Doulas On Call
Doulas on Call is a heartfelt and real podcast hosted by two seasoned doulas, sharing stories, wisdom, and unfiltered insights from life on call. From birth room moments to behind-the-scenes support, we explore what it really means to serve growing families with compassion and experience.
Doulas On Call
PROM Without Panic: Hollywood Lied To You
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Your water breaks, you freeze, and your brain immediately plays the movie version of birth. We get it, because PROM (prelabor rupture of membranes) is one of the most misunderstood ways labor can begin. We’re Misty and Tammy, two doulas who see this all the time, and we’re here to replace panic with a clear plan and evidence-based context.
We unpack what PROM actually means at term, how often it really happens, and the biggest surprise for first-time parents: contractions do not always start right away. We talk through timelines we see in real life, plus the data we lean on, including the Term PROM study and what it suggests about waiting for labor versus choosing induction. We also explain why providers worry about infection after the waters rupture, what monitoring typically includes, and how your GBS status can change the recommendation.
Then we get practical. We share our COAT checklist (color, odor, amount, time), the red flags that mean “go in,” and the simple pad and rest trick that helps answer the classic question, “Is this my water or did I pee?” We also cover what to avoid after PROM, why unnecessary cervical checks can increase infection risk, and how protocols can differ at a hospital, birth center, or home birth. Our goal is shared decision making, where you know your options and you still get to lead.
If this helped you feel steadier, subscribe, share it with a pregnant friend, and leave a review so more families can find calm, clear birth education.
Questions to ask your provider about PROM:
- What are my options?
- What are the benefits of induction in my situation?
- What are the benefits and risks of waiting?
- What signs of infection should I watch for?
- How does my GBS status affect the recommendation?
- How will baby and I be monitored?
Evidence Based Birth handout on PROM
Thanks for listening! Always feel free to message us for more information or, if you have information you feel we should see, please send that. We LOVE to hear and learn from you!
Who We Are And A Quick Disclaimer
Speaker 2I'm Misty, and I'm Tammy, and we're the Doulas on Call. Remember, mamas, we're not doctors, midwives, or magical birth wizards, I wish. Just two passionate birth workers with microphones, sharing personal experiences, trusted information, the best snacks for labor, and a whole lot of heart. What you hear on this podcast is meant to educate, encourage, and connect, but it's not medical advice.
SpeakerPlease consult your trusted healthcare provider when making decisions about your health, your birth, or anything clinical. Basically, don't sue us. We're just here to talk birth, spill some tea, and share the love.
Speaker 2Hello, friends.
SpeakerHello. You were quick today. I was like, wait, I thought she was setting up, and all of a sudden I'm like, oh, we're on, we're on, we're live. She's fast like lightning today. How are you, Tammy? I am good. I am good. It's been a rocky week, but uh such is life. Our personal life and our DL life.
Speaker 2Yeah, it has been a wild week.
SpeakerBut I can't I can't complain. And today it's like 90 degrees in Denver. It's nuts. Yeah, it's super hot. Super summer. Happy summer. I had to soak my yard because I was preparing for this heat for our for our drought we're in. Um happy summer. I don't know where where you guys are, but it's hot here.
Speaker 2Yeah, very hot. Um yeah. So yeah, this week was wild. We had a very wild
Three Births In One Day
Speaker 2week here. Misty, tell me how many births did you do in 24 hours? I feel like I need to tell you all. Um I had a record. So I've done, I call them triple headers. That's where you go from one birth to another birth. Double headers are fairly common in what we do. So going from one birth to another birth.
SpeakerWithin a day or so. Yeah, within the the same day or a day and a half. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yep. Well, I've done a few triple headers in my lifetime as a doula. Um, this one will go down on record. I went to okay, put it like this: three babies were born within 24 hours of each other. Birth is wild. And I made every one. Yeah. You didn't need backup. And did it we offered so close. We really did offer. Yeah, Tammy almost had to fill in for me.
SpeakerOr labor sit, you know, we call it labor siting when I'm not there for the whole time, but I just instead of babysit labor sit for a hot minute. But that was wild. What um all types of birth, uh valvaginal birth induction.
Speaker 2So one um was uh what we would call a to lac trial of labor after c-section or v back. Um unfortunately, um we did not have a successful V back, but she had a um C-section, baby's good, mom's good. Um, and then we had a um vaginal birth, first time mom, first time, and then a scheduled C-section for one of my mamas who decided to um schedule instead of trial of labor.
SpeakerYeah, there you go. And it happens, right? Like that's right. We support our client. I think that's all of them, regardless. Well, I'm glad you survived. Yeah, and and we were unhappy. I'm glad you didn't have to go. No, I am too. Because you were busy. Oh, I was so busy. Yeah, I had some family drama, um, but thankfully everybody as well. Um, I also, you know, we we don't we have backup, it's really important to us in the birth work, but we would be lying if we said a little bit of our soul kind of goes, like if we can't make a birth or we have to have backup, and it's it's it's like Warren's.
Speaker 2Oh my god. She's like, um I know. No, I am not sending a backup. Not that I don't love you, but I love these clients so much. Yeah, you know, when you get repeat clients, like they they're family.
SpeakerI mean we we just build a relationship. I think we are rare in that sense. There are some duelists that I don't think they do that, but um, we do build a relationship with you, and we it does hurt our hearts if we are not there. Yeah, we do not. Absolutely, yeah. So um, so we apologize for skipping a week. We've been pretty much thanks for your patience. We're back, we're back. We are back, it's gonna happen. That's just yeah, because we're just cray cray.
PROM Explained Without The Drama
SpeakerUm let's get into it.
Speaker 2Because I I'm actually really excited about this one. Yeah, I think this topic is um something my clients ask ask me about stuff we see as a jewel up. Every time. Um, and it's something that can create a lot of excitement, obviously, like for obvious reasons, and but also a lot of anxiety to be honest. No, completely. Um, and what I am talking about is something called prom dum-dum-dum. And then meaning that your water breaks before labor starts. So it stands for premature rupture of membranes.
SpeakerYeah, pre-labor, premature rupture of membranes. Um, we get questions about it all of the time because it is literally all we see in our world and social media represented for birth. Like I any show where there's a baby being born, 10 for 10, it starts with prom. Would you all the time? So I actually I Hollywood ruined it. Hollywood destroyed it. I I was just telling somebody the most recent show, I just love TV, movie show. Um Pitt did a not bad job of uh an example of birth. That's probably the first uh the show The Pitt. Thank you. No, woohoo. Um love that show. Um, but they they did a pretty good job. Um the show The Bear? Yes, yeah. So there's a bursting in that. And they're getting better, but honestly, statistically, not true. Like not true at all. Um, and this is why I think people uh ask all the time because they truly think that that is how their um birth is gonna start. And they just assume that if it happens, it is an emergency. It is a 911, we gotta go. I mean, okay, you guys should right now. We did a really funny reel, um, oh my gosh, a couple years ago. Yeah. So scroll back on. We should actually we'll share that on our dual zone recall. Link it because it's it is, I think we're funny with me. Um I think we use the soundbite from the office. Okay, everybody, nobody panic, you know. Um it's happening, it's happening. Yeah, but it's not always the case. Sometimes it is, but more often than not, yeah, it's not. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2Especially first time parents. Yeah, yeah. First time parents, it's usually not that big. And you know, while it can happen, it's definitely you know, not all the time. Um and what I really want to talk talk about is what does the evidence say? Yeah. Because that's what's big is you know, knowing what does actual evidence say. I have had providers tell my clients, and I know you have too. Oh yeah. Um, they basically make them feel bad if they stay home. Dun dun dun. I've had clients that are like, my provider told me I was putting my child in danger.
SpeakerOh, they say some pretty horrific things. Uh yeah, we'll get into that. But we that's why we want to talk about the evidence. Um, we love evidence-based birth. We we refer to them a lot. Um, they have a lovely podcast. They have a whole podcast on this as well, which we should link and a like a one-page handout that's super helpful.
Speaker 2Yeah, um, we'll do that for sure. Because shout out to them. Totally. She puts a lot of effort into the research she does. Um, also, another thing I want to talk about too is like the difference of, you know, if you are if your water breaks and you're with a hospital-based, you know, practice versus a home birth versus you know, birth center.
SpeakerYeah, because I think a lot of people I get asked that question a lot, like, where do you work? What hospital do you have? You know, and we don't. We we follow our client.
Speaker 2We follow you.
SpeakerYou know, I always say you make up. Do you say I always say uh hospital, birth center, home, hopefully not the car, yeah, the garage. No, just Lauren. I'm just kidding. Lauren. Um what is prom? What is prom? Uh prom stands for like Misty said, pre-labor rupture of membranes. Simply put, your water breaks before the labor contractions begin. Okay.
Speaker 2Yeah. And when it happens uh 37 weeks or later, um, it's called just prom, like right term. If it's before 37 weeks, it's something called P prom. So premature, premature pre-labor. Yes. And I'm such a dork.
Speaker 1I'm such a dork. All I picture is like the picture, prom pictures. Like in my head, I'm like, it's prom.
Speaker 2I know. Not prom with your boyfriend.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Although I never went to prom Tammy. Did you know that? What? No, didn't have to do a whole episode on on my life growing.
SpeakerSide note, asterisk, my mom paid me to go $100. Oh. I did not want to, I did not want to go.
Speaker 1Okay.
SpeakerI know. Bitter buddy.
Speaker 1Okay, we're gonna need to do a let's just dress up in prom dresses and we'll do a prom podcast. A prom podcast. Did we talk?
SpeakerYou know what? I went as an underclassman, but for my senior prom, I was like, meh. Like I had yeah, that's a whole other coffee talk.
Speaker 1My kids didn't like to go either. So funny. I did not know that. Okay. Um track squirrel.
Speaker 2Go, go. Swelly love. Um, so prom is I would say it's how common is it?
How Common PROM Really Is
Speaker 2I say it's decently common. Like it's not like not that the movie is common, though. Right. Yeah. Um, it happens, evidence information says about eight to ten percent. I usually tell my parents I see about 10 to 15%.
SpeakerThat's the same. And that's gotten bigger. I I used to say less than five percent just to emphasize it's not Hollywood.
Speaker 2Yeah. And yeah, go ahead. Tammy, can I tell you this too? And maybe you noticed this back in, you know, COVID days.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2So did you know that there was more, there were more women having prawn um when they either A, they had COVID during pregnancy. Yes. Or they had a COVID shot. Totally. So it was in increasing the rates of prawn. Yes. We I saw significant increase in that. And so there was a lot of research done on it. And since then they have like, you know, started recognizing the placental health. Yep. Recommending certain things. Yeah.
SpeakerSo I think it yeah, that that definitely made a big difference in the statistics. I think one thing that really surprises people is that they just assume that when your water breaks, that your contractions and your labor starts immediately. Like instant. Yeah, instantly.
Speaker 1Oh, yeah, I know. I have a contraction.
SpeakerYeah, and then ha, start breathing. What's the longest you've had a client stay uh like okay, so actually, yeah, I should rephrase that. Where were they birthing? Like whose care were they under? And what's the longest they went before labor actually kicked in from the rupture memories? No dry, like they were they were healthy, you know, you're not over eight, like there was no red flags whatsoever. I'll preface by saying that.
Speaker 2Um, I would say I'm trying to remember. I'm trying to remember. Um, she was a birth center. Okay. And I want to say that it was like the next uh 24 hour, the birth center had a 24-hour transfer rule uh rule. Okay. So she transferred, but then she the midwife she was with at that hospital gave her even extra time. Oh wow. So they were just monitoring her for infection. Yep. And then they started they did have to induce her. But I want to say it was close to like 40 hours.
SpeakerYeah, I that that's what was mine. Yeah. Uh and she was with the midwife's uh Lone Tree. Okay. Yep. And I think it Mine was in Boulder. Sh it really shocked her. Like she kept calling me because it it was kind of so that's another thing too. Like if your client is not okay, they might be okay and be like, hey, you're fine to wait until the contractions pick up and you're good at home. We can talk about those scenarios. But I think it it really shocked her that her contractions didn't increase uh until the next day. And she went to bed. She went to she went to sleep, she had a great center. She went to bed.
Speaker 2That's like dream. Dream because when this happens with clients, it's usually like instant like anxiety, um, or even like just that adrenaline, the experience.
SpeakerSo I what I say to my clients when we're talking about, you know, the different scenarios. We talk about with our clients, like what we call soft signs of labor and hard signs. Well, prom is a hard sign. Like I can guarantee that you are going to have a baby imminently. It's eminent. Um, but I always I kind of joke, I have I ever told you this. I just had a prenatal yesterday. And I literally every single time I'm like, okay, raise your right hand. And they look at me like, what? I'm like, raise your right hand, do it. And they like lift their hand and like repeat after me, I will not panic. And they yeah, they laugh just like that. I was like, I will not panic if my water breaks. Let's say it again. I will not panic if my water, you know, and then I have the dad be like, we they text me and they'll be like, She didn't panic. I'm so proud of her.
Speaker 2Yes, good job, good job, mom. Yeah, good job. But so according to evidence-based birth, um, about 79% of people who go in will go into labor within about 12 hours. Now, and that means it doesn't necessarily mean um heavy hard concern, like heavy active labor. That just means starting labor. Right. Um, 95% of people usually within that 24 hours. Right. Um, you know, sometimes I've seen, like I said, I know it just depends. But you know, everything is within the realm of possibility with that. Yes.
SpeakerAnd the emphasis I would like to point out is that if your water breaks and you are not immediately having contractions, it doesn't automatically mean that something is wrong. Yeah. Like that is really hard for uh especially for first-time moms to understand. Right. They feel like, okay, well, how long until I fill the first thing? That's right. And they get a little oh it's really, really yeah.
Speaker 2So
Induction Versus Waiting And Infection Risk
Speaker 2yeah. Well, what another thing, Tammy, let's talk about like why would a provider recommend induction if if mom's water were to break before labor starts? Like, why would they?
SpeakerI think the yeah, the biggest, we're back on track. The biggest concern is that um when the uh membranes rupture, that there's infection, right? Because you're taking away the mem the protective helps protect their protect the baby. Their little swimming pool.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. And you know, the longer that those have been ruptured, the more that your provider is going to monitor, you know, monitor for signs of infection. So like they'll take your your temperature, yeah. Yeah, they check all your bees, yeah, they check your vitals, um, they're checking babies' heart rate, you know, and seeing if there's any fluctuation there from their baseline. Right. So they are watching for those signs, like when we had our kids, and like like I would say back in the day when I had kids, yeah. It was that hard. Rule 24.
SpeakerSo my first birth started with Yeah, prom. Prom. Yeah. That's what she said. I went in, and I'm just kidding. Okay. We're not gonna talk about this.
Speaker 2We do need we do need an episode where we'll just tell our birth stories. I think it's a good thing. But it was, it was.
SpeakerAnd I think that that was because there wasn't evidence otherwise. So they did treat it like an emergency. Yeah. They literally told me if your water breaks, you need to be at the hospital and then it within an hour. Yeah. Right? Um, there's a large study, so there we'll link this too. There's a large study called the term prom study, and it it looked over 5,000 women and compared immediate induction with waiting for labor to begin on its own. So these 5,000 women, they had prom, right? And so they broke that up into some were immediately started the induction, and the other group waited waited to see what happened. So missected. What happened?
Speaker 2Well, what they found was actually really interesting. Um, there was no increase in uh cesarean birth C second C-section rates for those that waited. Um there was also no difference in newborn infection rates.
SpeakerThat's huge. That's huge, actually. Because that's what they really are concerned with. Um but the the group that induced immediately. Okay, wait, the group induced immediately how oh gosh, okay, meh, meh. Oh my gosh, I can't talk. There are different ways to induce. Yes. Right? And so the way they induced this group was with Pitocin, and they had lower rates of maternal infection compared with those who waited several days before induction. Okay. So that also makes a difference. Yeah. And that is why. It's good to have all the information. Yeah. Um, and that's why they recommend it. Yeah, right. That's why they recommend doing that. That's their uh induction. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um so why do some families choose to wait? Why? Why? Um, and this is where we like to give you the information because shared decision making is super important. You like please have all the facts. I I think that that's why we love doing this podcast. There's so many podcasts we listen to on this topic that also instill fear. Would you agree?
Speaker 2Uh absolutely. I'm glad you said that because I was gonna say that some of my moms that prom has happened to, yeah, they are so anxious. Oh beyond that actually going to the hospital is a good thing. Is a good thing for them. Agree. Because I agree. Staying at home and worrying is not gonna help labor strength. Right, right. So actually going in will help them. So I think that you really have to listen to that too. You've got to listen to your instinct, listen to your mama gut and your feeling, and how do you feel?
SpeakerPlease listen to that, lean into that. It's really hard. We're so bad at it. We're so bad at trusting ourselves. I just had this conversation with another client on this week who I'm doing postpartum for. And we were just talking about how sad it is for whatever reason. I am determined with my own daughter to instill this uh confidence in, like, what do you feel like? Like, what what's going on in inside of you internally? You know, because and you're not wrong. So I have clients who have multiple kids. This isn't their first birth, their water breaks, and they are quite happy to go to the hospital. In fact, they're like, Can I go to the hospital? I was like, you know, you can, but you just need to know that they're going to want to get the show on the road, right? Like, you you know, I'd almost rather you go to your aunt's house by yourself and hang out and not be, you know, distracted or whatever. But anyway, um, Evan, it's really important to have all of your options.
Speaker 2So yeah, that and that's that's big. And that's really what we're we're all about. Is you know, we want to support the client and kind of and kind of we're there.
SpeakerSo what does the evidence say about waiting?
Speaker 2You know, if you if you have to wait. So what does it say about waiting? Um, it shows that waiting for labor to begin on its own can also be a reasonable option for many low-risk families.
SpeakerTotally, yeah. Like you don't have any red flags.
Speaker 2Yeah. And and so let's talk about red flags,
Red Flags With The COAT Acronym
Speaker 2please. Okay. So what would this is the educator part of me? Yeah, I love it. You know, let's do our acronym. The acronym COAT. Yeah, thank you. Don't say taco. Okay, thank you. I was just about to say some other educator. Everybody raise your hand. Taco.
Speaker 1Raise your hand if somebody told you to say taco, and I might.
Speaker 2Please taco is my favorite, like one of my favorite foods. Like, do not associate that. No. Coat. So it stands for color, odor. Same slow, same slow, same slow.
Speaker 1Game and out. I'm kidding.
Speaker 2Odor, amount, and tie. Yes, I can spell. Color, odor, amount time.
SpeakerYeah, so what are some you're gonna look like? So red flags. If the fluid, the color is off, you know, then you know, and I always say this to my clients as well. The color and the odor are not questionable. It's not like you're like, hmm, maybe. There's really no, it either is or it isn't. It's yeah, it's a very hard distinctive smell and it's a very distinctive color. Yes.
Speaker 2I will say that my last one that this just happened to. No, she was a little a little iffy. Oh, interesting. She was. But when she's most perfect. Yeah. Um, well, so let me I'll explain what I mean by that. Yeah. So for for the color, right? So we want it to be kind of clearish. It can It can be like tinted a little pink or a little even a little like yellow, like pea-ish, you know, um, is your baby's urine. Um so it can be that way, right? However, if it's like brownish, greenish, thick, yeah, thick, yeah, this is where the thick comes in. Because she she was like, Well, it's not really clear, it's not pinkish, it's kind of a tint of green, interesting, but it's really thin. It's not thick. So her baby did have meconia.
SpeakerOkay.
Speaker 2So that's baby's first bowel movement. Um but it was really thin. Interesting. So sometimes when you have mech, it's real thick. Correct. Right?
Speaker 3Right.
Speaker 2Um, so it can be more obvious.
SpeakerWell, and I always say too, um, and this goes for all real listeners, if you're pregnant and and you're past 37, you're 36 or 7 weeks, uh don't you always tell your clients? I tell my clients, wear a pad, like put on a pad, even if you're going commando, throw a pad in your leggings. Do not put a tamp on in. Oh my gosh, that happened this week.
Speaker 2Yes, I know. That's why I'm bringing it up.
SpeakerUm why? Why would you? I don't know. Okay, and why not, Misty? Why would you not put a tamp on it? But okay, wait, pause. We're gonna say what to do if you're watering. So hold that thought. Hold it, put it in your back pocket. Okay, we're gonna say really quick. Okay, what means no complicated. So my water breaks, right? The fluid is clear, my baby has good movement. What else?
Speaker 2Mom has no fever and no signs of fever, not chillish, another big one, huge one. Yeah. If you are GBS, negative, negative, GBS stands for group beta strat, by the way. You tested for that about 36, 37 weeks of pregnancy.
SpeakerSo if an if all of those are fine, then you can wait, right? Yeah. Um, you have that's what I mean by no red flags. Okay. But what if the fluid isn't clear or the baby's movement's not normal? Mom has a fever. Um that's when you go in. You just go in. And and I always thought, you know, okay, here's another big one. How many times have you had a second time mom call you, say, I think my water broke, and they actually peed their pants?
Speaker 2Oh, that's happening. Yeah. I've actually had um multiple moms, uh, whether, you know, second time or not, but um where they think that they do. But I feel so bad. But I you put a pad on, lay down.
How To Tell Pee From Fluid
Speaker 2I always say put a pad on. Okay, drink a glass of water, and then I want you to go lay on your side for about 20, 30 minutes. If it is your water, it is going to pool inside your vagina. Right? And you stand up. And you stand up, done. It's gonna come out. Yeah, it's gonna soak your pants. The reason we do not want you to put a tampon inside, mamas, is because we anytime we put anything up into the vagina after the water breaks, we do increase the chances of infection. Yeah.
SpeakerSo we don't want to put anything up there. Agreed. Um anything like that includes like not having sex. Yeah, um, nothing in your vagina. Nothing in your vagina. Um, just because it you're just increasing your rate for infection. I like I said, I always say wear a pad the last couple weeks of pregnancy because you give Miss Tammy a better specimen to look at. Because we do send us a picture. Like I was just to send me a picture. How many pictures do you have? We should look on your phone. I should look on my phone. I usually delete them, honestly. Yes, but we do. I I tell my clients there's zero, there's no stupid questions and there's zero TMI. Just send me a little triangle warning, you know.
Speaker 2Yeah, hey, can I send you a picture? Yeah, and what's in my underwear?
SpeakerYeah, or you know, what's in the toilet. And don't you know I love it when they do that because if they don't, they spiral. They they they like don't they think about it, they constantly think about it, and they're like, I should have sent you a picture. I I don't know if it was or it wasn't. And if they send me a picture, it only confirms like okay, we're we know what we're doing. It's fine. Gosh, they would think we're such weirdos.
Speaker 2We are if somebody, if somebody got a hold of our phone and like looked. That's another reason why I delete everything. Because I'm like, what if my information is out there? People are like, what's up with this weirdo?
SpeakerI have a better one because I put it on my iPhoto, it has like hidden, you know, you can hide albums. Oh, the hidden albums.
Speaker 1Yeah, but if you do, if you don't, Apple has this really great way of being like, your memories from 22nd, 520 p.m. And it's literally a picture and body show.
Speaker 2Or like yeah, mech. Yeah. I have body, body images, body parts, body parts, babies, baby stuff too.
SpeakerBaby stuff.
Speaker 2Why do why am I all of a sudden getting this picture? Like, please, like you said, triangle warning, warning. This is the end.
Speaker 1Yes. I think overall, you know, what would you say? So we're really saying why why do people wait?
SpeakerWell, I think it's personal preference. I think intuition is huge. Um what else?
Speaker 2You know, uh if you're depending on who you're birthing with, right, that they support Yeah, that they support both the induction and expectant management. So it's not just, you know, this one's not a black and white. I do say, you know, I would talk to your provider in pregnancy ahead of time, like, hey, if my water does break, great question to ask. You know, how would you support that? Like, what is your typical protocol? I hate the word policy. Let me just tell you. Policy is a lot. It's annoying. But I I prefer to use what is your protocol that you typically go for and how would you support me? What would you do if I went against that? Yeah, exactly. Um, I think that's important to know.
SpeakerYeah, there's no, there's not a necessarily right versus wrong. I obviously, if it's from a clinical perspective, if you have any of these signs like or you're GBS positive, we definitely, you know, if you're I'll preface if you're GBS positive and you are accepting the antibiotics, you are pro-antibiotics, then you do need to go in because they want to start that. They want to start that. Um, but there there isn't a hard line, and you really need to know what your choices are, what that looks like. And so much of that depends on where are you birthing. So you know, those that is something to consider. It makes a big difference. It makes a big difference because they will definitely treat it differently. Yeah, right.
Speaker 2Usually in like and when we say where your birthing we mean like out of hospital. Yeah. So what are the options to have a baby in chloride? Hospital birth, birth center, home birth. So this is where things can look a little bit different here. Okay. Um, every birth center and home birth midwife has their own kind of protocol, you know, regarding regarding prom.
SpeakerThat's right. And some have time limits, and they are very specific about those time limits. So if you're a pregnant mama, ask at your next prenatal appointment, what are your time limits? Like Misty said, what is your protocol? And others will consider, okay, do you have GBS? Um, what's the maternal temperature, like we said? What you know, they'll take all the like when your water breaks, the first thing you're gonna do is remember that coat, acronym, put on your coat, and you are gonna say what those things are. And so when you do call your provider, they will ask you that. What was the color? You know, what time is that? Really quickly, I want to put in here too. If you have a doula, text your doula immediately when your water breaks. And I tell my clients it's not because I am the most important person, but it puts a time stamp on it. Yes. Because you'll forget. Yes. And then throughout your entire life. I think it was this time. Exactly.
Speaker 2And it also, I will point out that while you said, you know, we're not the most important first of all, mom, you are. Correct. You are and your baby. Um, but we are important in that piece when you can work through Please let us know those decisions, right? So we can talk to you about it. That's right. Like we can talk through, you know, well, this is an option and this is an option. And what does it look like to kind of do that?
SpeakerThat brain acronym. That's right. Right. And when we have our when uh you do have a doula, she should go over that with you in your prenatal appointments with her of what her procu protocol is and what is sh where does she fit into all of that?
Speaker 2Yeah, and it doesn't mean if you're, you know, if you're planning to get birth outside of the hospital and having a birth center or home birth and your water breaks before labor starts, it does not mean that you're automatically wrested out. Right. Um, they just have their their own set hours. And so you'll kind of, you know, it just changes it's a guideline of what they follow.
SpeakerIt changes the conversation. It changes it in a big way because it really does depend on how much time has passed and how everyone's doing. Right. I've also had clients, um, I think it's really important that um I say to them, you know, if they are anxious, you you can absolutely go in to, you know, the triage or L and D. They can do a non-stress test and hook you up, even if you haven't had contraction starting, make sure everybody's well. No, you can go home. You can go home.
Speaker 3Literally.
Speaker 2People think that once I go there, that I have to leave. You do not. And no, you don't. You do not. Um, you can always go in, get you and baby checked out. If everybody looks good, then you can go ahead and go home and make arrangements from there.
SpeakerAnd this is where that puzzle piece of did I pee my pants comes in. Because I have one client, I'm gonna call her out because she's too freaking cute. Casey, I love you, Casey. Um, she called me and was like, I don't know, is it P? Is it not? And I was like, why don't you just go get it checked out? Worst case scenario, like for you, because she lived with a kind of far, I was like, if it is just pee, because they'll do that test, right? Little swab, and and I was like, and it's if it is just urine, guess what? You get to go have a breakfast date with your hunt and it's gonna be great, you know. And she and that's what happened. And that and that helps with the mental piece too. So then you're not worried, you're not stressed because the stress is worse than the issue, literally. Um,
Avoiding Cervical Checks After PROM
Speakerokay.
Speaker 2Well, one thing that I want to talk about too, if we do have prom and we do end up going to the hospital or you know, wherever, birth center.
Speaker 3Oh my god.
SpeakerUm one thing that we do. Let's do a let's let's start a new uh trend. A new trend.
Speaker 2Hot tip, hot tip, hot tip. Um I I do want to point out that you do not have to say okay to having a cervical check. Oh gosh, yeah. Right? Yeah.
SpeakerSo there if they're just checking if it's if they're literally doing the swab, they will be like, oh, would you want to we can swab your underwear?
Speaker 2We can swab your underwater. Yeah, they can do something like that. But you know, what research does show and it is consistent with is that unnecessary cervical checks they should be avoided after your water bake comes. Because anything in the vagina, they use sterile gloves. That does help and it does reduce, but it is still going up inside your vagina.
SpeakerWe'll just do a whole show on cervical checks. Um, I I really we could. We really could in every birth situation. Um, I I think that um it does increase the uh infection risk. Um and sometimes it's it's so unnecessary. There are times, don't get me wrong, there are definitely times where it is necessary, but you can say to them, like, I want to avoid it. And I will say for Colorado, would you agree? Like most of the hospitals that I've any birth center, right? Hospital person or whatever, I honestly feel like the majority of providers also want to avoid unnecessarily checking.
Speaker 2Most of them. Most of them. I have one on the top of my head right now, and I'm not gonna name drop. Um, this mother had the most um cervical checks I've ever seen. I've ever seen in my lifetime as they do that. I was like, are we at what point and I I did actually, you know, I did I never speak over it. Sure. Sure, sure. But at that, that specific one, I actually did ask. At what point are we concerned about about introducing infection? Um what was their what was their reason?
SpeakerWas it the they want to make sure everything's going to be one to two centimeters, every one to two hours? Okay. Yes.
Speaker 2So that that's kind of what they were what they were wanting. Um anyway. But the you know, this is what I say about surgical checks. Number one, does mom want it? That's right. Right? That's important. Is it going to change? Yes. Will it change my plans? Your plans, or will it help you make a decision? Is it a useful tool?
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2Or is this just information numbers that, you know, um I hear this for funds and giggles. Should we just check for funds and giggles?
SpeakerOh my gosh. Or for funsies. That just made my shoulders go, yeah. You're not they do that. I know. Okay, we'll do another episode, note to self on the phrases used by the. Oh my gosh. Crazy, crazy things that we've that we've heard. Um we promise we won't name drop. Oh my gosh. Tip, or we will. Um, watch out if Tammy missed you or the dealers at your birthplace. I'm just kidding. So, questions, questions to ask your provider.
Questions To Ask Your Provider
SpeakerOkay, grab a pen, grab a pencil. We'll we should list these actually in the notes. We'll list them in the notes too. Yeah. Back to like asking them what your what your protocol is. Like, what are my options? Yeah, what are the benefits of induction in my situation? Like, if you are going to induce one of my water breaks, why? Why does that benefit me? And what what would the risks um of waiting be or benefits of waiting? Yeah. Um, what is what are the signs of infection? Like, what am I looking for? Clinically. Because that's important.
Speaker 2Because we always say, like, unless you're showing a sign of infection, what are the things? So if I'm choosing to stay home, um what would those signs of infection look like?
SpeakerUm how does my GBS status affect this recommendation? Because that does change it for sure, right?
Speaker 2If we know that you're G if we know your GBS positive and you're birthing in a hospital, we know that it is going to change when you go in.
SpeakerAnd the last one's a big one.
Speaker 2Yeah. How am I going to be monitored?
SpeakerOof. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2Because I I feel, and that again has to do with where you're going to provider and hospital dependent, absolutely. I've had clients that go in the minute they get there with prom, they're on the monitor. Constant. But they're not on medication. So why are we monitoring full-time? All the evidence shows that we don't have to do that. But a lot of them will say, well, it's just our policy.
SpeakerYeah.
Speaker 2That word there, policy.
SpeakerSo just for funds and giggles. No, I'm just kidding.
unknownJust kidding.
Hospital Birth Center And Home Plan
SpeakerLet's talk about really quick before we close. This is all our episodes. We try and keep them under 40. Um, but let's talk about, okay, let's go through places I'm gonna birth. So if I'm birthing at a hospital, I have zero risk for like no red flags, I'm totally normal, and um, I my water breaks. Um what uh what would you do, Miss D?
Speaker 2If you were my client, I would go over everything with you first, like you said. What are the risks? What's going on? I would say, well, your provider will want you to contact them. Yeah, they may or may not recommend that you come in. Right away. Um did you ask what their typical protocol is on that? And a lot of them know because we told them to. And what time of the day is this? True. Ready? Oh my gosh. If it's like 10 minutes, it's 1 a.m. Okay, 1 a.m. Let them know. Because I'm not telling you to not call your provider. Correct. We're not gonna ever tell you that. Ever. But what you can say is I have no red sign, no red flags, I have signs of infection. I'm GBS negative. I'm GBS negative. Yeah, I want to stay moving well. I'd like to stay home, try and get some sleep, and call in the morning. Yeah. If my client feels good with that.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2I have had clients that are like, I need to go in. I need to go in. I'm just I I'm not gonna be able to sleep. I'm gonna feel anxious, and then I'd be like, Okay. I also let me know.
SpeakerI also feel like this uh uh is does this happen for you? I feel like so many of my clients, when this happens, they have already they already have their weekly scheduled meeting the next day. Like they have their 38th appointment. Yeah, I was supposed to be at the doctor at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Should I just go to that appointment? Should I just go to that appointment? Yeah, why not? Sure, you can keep that.
Speaker 2Okay, so can I tell you, Tammy? Yeah, this is my least favorite way for labor to start. Oh, yeah. My least favorite way. I would agree with that.
SpeakerI feel like explain why. More often than not, we're not gonna make you afraid if you're water break. I don't want you to be fearful.
Speaker 2Been there, done that. You can call me. Um the my the reason why is I feel like most often it causes unnecessary stress. Agreed. And I hate that my clients go into labor feeling stressed. I do too.
SpeakerI think that's why this podcast, this particular episode is very important. We hope that you'll listen to this and know A, it's not like the movies. It is not a nine one 99.99% of the time, it is not an emergency.
Speaker 2Right.
SpeakerAnd that everybody's individual story and labor looks different. Doesn't matter if your cousin's sister's dog's cat went into water broke and and didn't see or a bow. It doesn't matter. Like this is your story, and you have options, you have choices. So I would agree with Misty, it really isn't my favorite, and it's specifically because of how it's treated.
Speaker 2Yes, and that's more so what it is because it creates that fear. Yep. Um, I have had clients that have it and they get excited. Totally. I agree with that. I agree. Um that's typically not the case. I know, I especially depending on what you're doing.
SpeakerAnd I have rock and I have rock star clients that um it happens and they are like they're like so chill, and they're like, we're gonna go eat. And we talk to our midwife, and well, that's another okay. Well, let's get to that. Sorry, I asked you about hospitals.
Speaker 2No, so no, I actually just sorry, this is why our episode's gonna be over 40 seconds.
Speaker 3We have 40 minutes left of like squirrel, squirrel.
Speaker 2Um another thing we didn't talk about, oh, that I tell my um mamas with prom. Guess what? That fluid, it keeps.
SpeakerThank you for saying that. Because they really don't know that they don't know. Why don't they teach that in birth class? Like, or they just didn't teach it in my classes all the time.
Speaker 2Like put it on a diaper, put it on a pad because your fluid will miss.
SpeakerWhy will it keep coming? And this is a trivia question I ask my parents literally at every cure. Do you know what your amniotic fluid is composed of? It is mainly mainly your baby's peak. Correct.
Speaker 2And they are so it means your baby's kidneys are working and they're gonna keep on being and you keep drinking, they're gonna keep on being.
SpeakerPut on the pill. So I did want to point that out because I was like, oh, we didn't talk about that. That's so true. Yeah. Okay, so what if I'm birthing at a birth center and my water breaks, I have no red flags. I'm not geriatric.
Speaker 2I'm I mean, I would tell you the same thing, correct. I would tell you the same thing. Call them, let them know. That's right. They're probably gonna be a little bit more lax and lenient, like hey, especially at 1 a.m. Great, time to go to sleep, call us in the morning. Yeah, um, but yeah, I would do I would my advice to you would be the same thing. Same thing. Yeah, it doesn't matter.
SpeakerHome birth. Yeah, same thing. Same thing. Let your midwife know, let your team know. Um, okay, and the other hot tip, hot tip from this team. Um, I always tell my dads, if your wife's water break, it breaks, obviously, calm her. She'll have a physiological response you cannot control because those the endorphins will hit and uh the prostagland is go whoosh and your body does shift. But I always tell my dads, you're gonna calm her down and then you're gonna go make her a lovely meal. Yeah. Eat if you haven't eaten.
Speaker 2Have her eat for sure. Eat. Yeah. Yeah. I always tell people that too. But if they're even in early labor, that's please make sure that you eat that's like eating when you should be fueling yourself. Um we're never here to, you know, tell you our goal is never to tell you what to do.
SpeakerOh my gosh, yeah.
Speaker 2Um, it's really to help you understand what all of your options are so you can make the informed decision with for you, for your partner, with your provider, um, you know, all of that.
SpeakerSo there's no right, wrong. Like we support you, we support our clients. Like it doesn't matter. You are the only one in your body. Yeah. You're the only one.
Speaker 2And and either option, whether you decide if you had prom, whether you decide to wait or whether you decide to go in, just know that um, you know, both can have evidence-based information, like depending on the situation. Exactly.
SpeakerAnd it's it's your very own personal story. Um, okay, that's been awesome. Give me five. Yeah, we did it. All right.
Final Tips And How To Reach Us
SpeakerSo like, share, send this episode to somebody. Um, that if you know that they're worried about this or you've had this conversation, uh, we're both on social media, Instagram. Macy's gonna help me get a TikTok setup.
Speaker 2Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1Warning, warning, meaning Tam Tam's on TikTok. God help you. God help us.
SpeakerOh, they're scared. Um, but yeah, please like and share, subscribe, um, and send us. We are, I meant to say we're on social media. So if you have questions, like reach out. We we get DMs all the time. We get, and you don't have to be our client, like we'd love you to be our client. Um, but I mean, do you have availability for the rest of this year?
unknownAre you?
Speaker 2As of right now, I have two spots in the house.
SpeakerOkay. I think I'm about to I think I have one in October. For the rest of the year, November. Yeah, okay. We're booking up, booking up, feeling busy. Okay.
Speaker 2Um, we're always available outside of that though. Yeah. Like we do one-on-ones. Um go to our website. You don't even have to be local here in Denver. Nope. Um we'll go to your house.
SpeakerI have two virtual clients right now. I'm so excited.
Speaker 2That's so amazing. And you know, I love that we can support people in in many different ways. And Misty's cooking.
SpeakerOh, guys. If you need postpartum meals, Misty's lovely, which is food.
Speaker 2My I just love to feed people. And let me just tell you, I I miss feeding your family, my family when they when they loved it. Yeah. When they're on their good. I'm a chicken, I get some mac and cheese. Oh my gosh. Um, but I miss like, oh mom, like, and occasionally my son will be like, you know what I was craving? I want this.
SpeakerAnd I'm like, your boys are good.
Speaker 2But yeah, I'm a big uh foodie. I love to love on mamas with food.
SpeakerSo message Missy on we're like Misty at Full Circle Birthcoat, Tammy at Full Circle Birthco, and Lauren and Lauren on our website. Yeah. Yeah, we all have our different services. So we'll see you next week. Bye.
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