# low amniotic fluid?



## Aura_Kitten (Aug 13, 2002)

on one of the other forums i go to, it seems like at least half of the women there are being induced for having low amniotic fluid.

... what exactly causes this?

how would i recognize it w/o an ultrasound or other dr tests?

if i'm full-term, is there any real risk to the baby?


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## saintmom (Aug 19, 2003)

This is something I'm curious about too. DD did'nt have a whole lot of fluid but she was just fine.Stayed home to have her so it wasn't an issue.i do know that cord compression can be an issue,but how low is too low?


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## Evergreen (Nov 6, 2002)

How strange! I have known many women (most of them quite 'mainstream') and have never ever heard of anyone having low amniotic fluid. Methinks it may be an excuse!

My midwife liked to do an AFI ultrasound on post due women at 42 weeks. Since I went into labor at 42 weeks exactly, I told her I wasn't going to go have one done, but she told me that she could feel I had copious amounts of fluid just by feeling.


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## CarrieMF (Mar 7, 2004)

My sister's dr was talking about inducing her because her son was small. When they first started talking about it she was 36 weeks. They were doing us's every other week. Their main concern was that his forehead was very narrow(his dad is Chinese and has the exact same forehead







). They were measuring the fluid at these us's. At 39 weeks they decided to induce because the fluid decreased by half. The first try with the gel didn't do anything so they let her rest overnight and tried again in the morning. They had to use the gel and pitocin, she ended up with an epidural. He was 5lbs 14oz at 39weeks. I do not know if his amniotic fluid really was low when he was born but apparently his umbilical cord was very narrow and his placenta was about half the size it should have been. He made up for being small in utero and at 4 months was the same size my youngest had been at 1 year.lol

If your caregiver was concerned about the amount of fluid they would have mentioned something. Do not concern yourself about something just because there is a high rate of it among boards. There is also high rates of c-sections(planned or emergency) among boards too.


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## doctorjen (May 29, 2003)

Low amniotic fluid early in pregnancy (2nd and early 3rd trimester) can be a sign of kidney problems or other problems with the baby. Late in pregnancy, amniotic volume decreases some as baby grows. When there is placental insufficiency, fluid levels decrease even more. AFI (amniotic fluid index) is a marker of fluid volume that is calculated by ultrasound. It is not 100% accurate by any means, but can be a marker that placental insufficiency is starting. True low amniotic fluid increases the chances of fetal distress in labor, since the natural fluid cushion for baby is gone. Usually, AFI is measured as part of fetal surveillance as pregnancy gets postterm. Unfortunately, some docs start this stuff before even term. When fluid is the only issue, it is reasonable to encourage mom to drink a lot of fluids and repeat the fluid measurements in a day or 2, especially if all else is well. When there truly is a problem with not enough fluid, true fetal distress can occur during labor. However, many docs use that as an excuse to induce (I hear often that someone's fluid was almost getting to be low, so they induced labor







) Amniotic fluid is produced by the baby, and can vary with mom's hydration, so pushing fluids and rechecking often fixes the problem. Using a different ultrasonographer can fix the problem, too, and the measurement is subjective.
When I was pregnant with #3, I had a biophysical profile at 41 weeks. The ultrasound tech said "Ooh, maybe I can call your fluid a little low and you can get the doc to induce you." Um, no thanks. And anyway, my fluid was actually on the high side of normal. And I had a beautiful birth at 41 1/2 weeks, going into labor on my own.
Edited to add: I forgot to mention that most midwives or docs who regularly feel pregnant bellies can get some idea of fluid volume by hands-on. Also, with true low fluid, most babies are markedly less active, so you might be concerned if baby's activity level suddenly declined.


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## Aura_Kitten (Aug 13, 2002)

thanks. i did some research about it last night too and found i don't really have anything to worry about ~ i'm drinking tons of water and my baby is moving all the time.


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## Stacymom (Jul 7, 2002)

A couple of weeks before my second dd was born, I had a day where I didn't feel movement at all and my dh and I made a quick trip to L&D at the hospital where I was supposed to deliver. They did an NST with the amniotic fluid index, and found that her fuid was at a six- anything below a five qualifies you for immediate delivery. They were all panicked, telling mew they wanted to recheck on Thursday (this was Monday-ish) telling me to plan on staying to be induced then, because "once fuid levels are that low, they never come back up." I had an appt with my Dr the next day, and he was much more optomistic, telling us that the results are usually subjective and that it's not always an accurate representation of true amniotic fluid, but that since he's a family Dr, not an OB, if they wanted to induce me, he would go along with it. Well, to make a long story short, I had a NST and AFI twice a week until I reached my due date. (and delivered three days afterwards) The fluid level they said doesn't increase was up to around 12 on the next Thusday, down again on Monday, up on Thursday, down again, up again, then I delivered the next Sunday. I was glad that we monitered her at first, and glad that I avoided any interventions, but the lowest my fluid ever was was that first appointment.


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## Galatea (Jun 28, 2004)

I know this is a late response, but I just found this thread and am still confused about AFI.

I was concerned my child was sunny side up at 37 weeks, and the midwife said she had a little trouble feeling the position of the baby, so I could go for an ultrasound at the associated doctor's hospital. So we go for the ultrasound and my AFI is 4.9. The doc comes in and says, "You have to have this baby now," and my husband and I argued with him and so he calls the midwife and she says, "Let them go home for the weekend and drink lots of water and come back Monday for another BPP." So we do and on Monday the AFI is 6.9 so they say, "Come in every Monday and Thursday and we'll monitor your AFI."

So next Monday it is back down to around 5 and the midwife just happens to be at the hospital and she says I can be induced now b/c "the levels are not going to come back up." Well, we are 38 & 1/2 weeks and want to see our first baby so bad so we were excited and agreed to it, and it went fine and the baby was born 26 hours later with no complications. The midwives were great and let us birth by ourself a lot of the time and it was wonderful.

Well, after our baby was here I realized I should have enjoyed those last few pregnant weeks before the craziness of having a baby!









So my baby never showed any distress and was a fine size (7 lbs. 5 oz.), but it did take a lot of inducing to convince him to come out. My question is this - did he need to be induced at all? Did they maybe think we wanted him out and so gave us an excuse of low amniotic fluid so we could induce? Did we make a mistake in going to see the MD instead of staying at the midwife center? I had no idea that there was a possibility that this was not a real problem.

Thanks -


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## pamamidwife (May 7, 2003)

Low AF is a common reason to induce. It's not a good reason most of the time, since AF gets lower in the last month of pregnancy. It's also subjective based on the tech's measurements and position of baby.


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## thepeach80 (Mar 16, 2004)

Quote:

Low amniotic fluid early in pregnancy (2nd and early 3rd trimester) can be a sign of kidney problems or other problems with the baby. Late in pregnancy, amniotic volume decreases some as baby grows.
I had a mom I knew on another board who had low (if that's what it is) and then drank some water over the weekend and it went up and then DR was concerned about too much (I think it only increased .4)! She told her what you said above could be a reason for too much fluid, bad kidneys etc. So she convinced her to have a repeat c/s instead of the VBAC she was hoping for. In that case, I almost feel it was an excuse to get a c/s out of her.


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## Lucysmama (Apr 29, 2003)

This is a sore subject for me, because this is why I was induced. I believe my level was 7.







:

They really messed with my AF my entire labor. They broke my water, then decided that was a mistake, and put a saline catheter up in my uterus to replace what they had broken. Baby was fine the entire time. Induction failed. I had a c-section.

I am sooooo pissed at myself and my CNM still, 2 and a half years later.


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## Aura_Kitten (Aug 13, 2002)

oh Katie
















s

i'm so sorry to hear that happened to you.


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