The day before Mother’s Day 2023, I was sitting in my living room talking to my oldest child when my water broke. I went on to give birth safely at home a little over two weeks later. I did a lot of googling in those weeks (“water breaks at 35 weeks,” homebirth after water breaks early,” etc) and I wanted to share my story of a successful homebirth after my water broke at 35 weeks, aka preterm premature rupture of membranes.
**Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. If you are experiencing preterm premature rupture of membranes, please consult with your doctor or midwife on what the best options are FOR YOU. This is my personal experience only.**
What even is preterm premature rupture of membranes?
Premature rupture of membranes is when a woman’s water breaks before labor has actually begun. Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM to make all our lives easier) means her water has broken before 37 weeks.
Start the Clock
If you’re familiar with birth in a hospital setting, you probably know that when your water breaks, a clock starts.
24 hours.
That is how long most doctors will give you to achieve vaginal birth before insisting on a c-section, because there is some risk of infection or cord complications.
So when I woke up that morning and I was pretty sure my water was “leaking,” I got a little nervous. I called my midwife and we agreed for me to take it easy and hydrate well. Baby was moving normally and I felt fine. Later that day, I got the classic full on gushing that I knew was my water breaking.
I called my midwife back. We talked extensively about possibilities and options, and their risks and benefits. We decided that I would continue to wait at home for the time being. She gave me strict rules to take it easy, hydrate like crazy, absolutely nothing was allowed in the vagina, and to monitor my body temperature and baby movement multiple times a day. I was to her see her less than two days later as it was and we would do a non-stress test then.
Hurry Up and Wait
Those two days were uneventful. My midwife came that Monday and I laid on the couch with a baby monitor on and we listened to the steady heartbeat and swishing movements for a long time.
We thoroughly discussed everything again together and with my husband. Options, benefits, risks. Ultimately, I decided I would continue to stay home and wait to see if labor started on its own. We made plans for what I would do if it did start and I needed to head to a hospital. I would continue to follow my strict rules. (Rest, hydrate, nothing in the vagina, monitor body temp and baby movement.)
FYI: If you’re wondering why I keep bolding that one rule, it’s because that’s how bacteria gets introduced and infection starts.
Wash, rinse, repeat. A week passed and then another. This was informed consent at its finest. We discussed everything so thoroughly every time I saw or spoke to my midwife that I felt confident I was continuing to make the right decision for myself and baby.
Go Time
The first thing I did the day I hit 37 weeks was go for a 2 mile hike. I had been having “Braxton Hicks” contractions for weeks. (You will never convince me that these are fake contractions that aren’t doing anything.) I was losing bits of mucous plug during this time as well.
We decided that we would “induce” as naturally as possible at 37 weeks and 3 days, a Tuesday. I was happy with this because as the days went by, my anxiety crept up about walking around with ruptured membranes, but the baby had had time to develop and grow more.
I spent induction day trying to ready myself, bouncing on my yoga ball, and Victoria came after dinner that night. She started by doing a membrane sweep. Then she had me use the breast pump for 20 minutes at a time, alternating with about 20 minutes walking between pump sessions. Whenever I felt any kind of contraction, she had me get into a deep squat.
This went on for several hours and we were well into the night before things got real. All the kids had gone to bed and we were walking the neighborhood in the dark, curb walking and squatting. Super not fun anymore, by the way, but that squatting during contractions does work.
Oh, hello transition.
I hit active labor around midnight. I was more afraid and feeling more panicked than I ever remember feeling with any of my other births. I went into the bathroom several times and just stared at myself in the mirror, thinking there was no way I could do this.
I started to reach out several times to friends and stopped myself. Looking back, I think that was a mistake. I was too afraid to speak my fear out loud. So I just paced around my room and the bathroom without saying anything at all, convinced I was going to die.
I started to feel sick and knew I was getting close. No position was comfortable. Everything hurt so much. 100% I was dying.
When Jay finally convinced me to get up on the bed, my body did the work—as it always had—and baby was out in two pushes. Jay told me it was a boy and they laid him on me.
I legit was just surprised I was still alive. A baby boy 6lbs 3oz, 18.75 inches, born at 1:25 AM. But we were both healthy and happy, nursed right away, and I was asleep peacefully in my own bed (the best part) within two hours.
I’ve been wanting to tell this story for a long time to show that it’s possible to safely homebirth after preterm premature rupture of membranes. So often the story I hear is: water breaks early, Mom goes to the hospital, labor is not starting on its own so induction ensues, cascade of interventions, c-section. I know that’s not every story, but it happens more and more often these days. So I wanted to add one more story to show another way.
Some Interesting Tidbits
The umbilical cord had a true knot! I still think that is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
After examining my placenta, my midwife told me it was small and had a few calcification spots on it. She said if she was looking only at the placenta, she would have guessed it to be more like 40/41 weeks rather than 37.
My water was broken for 17 days, the longest I’ve ever heard of. I did a lot of searching online during that time and the longest I found mention of was 11 days. However, my water broke again when my body was pushing, so we think my amniotic sac may actually have healed and re-sealed itself. SUPER COOL, right?!
If you have a story about your water breaking early, I’d love to hear it! Comment below or share on my Facebook or Instagram pages!
Most of the images in this post are iPhone photography courtesy of my husband. Click here to learn more about birth photography.
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