Added: 02/02/2006 |
The Artificial Rupture of the Amniotic Membrane and What You Should Do if it Happens to You!Before turning to surgical operation, all the aspects of surgery reasons and uses must be studied. We'll start with surgery information on amniotomy: it is performed to induce or speed the labors; the health care provider may rupture mother's amniotic membrane. But this should be done only after her cervix has opened and the child's head is definitely descended in your pelvis. If the membrane is ruptured too early, a risk exists that the umbilical cord would slip around or under the child's head. If the umbilical cord gets stuck between the child's head and the mother's pelvis bones, then the blood supply to the child may be reduced or stopped.
During the surgical procedure of artificial rupture of the amniotic membrane (also called "amniotomy"), the health care provider inserts a sterile device made of plastic into the mother's vagina; that device looks like a long hook, or a smaller hook connected to the finger of a surgeon's glove. The hook is applied to pull on the amniotic sac until it breaks. This procedure is supposed not to be painful. A large discharge of fluid normally follows the rupture of the amniotic membrane. The uterus produces amniotic fluid until the child is born, so mothers may still feel the leaking sensation, especially after a tough contraction (muscular tightening of the uterus)
Amniotomy, or the artificial rupture of the amniotic membrane, is often performed on women in hospitals, either to speed up their labors, or to insert the electronic fetal monitor; sporadically it is made so that the health care provider can take blood samples from the fetus, and/or determine whether or not there is meconium staining (the first bowel movement of the fetus), which is considered to indicate fetal distress. The procedure is trouble-free: a hospital attendant introduces an instrument looking like a hook through the cervix, then catches and ruptures the amniotic sac.
Some specialists believe that, if the artificial rupture of the amniotic membrane is not made and membranes are permitted to break spontaneously, most mothers will have unbroken membranes either until they are in very vigorous labor or until they reach total cervical dilation. Although amniotomy often results in faster labors, it also increases the risk of infection for the fetus from vaginal exams or inserted instruments.
Although such infections can be cured with antibiotics, but the infection process may suggest significant discomfort and more extra days of post-surgical stay at hospital. If a false labor is mistaken for a real labor, and amniotomy is performed too early, induction of pitocin with all its hazards will be needed (this complication can be evaded if amniotomy is done after 5-6 centimeters dilation).
Another danger of artificial rupture of the amniotic membrane is that without the protecting pillow of the amniotic fluid the child's head is subject to stronger pressure during contractions, and the umbilical cord may get squeezed, which can deprive the child from oxygen flow and cause respiratory distress. Also, unbroken membranes often protect not only the head of the fetus but the mother's perineum as well, which enables gentler stretching and lessening the probability of tears. The rupture of the protective bag combined with pitocin-boosted contractions frequently leads to speedier and enforced stretching of the perineum and thus to more tears.
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