Jamelia has revealed her waters broke when she was just 23 weeks into her “dramatic” third pregnancy.
During an appearance on the ‘Lorraine’ show this morning [Monday 29 January], the singer and TV presenter explained that her youngest daughter, True, was born after a “scary time” for her whole family.
The 37-year-old said: “I didn’t know your waters could break and you can still carry the baby.
“They usually think you’re going to go into labour within the hour. From that point they said the baby could come any day now.”
Jamelia, who also has two older children, Tiani and Teja, had to stay in bed after her waters unexpectedly broke, which normally happens after 37 weeks according to the UK stillbirth charity, Tommy’s.
But the charity says that in around 2% of pregnancies, it happens sooner.
“Going through something like that really opens your eyes,” she added.
Why do waters break?
When an unborn baby is in the womb, it is surrounded by a sac of amniotic fluid and when this ruptures, mums-to-be will experience their ‘waters breaking’.
What happens when they break?
You will experience it as a trickle or a gush of water from your vagina. It is likely to continue leaking once it has started. If it isn’t too heavy you can use a sanitary towel (not a tampon) to catch it.
This will also allow you to see what colour it is, which will be helpful information for health professionals, according to Tommy’s charity.
Why do waters break early?
Virginia Beckett, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says [RCOG] told HuffPost UK: “If your waters break before labour at less than 37 weeks of pregnancy, this is known as preterm pre-labour rupture of membranes (PPROM).”
She added: “Around a third of cases can be linked to infection, but in many cases no infection is present.”