Breaking the waters does not shorten labor
Another routine with a negative trial result.
Artificially breaking the bag of waters is often done to speed up a labor that is thought to be slow. Across 15 trials and 5,583 women, it did not shorten the first stage of labor to any meaningful degree (mean difference about 20 minutes, confidence interval spanning from 96 minutes shorter to 55 minutes longer), and there was a trend toward more cesareans, not fewer (relative risk 1.27).
The reviewers concluded that amniotomy should not be introduced routinely as part of standard labor management.
Once the waters are broken there is no going back. It commits you to delivering within a certain window at most hospitals, and it raises the threshold for infection concerns.
Where this comes from:
177. Smyth RMD, Markham C, Dowswell T. Amniotomy for shortening spontaneous labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(6):CD006167.
Covered in the essential classes
Continue
More from Labor
This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.