# Walking around after water breaks?



## medaroge (Dec 21, 2004)

Is it ok to walk around after your water breaks? I always thought it was ok, but my OB told me that it was not ok because of the risk of a prolapsed cord.
Thanks,
~Melissa


----------



## Guest* (Aug 5, 2004)

I walked around from the time my water broke until about 10 minutes before I pushed my baby out (15 hours). It was way too uncomfortable for me to sit or lay down. No prolapsed cord here.

I think you'll hear the same thing from other posters.

As far as any clinical reason (e.g., prolapsed cord), if there actually is one it's probably one of those really, really rare things, or some freak thing that happens once in a while. I really wouldn't concern myself with any of those 1:1,000,000 things.


----------



## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Yes. The OB sounds







: any thought of dumping him?

-Angela


----------



## Pandora114 (Apr 21, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna*
Yes. The OB sounds







: any thought of dumping him?

-Angela









:

The only drawback to walking around after your water breaks is dribbling all over the place. Makes it harder for the "Mess" to be contained

Remember the law of gravity, heavyer objects tend to go downards faster than lighter objects. Baby weighs more than his/her cord. So cord prolapse really isn't *that* much of a risk unless you get AROMed when the baby is still high up there, then the cord is usually just wooshed out with the water.

So keep that damn crochet hook out of you, get a different Dr, and just stay home.


----------



## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

Of course you can walk around after your water breaks.


----------



## wonderwahine (Apr 21, 2006)

yes, its perfectly fine, OBs love that scaremongering tactic........same with the "its unsafe to be in water after your water breaks because of infection"


----------



## Rockies5 (May 17, 2005)

If your baby is breech AND high or you have a medical condition in which your body makes an insane amt of amniotic fluid (you'd be measuring way off and baby would be constantly doing the backstroke and somersaults) then there is a real risk of prolapsed cord.

when you AROM every pregnant woman then the risk of prolapse is much higher. Maybe he is used to seeing women labor on their backs after he breaks their water?

you're switching docs right?

Less then 10% of waters break before labor, most are in late 2nd stage.


----------



## hookahgirl (May 22, 2005)

If your water breaks, sometimes the babies head will seal the leak.
My water broke and I wasnt leaking everywhere because the baby was resting on my cervix.

I walked everywhere, took a shower.
He sounds a bit old school, i would prob. drop him!


----------



## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

The thing is that the most likely time for prolapse is AS the water breaks. Once it's broken (esp with a GUSH) then if there's no prolapse then, then it's not likely to happen after.

-Angela


----------



## Pandora114 (Apr 21, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna*
The thing is that the most likely time for prolapse is AS the water breaks. Once it's broken (esp with a GUSH) then if there's no prolapse then, then it's not likely to happen after.

-Angela









: Sorta like flushing a toilet. If there's nothing caught in the vortex, then it aint goin down


----------



## wannabe (Jul 4, 2005)

I went and got checked after my water broke - just to make sure no prolapsed cord (assume the baby was still quite high maybe?), then spent three days on my feet, walking around my neighbourhood, then the hospital, then the ward, then my room. My midwife and the nurses and my doula all heartily encouraged this.

So, yes, walking is fine after your water breaks. Not to be alarmist, but if you have a cord prolapse, then even flat on your back is very dangerous - they put you on all fours head down and the midwife puts her hand inside to keep the baby off the cord.


----------



## maxmama (May 5, 2006)

What a dumbass OB. Ones like him are the reason that people don't trust our very nice, reasonable and evidence-based OBs.

IF the baby's high and IF your water breaks with a gush, then at the time of SROM there's a risk of prolapse.But if the head's engaged or comes down with the rupture (usually happens), there's no real risk because that head isn't floating back up just for fun.

We usually have moms come in when they rupture to listen to the baby, then if they're GBS negative send them home until labor or 24 hours (sometimes longer). We have women walking around on the unit ruptured for DAYS. We put them in the tub. We do everything pretty much the same except we don't check them.

Sorry, but your OB's a ninny.


----------



## wonderwahine (Apr 21, 2006)

where do you live maxmama, i want you as my OB next time


----------



## glendora (Jan 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pandora114*
Remember the law of gravity, heavyer objects tend to go downards faster than lighter objects.

Not to nitpick, but objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass. If you drop a bowling ball and a hairspray can off the top of your roof, they'll hit the ground at the same time.


----------



## niki_73 (Oct 6, 2004)

I walked around for several hours after my waters broke naturally at home. DH took me for a 4km walk at 11pm to see if it would get the contractions going, it didn't though only the nasty pit did the next day.


----------



## Pandora114 (Apr 21, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *glendora*
Not to nitpick, but objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass. If you drop a bowling ball and a hairspray can off the top of your roof, they'll hit the ground at the same time.

yeah you got me bah!


----------



## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

Jeepers, that's an impressively scary OB you've got there. FTR, I walked around for 18 hours after my water broke with dd.


----------



## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna*
The thing is that the most likely time for prolapse is AS the water breaks. Once it's broken (esp with a GUSH) then if there's no prolapse then, then it's not likely to happen after.

-Angela

Yup, what she said. If you're gonna prolapse, you're gonna do it if the baby's head is high and you break with a gush, but you're gonna do it WHEN the water breaks...not randomly after, unless someone pushes the baby's head back out of the pelvis to make room for the cord to drop down...

I will reiterate the pps' suggestion that you explore other options in primary care providers...if you're convinced that you should have a hospital birth, a good thing to do would be to call the homebirth midwives in your area and find out who their back-up docs are. These docs are usually much more friendly toward mobility during labor and birth. Good luck.


----------



## Aridel (Apr 25, 2004)

I'm with everyone else. This may be a sign that you need a new OB. Moving around, including walking, is fine after your water breaks.


----------



## boscopup (Jul 15, 2005)

I had to walk to and from a few different appts after my water broke at 29 weeks, and even with a preemie that weighs half what the average full term baby weighs, I still didn't prolapse.







I did try to stay off my feet as much as possible because of leaking though, just because I was early, If I'd been full term, I wouldn't have worried about it and would have just kept on walking around as normal. DS was head down, and I'm pretty sure he was well engaged. When he was finally "allowed" to come out, it was fast and furious!


----------



## CEG (Apr 28, 2006)

Another vote for walking here- I walked my last baby out. Also, if the cord is prolapsed, it's prolapsed. Laying flat on your back in a bed is not going to make it any less prolapsed. It could temporarily take pressure off if the positioning is right, but it's not going to change things. I would look for a new provider.


----------



## minkajane (Jun 5, 2005)

I have a textbook on Maternal and Neonatal nursing and it says that women should stay in bed after the water breaks because of the risk of prolapse. This is a book being used right now in university nursing classes. So this ridiculousness is still being taught.


----------



## maxmama (May 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *minkajane*
I have a textbook on Maternal and Neonatal nursing and it says that women should stay in bed after the water breaks because of the risk of prolapse. This is a book being used right now in university nursing classes. So this ridiculousness is still being taught.

Yeah, it was in my copy too. The prof just rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, so ignore everything she said about that."


----------



## DreamsInDigital (Sep 18, 2003)

I walked around for 2 hours after my water broke and never even thought about it.


----------



## wannabe (Jul 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *maxmama*
IF the baby's high and IF your water breaks with a gush, then at the time of SROM there's a risk of prolapse.But if the head's engaged or comes down with the rupture (usually happens), there's no real risk because that head isn't floating back up just for fun.

We usually have moms come in when they rupture to listen to the baby, then if they're GBS negative send them home until labor or 24 hours (sometimes longer). We have women walking around on the unit ruptured for DAYS. We put them in the tub. We do everything pretty much the same except we don't check them.

Yep, this is exactly how I was handled. With 36 hours and no contractions before coming in for induction.


----------



## Kirsten (Mar 19, 2002)

My water broke early on in my first labor. I drank water and walked and stopped to pee, and drank water and walked and stopped to pee - for just under 20 hours til she was born. Well, not true, I sat down here and there in between, and hung off dh's shoulders during contractions. And there was that awful ride in the car to get to the hospital. But I didn't have an OB, and luckily my midwife didn't read the same textbook.

Walking rocks. It helps a lot. Any midwives in your insurance plan?


----------



## boscopup (Jul 15, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CEG*
Laying flat on your back in a bed is not going to make it any less prolapsed.

This is so true. I know of a lady who was on bedrest for PPROM, and she prolapsed several weeks after the PPROM occurred. She was laying down at the time. I'm not sure why the cord would wait so long to prolapse, or phsyically how that works, but that's what happened. She was on bedrest in the hospital, so they just took her straight to an emergency C-section as soon as it happened.

I'm guessing that my hospital's OBs/nurses had read that textbook... I was not allowed out of bed even during labor, which makes no sense. The point of keeping me on bedrest was to prevent leaking. So I should have been able to move around during labor. Now I know better, and if it happens again, I'll move around at will (I have an open minded OB this time around, so I wouldn't be at the mercy of the local teaching group).


----------



## doula and mom (Nov 28, 2005)

: Yeah to everything everyone else said. I walked for about 12 hours after my water broke. Didn't even think of going to the hospital -- wasn't have any ctx either. I was just absolutely JOYOUS that my (it felt like) 25236263 month pregnancy was going to end in the next couple days, at least!


----------

