PPROM and infection

PPROM is rupture of the membranes before labour and before 37 weeks. Once the membranes are open, bacteria from the vagina may move toward the uterus. Infection may affect the membranes, placenta, uterus, or baby, and it can sometimes begin without dramatic symptoms. Clinicians assess your temperature, pulse, pain or uterine tenderness, the smell and colour of fluid, blood-test changes, and the baby's heart rate. No single finding gives the whole answer, so the pattern over time matters. A clear or pale leak can still need assessment.

Call your maternity unit as soon as possible when you suspect your waters have broken. Keep track of fluid colour, odour, leakage, contractions, temperature, and fetal movements. Use pads rather than tampons and do not place anything in the vagina unless your clinician instructs you. The team may recommend hospital monitoring, antibiotics, fetal monitoring, or medicines to support the baby's lungs. An antenatal steroid injection may be discussed when appropriate. If infection or another concern develops, the team may recommend birth, including induction of labour, because treating the cause can be safer than waiting.

Get urgent maternity help for a temperature, chills, faintness, new or worsening abdominal pain, a tender uterus, foul-smelling fluid, green or cloudy fluid, vaginal bleeding, regular contractions, or reduced fetal movement. Report feeling generally unwell even if the fluid looks unchanged. These symptoms need prompt assessment rather than home observation.

Ask how infection will be monitored, which test results matter, when antibiotics are advised, and what would make delivery safer. Ask how often the baby's heart rate and your observations will be checked, and what number to call if you develop symptoms at home.