So what do I need to know about pregnancy and labour?

I have been teaching mums to be about pregnancy, active birth, labour, birth and after for over a decade in my weekly Bumps Antenatal class in classes all throughout Lanarkshire from Coatbridge to Carluke, from Cumbernauld to Cambuslang, formerly Daisy Birthing Lanarkshire or Lazy Daisy classes and I’m always surprised about the things we don’t share and the things we do.

So in my blogs I am hopefully going to cover helpful hints and tips, if there is anything you would like to know please drop me an email and I will do my best to help.

Today I’m going to start with rupture of membranes because this caught me by surprise when was expecting my first child.

My first child decided to make a surprise appearance when I was only 34 weeks pregnant. I had enjoyed a healthy pregnancy with no issues but when my waters broke at 34 weeks neither myself were expecting it.

I was packing my bag for the hospital and went to the loo and when I wiped there was a wee drop pinkish blood , which was not normal for me in this pregnancy. I said to my hubby and sat down for 5 mins and talked to baby and tried to relax but her movements were different from when I normally did this so I went back to the bathroom. As I went to sit down this time I felt a gush of water and knew it wasn’t wee!
So we phoned the hospital and they asked me to come in. I cleaned myself up and hopped in the car to get checked out at Wishaw General Hospital.

It was summer so I had on a skirt and flips flops but was not expecting what happened when I got out the car. I stood up and felt another gush of water, but never had I heard, or been advised to put on a maternity pad when I went into labour. When your waters break and as your body and baby move more amniotic fluid can come away, a term sometimes known as gushing.

So now when teaching my antenatal classes I advise ladies from 34 weeks to have a ziploc bag with a clean pair of knickers and a maternity pad/ sanitary towel because many of us will have removed all sanitary products from our handbags and be left stuck if it happens.

I don’t want anyone to be stuck like I was being the person walking down the hall with a big wet patch on my bottom because nobody told me that when your membranes rupture it is not one and done! So prepare yourself today ladies !

If you are interested in finding out more about my pregnancy classes in Airdrie and Hamilton click HERE