Naturally, expectant parents hope that the results of the examination of the amniotic fluid will be negative. In case of a positive result, it is sometimes necessary to terminate the pregnancy. However, before taking such a step, the pregnant woman concerned is given detailed and very intensive counseling. ACOG: Women's Healthcare Physicians [Internet]. Washington D.C.: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; c2022. Amniocentesis; [reviewed 2021 Mar; cited 2022 May 9]; [about 17 screens]. Available from: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/amniocentesis Preterm PROM before the 24th week is rare. However, it often results in death of the fetus because the baby’s lungs are not able to develop properly. If the baby survives, they will often have long-term problems, including: Think of your amniotic sac like a water balloon. While it’s possible to break the water balloon, causing a strong gush of fluid (known as your water breaking), it’s also possible that a small hole could develop in the sac. This can result in a slow leak of amniotic fluid.

Amniotic fluid is mostly baby pee — and as we all know, babies keep peeing. So, amniotic fluid keeps coming out. So, it stops when baby is out. 🙂 Should I call the doctor if I think I’m leaking amniotic fluid? Diagnosis of fetal infection. Occasionally, amniocentesis is used to look for infection or other illness in the baby. The optimal cutoff value for urea for this study was 12.7 mg/dl. This cutoff value is comparable to 13.2 mg/dl obtained by Mohammed et al.[ 10] and 14.75 mg/dl reported by Hanfy.[ 25] However, it is higher than the 6.0 mg/dl reported by Kariman et al.[ 26] The AUC obtained from the ROC curve for urea was 50.3% (0.503). This finding is much lower when compared to the AUCs of 84% and 91% reported by Kariman et al.[ 26] and Hanfy,[ 25] respectively. The values for sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of vaginal fluid urea level from this study was 18.8%, 95.3%, 80.0%, 54.0%, and 57.0%, respectively, while other studies were 90%, 79%, 83%, 87.5%, and 85%, respectively, by Kariman et al.,[ 26] 96% and 93%, respectively, for sensitivity and specificity of urea and 97% and 98%, respectively, for creatinine by Malchi et al.,[ 27] 100% for all the parameters by Hanfy[ 25] and Mohammed et al.[ 10] The optimal cutoff for creatinine level in vaginal fluid was 0.8 mg/dl. This figure is lower than 1.05 mg/dl obtained by Hanfy[ 25] but it is higher than 0.05–0.5 mg/dl reported by others.[ 26, 28, 29] The AUC from the ROC curve for creatinine from this study was 53.7% (0.537). This is in contrast to the AUCs of 99.99% by Kariman et al.[ 26] and 82% by Hanfy.[ 25] For creatinine, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy obtained from the study are 48.2%, 65.3%, 51.9%, 61.8%, and 57.8%, respectively. The values reported for sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy for creatinine in other studies ranged between 90 and 100%[ 10, 19- 22] Several studies obtained 90% and above for sensitivity, specificity PPV and NPV of urea and creatinine. Your health care provider or a genetic counselor will help you understand your amniocentesis results.Amniocentesis is used to diagnose certain health problems in an unborn baby. It is commonly used to find: In some cases, you may want information about your unborn baby sooner than 15 to 20 weeks, when amniocentesis is usually done. In that case, you might consider another diagnostic test called a chorionic villus sampling (CVS). This test takes a small sample of tissue from the placenta Let me once again stress that a) If you think you have ruptured, you don’t have time to go find a test to see if you have or haven’t. b) If you’re thinking ahead, please talk with your provider before planning on this. Honestly, it’s not a horrible idea (I sort of wish I’d had some Nitrazine paper at home when I had my babies), but I want them in on your plan. 🙂

So, that’s the deal on an at home amniotic fluid test. Like I said — I guess it’s not a horrible idea to plan ahead to have at home but please talk with your doctor if that’s your plan. AND if you think you’re ruptured — it’s too late, call your doctor. That being said, most often if you wonder if it’s broken, but instead put on a pad and watch it for 15-20 minutes to see if you’re still leaking. That should be fine. ACOG: Women's Healthcare Physicians [Internet]. Washington D.C.: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; c2022. The Rh Factor: How It Can Affect Your Pregnancy; [reviewed 2020 Jun; cited 2022 May 9]; [about 19 screens]. Available from: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/the-rh-factor-how-it-can-affect-your-pregnancyTreatment. Amniocentesis might be done to drain amniotic fluid from the uterus if too much has built up — a condition called polyhydramnios. The hollow needle is withdrawn again and the generated fluid and the cells it contains are processed in the laboratory. Good To Know

I would use a clean glove, get some of the paper (about a 3 inch strip) and bend it over my finger. Then I would place my finger gently into the vaginal canal (careful to hold onto the strip so I don’t lose it in there).Most people aren’t going to have a test at home, but there is another simple self-test you can try: However, if you’re testing INSIDE the vaginal canal, it should not have urine in it. If you’re testing on the outsideof the vaginal canal it may have urine on it and can mess things up. University of Rochester Medical Center [Internet]. Rochester (NY): University of Rochester Medical Center; c2022. Health Encyclopedia: Amniocentesis; [cited 2022 May 9]; [about 7 screens]. Available from: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=92&contentid=p07762 We actually talk a bit about the AFI and other 3rd trimester tests in my free prenatal class. What does amniotic fluid smell like and look like? Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of nitrazine test for PROM in this study were 87.5%, 100%, 100%, 88.9%, and 93.7%, respectively. This is similar but slightly higher than in the study by Agbara et al. in which nitrazine had an accuracy of 89.3%.[ 30] It was also comparable to the study by Haseli et al. with the values 94.1%, 90.5%, 98.2%, and 73.1%.[ 31]