The amniotic fluid is the ideal environment for a baby to live in before birth. They simultaneously perform several important functions, if each of them is violated, the existence and development of the baby will be seriously threatened. What color they are, whether they have a smell, what the waters of a particular color say, this article will tell.
Norm
The color and smell of amniotic fluid are the most important markers of a baby's prenatal well-being. The consistency of the waters, their quantity and transparency, the presence of foreign suspensions and impurities - all this is very important in order to draw preliminary conclusions about how well the child is feeling during pregnancy.
For example, oligohydramnios or polyhydramnios often accompany genetic abnormalities of fetal development, are the result of malformations of the kidneys and heart. Suspensions in the amniotic fluid may indicate the presence of intrauterine infection. However, the color of the waters is a characteristic that can be determined when the waters have already departed or have begun to gradually withdraw. Neither an ultrasound examination nor a gynecological examination can give such information to a woman and her doctor.
Waters nourish the baby - he regularly swallows and pees in them, but the composition of the amniotic fluid is updated every three hours, and the environment remains sterile... The waters are rich in proteins, enzymes, hormones, glucose. They soften harsh sounds from the outside for crumbs and serve as an excellent shock absorber that smooths out shocks. Water helps to maintain the temperature inside the fetal bladder at a constant level necessary for the developing fetus - 37 degrees.
Amniotic fluid is rich in antibodies, and therefore it is involved in the development of childhood immunity. That is why premature drainage of water is considered the most serious complication of pregnancy, when the life of the child is at risk.
It is considered timely to drain water already at the peak of labor at the end of the first stage of labor. If the outpouring or leakage of water occurs earlier, it is always a question of premature outpouring of water, and each such situation requires an informed decision - to prolong the pregnancy and keep it further in order to give the baby the opportunity to grow up a little more, or to stimulate childbirth so as not to put his life at risk ...
Normal amniotic fluid during intrauterine development do not have any obvious color or smell. This is exactly what the waters will be in an uncomplicated, successful pregnancy, when both mother and baby feel good. In the early stages, they have a light pinkish tint, resembling an ichor, blood plasma. Gradually, when the baby begins to swallow them and empty the bladder, the waters become clear.
Seeing such waters, there is no need to panic. Regardless of whatever decision the doctors make, given your gestational age, your baby feels good, does not experience oxygen deprivation, and does not suffer from infections. Just trust the professionals.
And also, in normal conditions, water can have a slight yellowish tint. The yellow color in itself does not mean anything alarming, and in the later stages it is considered a variant of the normal... A small dissemination of bloody veins is acceptable - these are the remnants of the mucous plug that left the cervical canal of the cervix together with the waters.
Other color options
If you have completely moved away or amniotic fluid began to leak, be sure to pay attention to the color and report this characteristic to the ambulance dispatcher whom you will call in order to go to the medical facility as soon as possible. Do not forget to indicate the same characteristics to the doctors in the hospital where the "ambulance" will take you. Whatever the color, do not be alarmed, doctors can help in any situation. For herself, it is desirable for a woman to know what the waters of one color or another testify to.
Green
The amniotic fluid is colored green with varying intensity by the original feces of meconium. It is dark green to almost black in color and accumulates in the intestines of the fetus during pregnancy. Meconium is a desquamated epithelium, lanugo hairs, particles of protein and lipid fragments of water that a baby swallows during pregnancy. The color gives bile.
Normally, meconium begins to go out through the rectum and anus after birth - babies empty it for the first few days after birth.
If a child empties the intestines while still in the womb, this is always the result of violations of his condition. Usually, defecation ahead of the time set by nature occurs due to severe uncompensated hypoxia, and then the water is greenish, saturated green or any other shade of this color - a signal for doctors that they will have little time to make a decision - the child needs to be urgently saved.
Usually, children who are born after the discharge of greenish waters are placed in the intensive care unit in order to carefully examine and observe for at least a couple of days. This is necessary to identify the consequences of intrauterine hypoxia, and they can be different - from minor neurological disorders to significant disorders of the brain, cardiovascular system, and internal organs.
Usually, when the waters are green, if this happens at home, the woman needs to be hospitalized as soon as possible. If this happens already in the hospital, the doctors have to decide whether to speed up the labor process or to carry out an emergency caesarean section, since with every hour of the anhydrous period, the risk of death and disability in a baby with hypoxia increases.
Red
This shade, fortunately, is not common. Such waters always mean that the situation is extremely alarming, and there is blood in the amniotic fluid. The degree of bleeding can be judged by the exact shade of the waters - the darker, the more profuse the process of blood loss.
It is absolutely impossible to understand at home who is losing blood - a mother or a child, and therefore the ambulance operator needs to be informed about red waters, and the doctors in the hospital will establish the true picture of what happened, where the woman will be taken urgently. Usually, such trips are sent not to the usual "ambulance", but to a more qualified and well-equipped resuscitation team, ready to provide first aid right in the ambulance.
Brown
This color does not bode well either, and usually it signal of the critical state of the baby. Whatever the true cause of what is happening - a severe intrauterine infection or placental abruption - a woman needs urgent surgical delivery. Only an emergency caesarean section will increase the chances of both the mother and the fetus for survival. A dark brown color often means intrauterine fetal death.
Muddy whitish, pink, marsh
This option usually indicates the presence of chorioamnionitis - inflammation of the membranes. The condition is often accompanied by an increase in the body temperature of the expectant mother, chills, pain in the lower abdomen.
The anhydrous period for the baby should not be too long, as it can lead to infection of the baby.
Important Tips
If the waters have moved away at once, we are talking about the outpouring and rupture of the membranes. If there are lateral tears of the bladder, complete drainage of water does not occur, doctors have every chance to prolong the pregnancy in the absence of other complications.
Leakage is indicated by an increase in the amount of vaginal discharge and a thinning of their consistency. The discharge becomes stronger when assuming an upright position after a calm horizontal position for some time, with laughter, coughing, sneezing.
In this case, the woman needs to do a home test to determine the amniotic fluid. There are conventional pad tests that respond to a change in the acidic environment of the vagina to an alkaline one, and there are more accurate systems that establish in the secretions protein fractions characteristic of waters. If you get a positive result, you should evaluate the color of the liquid and go to a medical facility.
You can immediately go to a medical facility, where specialists will diagnose themselves.
If you suspect a leak it is important to ask for help no later than 12 hours later - after this period, the likelihood of infection of the fetus increases significantly, since the disturbed fetal bladder is no longer a reliable protection for the child from viruses, bacteria and fungi. Wherein it is strictly forbidden to take a bath, have sex and do douching.
