There are women who break bag or “waters” before starting labor contractions, others do so in the process, while sometimes it does not happen until they enter the delivery room.
In some cases the rupture is spontaneous while in others it is a maneuver performed by the midwife in the hospital to pierce the membranes called amniotomy.
In Spain it is not used as a single method of induction of labor, but it is used to direct a labor that is not evolving well since it is believed to stimulate the release of certain hormones that increase contractions.
Many times when a delivery is taking too long, the bag is broken manually to speed up the process.
Now, maybe it is another point of childbirth care that should be reviewed, as an investigation by the Cochrane Library to determine the efficacy and safety of this maneuver has revealed that It does not help reduce the duration of the first phases of labor.
It seems that many investigations have been carried out on this maneuver, although we have recently published one on the blog that indicated that the time between the rupture of the amniotic pocket and delivery is a risk factor for serious infections in the baby.
Rebecca Smyth, one of the authors of the review has said that she does not recommend the routine practice of amniotomy in childbirth care, although she assures that larger studies on the subject are missing.
Since less invasive ways of giving birth are being implemented, it would not be bad to have this practice reviewed to ensure its efficacy and safety.
![[Innocent 2015] The government will give help to mothers who demonstrate an 'obvious tiredness' in caring for their children](https://img.ledos-delacuillere.com/img/bebesy2-2019/el-gobierno-dar-una-ayuda-las-madres-que-demuestren-un-cansancio-evidente-por-el-cuidado-de-los-hijos.jpg)
