy at least until the 37th week so that the baby continues to develop fully. But in this case, the patient should be constantly monitored. She will be prescribed the appropriate treatment: droppers, suppositories and pills.
• The challenge of labor if there is a direct threat to the life of the mother or fetus. In this case, the natural process of having a baby is carried out. A premature baby will be in specialized conditions (pressure chamber) and continue to develop in them under the supervision of doctors. Usually, the risk for the mother in this case is minimal.

Fortunately, due to the frequent occurrence of such situations, obstetricians have extensive experience and know what measures should be taken, so in most cases they manage to save patients.

Possible consequences

As mentioned earlier, if a woman has a bubble rupture, then she must necessarily call an ambulance. Otherwise, several unfavorable moments may appear:

• Hypoxia It is caused by the fact that for a long time the child does not receive enough oxygen. Doctors usually take measures that can save the baby.
• Due to insufficient fluid and air, the baby dies right in the womb.
• The uterine membrane is very inflamed, and then a long treatment will be required.
• A weak labor activity will appear, due to which this process will drag on for a long time, more than 8 hours.
• The death of the patient.

It is worth noting that the discharge of water is a very dangerous process, after which it is impossible to remain without medical assistance, as the outcome may be the most unfavorable.

Preventative measures

Every woman who wants to give birth to a healthy baby is worried about how to avoid premature discharge of amniotic fluid. There are several preventative measures. If you comply with them, the risk of such a phenomenon is several times reduced:

1. It is recommended to consciously approach the process of family planning: do not have abortions, do not have many sexual partners, avoid genital diseases.
2. Before pregnancy, partners must undergo a thorough study, in particular to exclude the Rh conflict.
3. Constantly observed by a doctor during pregnancy, take the necessary tests and undergo research, which will help prevent possible complications in the early stages.
4. To lead a healthy lifestyle three months before conception and the entire process of carrying a baby: do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, eat right, spend more time in the fresh air and avoid stressful situations.
5. Do not lift weights.

However, there is no guarantee that this phenomenon can be completely avoided, in some cases it arises due to the individual characteristics of the body.

When there is no reason to worry?

In some cases, this phenomenon is completely natural. There are a number of situations when you should not worry about this:

• If premature discharge of amniotic fluid occurred during a full-term pregnancy, that is, in the period from 38 to 42 weeks.
• In the absence of other symptoms: pain, bleeding, fever, detachment, or low placenta.
• The water flowed in a small amount.

In all of the above cases, you should consult a doctor, a specialist will take adequate measures, and a way out of the situation will be favorable for everyone.

About integrity

As it turned out, the water leaves due to a violation of the integrity of the bubble. We should also talk about this separately. After conception, the embryo forms in the uterus, a fetal bladder forms around it. It is he who is the favorable environment in which the baby will develop for 9 months. If its integrity is violated, oxygen ceases to flow into the bubble, blood circulation and gas exchange suffer. Accordingly, the child is in danger at this moment. Therefore, it is very important that he be born as soon as possible.

Simple test

You can find out that water is leaking at home. To do this, you need to buy a test at the pharmacy. An indicator must be placed in a test tube with liquid if the famous two strips appeared on it in a few seconds, which means that you can collect things, call an ambulance and go to the maternity ward.

The period of pregnancy is very reverent, important and responsible. During it, a new life is being formed. Each young mother should be as careful as possible during this period about her body, listen to doctors and observe all necessary precautions. Only in this case can adverse consequences be avoided and become the happiest mother of a healthy baby.