Signs Your Water Is Going To Break

For new and expecting moms, the prospect of going into labor is both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. I remember worrying several times about my water breaking in awkward places. In this post, we’ll explore four clues that might tell you your water is about to break. With just a bit of awareness around potential symptoms, expecting mothers can go into childbirth feeling prepared––rather than scared ––for whatever comes next!

How do I know so much about water breaking?

Hi, I’m Hilary — also known as The Pregnancy Nurse®. I’ve been a nurse since 1997 and I’ve worked in labor and delivery for 20 years. I’ve talked to THOUSANDS of patients who’s water has broken — so, I have some tips for you!

Labor has a LOT to think about, and I want you more prepared than I was — so I always recommend this.

This (or any article on The Pregnancy Nurse) should be taken as medical advice, this purely educational. Please talk with your provider about your specific needs and circumstances, especially when it comes to water breaking.

What are the early signs that your water might break?

There is no one definitive answer to this question since everyone’s experience with breaking waters will be different. However, there are some common early signs that your water might break.

However, most often your body doesn’t give you TOO much warning. If it does, these are the things most people mention:

1) Contractions. Sometimes your uterus squeezing that amniotic sac will cause it to rupture.

2) Changes in vaginal discharge. This can be one of the signs of labor. Some people may get a very tiny leak in advance of the entire bag breaking. If your discharge seems more watery it’s something to keep an eye on. I even have a whole post on orange discharge during pregnancy.

3) Your mucus plug has come out. This, again, isn’t a tell tale sign — but it does show that your cervix is softening or that you’re in early labor. Your mucus plug does NOT need to “come out” for your water to break.

4) You are asleep. I don’t have any great research, but most of the women who’s water has broken have had it break in bed. Often they feel a “pop” in bed and then when they get-up they have a gush of fluid come out as they stand.

Of course, some also feel it when they’re already at the toilet, and a couple while they were in the shower already (that seems handy, but also very confusing). I have a whole post on if your water can break while you’re peeing.

Pro tip: have a waterproof mattress pad on your bed and probably keep some towels handy in your car just in case your water does break in those last few weeks. The waterproof mattress pad will come in hand with kids in general as well. I am also a BIG fan of these or these (I’d keep one in my car for SURE).

The final sign is bonus — and it’s that your doctor or midwife asks to break your water.

Most people’s water doesn’t break spontaneously at home (only 15% break their water before coming to the hospital). Most breaks at the hospital, and usually your provider does it with an amnihook. So, even though you are paranoid about your water breaking somewhere awkward, that only happens about 15% of the time.

Pro Tip: Sometimes providers aren’t great about giving informed consent about breaking your water. Your provider may just ask for the amnihook during a vaginal check. You can always tell them you don’t want it. I think this is a GREAT think to think about ahead of time in your birth plan (grab my freebie tips below)…

A lot of these are signs of labor — you might enjoy these posts too:

• 4 Signs You’re Almost In Labor
• Signs You Are Dilating: Symptoms of cervical dilation
• 5 Signs Your Birth is Going to Be Hard
• The WORST Parts of Pregnancy
• My #1 Tip for Hospital Birth

What should you do if your water breaks?

Initially, you’ll want to remember TACO (because, who doesn’t love tacos):

• T: Time
• A: Appearance — is it clear, or has things in it?
• C: What color is it? Clear, greenish?
• O: Odor — does it smell funny?

Your providers will want to know these things.

I also recommend you make sure that nothing is hanging into your vagina (like an umbilical cord or an arm/hand). That would be very rare, but I like to be better safe than sorry. If you do find those, you want to get your butt up in the air and your face on the ground and call 9-1-1. You want to keep the baby from compressing the cord/arm at this point (so you’re using gravity to keep the baby out of your vagina).

If your water breaks, I would call your doctor (it’s not an emergency, but it’s worth a call to them). Your doctor will most likely tell you to go to the hospital. Often, they recommend for you to shower and get something to eat before going in. Again, it’s not an emergency (unless something is hanging into your vagina), but at some point soon they will want to see you at the hospital.

At the hospital they will do a test called Amnisure. This test makes sure that it is amniotic fluid (because some people confuse pee and amniotic fluid) and then they will consider your options.

You also want to be sure that baby is still moving. Being alert to think is SO important in your last trimester, grab my kick count cheat sheet here:

Most providers want you to stay in the hospital, but I have heard of some who will let you hang out at home for 12-24 hours until your contractions starts. They just want you to take your temperature every hour to watch for any signs of infection.

This can differ though if you have a positive GBS screen, or other issues though.

Here’s a few more posts about amniotic fluid that might interest you:

• Is there an At Home Amniotic Fluid Leak Test?
• What Does Water Breaking Look Like?
• What Does It Feel Like When Your Water Breaks?
• It Feels Like My Water is Going to Break When Baby Moves
• Can Your Water Break While You’re Peeing?

Why Does Your Water Break?

No one really knows. It could be from a variety of things:

• Your uterine contractions pushed baby down and squeezed it til’ it broke
• The uterine sac is aging and is fragile and just broke
• Baby kicked it and broke it — although this is probably unlikely

It is known as the “rupture of membranes” or ROM. The water breaking signals that it’s time for the baby to be born and for labor to start. Most often during this process, contractions will become stronger and more frequent as your uterus tightens and pushes your baby down into your pelvis.

After your water breaks, they hope that you will go into labor in the next 12-24 hours. Once your water is broken that opens that area as a risk of infection (which is obviously not good). If it hasn’t begun in that timeframe they will encourage you to have an augmentation of induction of labor to reduce your chance of an infection in uterus and amniotic fluid (called Chorioamnionitis).

I have a whole post on why does your water break that explains more on this topic.

If you’re feeling nervous about birth — that is SO normal! The good news, you have TIME to get prepared!

I remember feeling SO unprepared for birth, and postpartum — and I don’t want that for ANY of you. BUT I also know that 5 pm on Tuesdays doesn’t work for most people — so I recommend The Online Prenatal Class for Couples — the EASY way to get prepared for birth and life after baby. Why so easy?

• The all-in-one stop for all things birth prep (even breastfeeding)
• Meant to be done with your partner, and turn them into a teammate rather than just a cheerleader
• Created by an expert so you know you can trust it!

Join it here.

What does it feel like when my waters break?

Many women describe feeling a “pop” and then a gush of fluid.

Some people aren’t sure. Depending on where on the amniotic sac the water breaks it changes how much fluid comes out.

If the rupture is near the top of your uterus only a little bit will spill out now and then. If it is near the bottom you may get a huge gush.

Either way, the water should keep coming out at intervals. Most often people notice it when they stand up, cough, sneeze or laugh they will have some fluid leak out. One of my favorite ways is to have patients lay on the bed and raise their hips up (like a “bridge” when you work out) — often fluid will come out then.

People wonder what does it feel like when your water breaks? Most people explain it as a gush of fluid, and then the water kept coming out.

There are some things that people confuse with their water breaking:

• Leaking some urine
• Changes in vaginal discharge
• Sperm/fluids coming out after sexual intercourse

The main way to tell the difference between those and actual rupture of the membranes is that the fluid keeps coming out. If the baby kicks your bladder (or you cough) and you leak some urine, it shouldn’t happen otherwise. And sperm will likely only come out for a short period of time.

Often I tell friends to put a sanitary pad on and go about their business for a few minutes and then see if any more comes out.

Note: Do NOT use a tampon, you don’t want to use tampons during pregnancy due to their risk of infection.

If you think you are leaking fluids, never feel weird about calling your healthcare provider or visiting labor and delivery to be sure. I think the best course of action is to call your doctor’s office. Sometimes they can just see you and do the test in the office (which is a LOT quicker than a visit to labor and delivery). They may also tell you to go to the hospital.

Doctors or hospitals may also use Nitrazine paper, or a ferning test to check to see if it is amniotic fluid. I also have a post on an at-home is my water leaking test.

Does it hurt when my waters break?

The actual breaking of water doesn’t hurt. Your amniotic sac does not have pain neurons on it.

However, you may have been contracting prior to your water breaking, and the contractions may feel more painful after the sac is broken.

Think of it as a doll inside a full water balloon and your uterus is squishing it — and how much harder it could squish it if the water was all out. Hence, it hurts more.

Often, in the hospital if we think your provider is going to come break your water, we will ask you if you want your epidural before they come do it as it may get more painful after they break it.

That being said, if you hope to labor without pain medication it may be better to wait for your water to break on it’s own (or at least later in your labor). It seems to be easier to cope with contractions before they break your water.

But, if you’re thinking labor is close — be sure to grab my hospital bag checklist:

How are my waters broken artificially?

Doctors use something called an amnihook that they thread through your cervix and pop the bag of water. The tip of it looks like a crochet hook — they snag the bag of waters on the tip and then pull it to break the waters.

The ones in the hospital are sterile, and this isn’t something you’d want to try on your own due to the risk of hurting the baby or infection.

Pro tip: We actually go into all these crazy supplies they use in the hospital in here.

What Does it Mean When Your Water Breaks?

For the most part it is a true sign that baby is coming soon — It mean that baby needs to be born in the next couple of days to minimize infection chances.

What if your water breaks before your due date?

As I said, it normally shows that baby needs to come out soon. However, if you’re much before 36 weeks they may try to have baby continue growing in the womb. Sometimes the sacs can seal back up, or baby can thrive inside for a while. You definitely want to call your doctor right away if you think your water broke and you’re still early.

Will I have a “dry birth” if my water breaks early?

I am not exactly sure what this meant in the “olden days”. I would guess that these women’s sac had broken days before and they were likely having some sort of infection inside.

But, once your water breaks, water will continue to come out. Your amniotic fluid is mostly baby pee — and we all know that babies pee a lot, and they will continue to do that if they are thriving in the womb.

How much water comes out when your water breaks?

It really depends, the bigger question is if it KEEPS coming out.

Ok, that’s water breaking. I hope you found this helpful. If you have ANY questions you can always call your doctor or go into labor and delivery. BUT knowing the signs of labor and what normally happens in early labor can be a big win.

Are you still left with lots of questions about birth?

Honestly, this is pretty normal. Providers just don’t have the time to go over ALL of it in your appointments.

It’s also REALLY normal to want to control something (like your water breaking) even though you know it’s not really controllable. That’s where getting prepared comes in.

I recommend The Online Prenatal Class for Couples.

In there:

• We talk more about water breaking and what to expect after your water breaks
• Other supplies to expect as you move through your labor process at the hospital
• We even talk about what to expect from your body AFTER birth, because so few people talk about the gushes you might get then!

Hilary’s straight forward talk won’t make you scared, but instead prepared! It’s helped thousands of couples just like you. Want to get started today? Use codes WATERBREAKING to save 10% on either class.

Not sure we’re a good fit — test me out in my free insider tips: