If your water breaks, lie down where you are, raise your hips, and call 120 (China's ambulance number); don't walk around or take a bath
- Top value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- For: Pregnant or trying
- Free
- Takes minutes
- No willpower
In plain words
When the water breaks, you don't pack your things slowly and then set out. The right thing is to lie down on the spot, raise your hips on something, and call 120 (China's ambulance number). Standing and walking makes the fluid drain faster, and the umbilical cord may be swept down with it. That is an emergency that can kill the baby.
- Cost
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Free.
- What you get
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The Beijing Municipal Health Commission (北京市卫生健康委员会) gives this advice: when your water breaks, “immediately find a place to lie down flat so the amniotic fluid does not flow out,” “do not walk around,” and “call the 120 emergency number at once.” While waiting for the ambulance, tell your family to bring your things and meet you at the hospital. Medical-institution public education explains further why: when a person is standing, the fluid is lost faster and the baby's umbilical cord may fall out with it, which is called cord prolapse, an emergency that endangers the baby. So lie down, raise your hips, and you may lie on your left side.
- Notes
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The three signs that labor is near are regular contractions, a bloody show and the water breaking. With the first two you can pack calmly; breaking of the water is the only one where you lie down and call for a vehicle on the spot. Bathing, squatting on the toilet or driving yourself after the water breaks are all typical mistakes. Note the time the water broke and the color of the fluid, and tell the doctor. Fluid that is yellow-green, or has particles of meconium (the baby's first stool) in it, suggests fetal distress (the baby not getting enough oxygen in the womb). If there are also regular contractions, clearly fewer baby movements, or fever with chills, stress to the doctor that this is an emergency.
- Evidence grade
- B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
- Sources
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- 北京市卫生健康委员会. 每周急救话题：准妈妈羊水早破怎样办？ https://wjw.beijing.gov.cn/bmfw_20143/jkzs/jzjj/202001/t20200115_1575632.html
- 北京市顺义区妇幼保健院. 孕晚期在家破水怎么办？ https://www.bch-syfy.cn/Html/News/Articles/9453.html
Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 27, tip 8. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer