So it can be difficult to determine if the fluid is urine, amniotic fluid, or just excessive vaginal fluid (common in pregnancy). Your vaginal tissues also may produce extra fluid to help your baby pass more easily. When you’re pregnant, you may feel like everything leaks: Your bladder becomes fuller faster, and you may leak urine. The amniotic sac in which your baby is growing is like a water balloon. There are two calculations on ways to measure, known as the amniotic fluid index (AFI) or the maximum vertical pocket (MPV).ĭoctors consider your fluid levels to be low if your AFI is less than 5 centimetres (cm) or your MPV (Mean platelet volume) is less than 2 cm. Your doctor can measure your amniotic fluid levels using an ultrasound. The amount of amniotic fluid cushioning your baby tends to increase as your pregnancy progresses, reaching its highest point at about 36 weeks.įluid levels throughout your pregnancy could be around:Ħ0 millilitres (mL) at 12 weeks gestationĤ00 to 1,200 mL between 34 and 38 weeks gestation What’s considered a normal level of amniotic fluid? If it leaks once you are close to your due date, it may be a sign of approaching labour. They may also take a fluid sample and look at it under a microscope. When you detect a leak in your panties, it's best to go to a doctor. If you do this and don’t see any fluid on the pad, the fluid you are seeing is probably urine. If it isn’t, the fluid could be amniotic fluid.Īnother option is to put on a pad or panty liner and concentrate on holding your pelvic floor muscles tight, as if you are trying to stop your urine stream. If the fluid is yellow in colour, it’s likely urine. Place a sanitary pad or panty liner in your underwear and examine the fluid that is on the pad after 30 minutes to an hour. Unlike urine, vaginal fluid is usually white or pale yellow in colour.Īnother way you can try to determine if the fluid is amniotic fluid is to first empty your bladder.clear, white-flecked, and/or tinged with mucus or blood.

And when blood is present, amniotic fluid may appear red-tinged. It can also appear white-flecked as a result of mucus. Sometimes amniotic fluid is green or brown when meconium (stool passed by the baby) is present.

If the leakage has a smell, it is most likely urine. Here’s a look at the symptoms.Īmniotic fluid is odourless, amniotic fluid is a colourless, thin liquid. Sometimes it can be tough to tell if the fluid you are leaking is amniotic fluid. Women who got pregnant less than 6 months after their last labour or are carrying more than one baby have a higher risk of PROM. It just means the water breakage has happened before labour has started. If the waters break before labour has started it’s called premature rupture of membranes or PROM.ĭon’t be alarmed by the word ‘premature’. If the amniotic sac breaks before the 37th week of pregnancy, doctors refer to it as preterm PROM. Sometimes, the amniotic sac breaks or leaks before labour starts.

Amniotic fluid test strip color