New Beginnings Doula Training

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Premature rupture of membranes birth plan

Dear medical professional:

If, in the advent that my water should break before I start labor, and I am term, these are my requests:

1)   As research has not shown an increase risk to my baby, I will stay at home for the first 18 hours, until labor starts.

2)  I may come in for a non-stress test, but will then go back home, if labor has not started.  

2)  I will monitor my temperature and other signs of infection at home.  I will come in if these are noted.

3)  If after 18 hours I have not given birth, I will come in to have antibiotics.

4)When I do come in, I request no vaginal checks. 

5)  If you need to confirm that my water has broken, please allow me to use the nitrozine paper to check.

6)  I request intermittant monitoring according to ACOG guidelines.

7) If, after 24 hours, my baby is not born, we will discuss another plan.

References:

http://www.midwife.org/index.asp?bid=59&cat=3&button=Search&rec=233

6 comments:

Nancy said...

Hmmmm, I believe this should be called " Rupture of Membranes" since you're at term. (premature being pre-term)

Great post!

Lyndsay said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lyndsay said...

Actually "Premature rupture of membranes (PROM)" refers to the rupture of membranes without the onset of labor. The term for ROM in a preterm woman without the onset of labor is "Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM)"

Nancy said...

@Lyndsay - thank you for the clarification! I made my comment based on my own experiences (first baby was PPROM, second was SROM at 37 weeks - and that's how the hospitals labelled them so that's where I got my definitions). I am now reading (attempting to find sites with correct info) and getting educated about the distinctions between PROM and SROM.

Nancy said...

I just noticed that (due to my bad choice of punctuation to emphasize a word) the word Spontaneous was omitted from my original comment.

The original comment should have said:
Hmmmm, I believe this should be called "Spontaneous Rupture of Membranes" since you're at term. (premature being pre-term)

:-)

Rachel said...

Lydsay, your right, but don't feel bad Nancy...they are confusing terms and I don't think all the literature really uses the terms correctly.

Birth is a Journey: Does it have to be life changing?


  • One woman might have to climb on an overfilled boat, risking her life and nearly dying as she escapes over the ocean to come to this land. This experience could certainly be life altering. It may very well color the rest of her life, positively or negatively. (I overcame this amazing struggle and here I am triumphant! OR Holy crap, that was SO hard I don’t know if I can go on! By the way, neither response is “right”. No one would judge the woman with the 2nd response.)
  • One woman may buy an airplane ticket, sit on a comfortable 747 and fly to America with a nice smooth flight and landing. She is happy to be in America. Those welcoming her are glad she is here safe and sound. She may only travel by plane 2-4 times in her life, so it is pretty memorable. But the journey itself probably wouldn’t be life changing; it would simply be a journey.
  • One woman may learn to fly an ultra-light plane to lead a flock of geese into America teaching them to migrate. This experience could certainly be empowering and life altering.