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PregnancyLabour/deliveryWater breaking: how can you tell?
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Water breaking: how can you tell?

by Christine Hill

question
How can you distinguish between your waters breaking and normal leakage?

answer
If your waters have broken, you will notice you are leaking or damp all the time. There isn’t really any ‘normal’ leakage during pregnancy, but sometimes at the very end of pregnancy you may find that you leak a bit of urine. Amniotic fluid doesn’t smell like urine, it has a slightly protein-like smell.

This is how to tell if your waters have broken:

  1. Empty your bladder.
  2. Pull up your pelvic floor muscles.
  3. With tight pelvic floor muscles, bear down – as though you are trying to empty your bowels.
If you leak fluid, it is likely to be amniotic fluid. Incidentally, if you think that your waters have broken, you must get into hospital even if you have no contractions.
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