Skip to main content

What Does Low Amniotic Fluid Really Mean?

What Does Low Amniotic Fluid Really Mean?

Recently a client brought up low amniotic fluid concerns after a prenatal appointment. After a deep dive into this with them, we thought we'd circle back to our community here and chat low amniotic fluid (Otherwise known as: Oligohydramnios) and inductions. The standard practice in the U.S is to jump to induction if a full term mother experiencing an otherwise normal pregnancy is reported to have low amniotic fluid. You know we are all about the facts here, so let's dig in.

Is low amniotic fluid a valid reason for induction?

'A recent review of the literature (Rossi & Prefumo 2013) found that in term or post-term pregnancies oligohydramnios (with an otherwise healthy pregnancy/baby) was not associated with poor outcomes. However, it was associated with increased risk of obstetric interventions… probably because the diagnosis leads to intervention.' Check out the evidence on Low Amniotic Fluid and why inducing for this reason may not be the best answer when it’s used as a “blanket statement” solution. For example, "There is a lack of evidence supporting induction for oligohydramnios in ‘low risk’ pregnancies ie. when there is nothing else ‘abnormal’ going on with mother or baby (Quiñones et al 2012). Driggers et al. (2004) concluded that: “evidence is accumulating that in the presence of an appropriate-for-gestational age fetus, with reassuring fetal well-being and the absence of maternal disease, oligohydramnios is not associated with an increased incidence of adverse perinatal outcome.’’

So quick recap, even if you are one of the rare true cases of low amniotic fluid, (see below for how accurate fluid testing can be!)  there is no current evidence that low amniotic fluid at full term in an otherwise normal pregnancy shows poor outcomes for the mother or infant.  However, the use of inductions for low amniotic fluids alone does show an increased risk for a Cesarean section for the mother.  You need to make sure you are keeping the lines of communication open with your provider if you are diagnosed with low amniotic fluid in your prenatal care. 

( Also, here is a bit of information showing that inducing for due dates actually usually causes more harm than good if there is not a solid, medically founded reason for it. )

What can cause low amniotic fluids?

There are factors such as dehydration, broken waters, placental complications, past due pregnancies, medications, infant health conditions, the fetus swallows more of the fluid as the pregnancy progresses, etc. which can impact fluid levels. As well, you should remember that your fluid levels fluctuate throughout the day normally, so a report of low fluid levels can sometimes be addressed by increasing water intake.

How do they test your fluids?

You want to ensure they are using the "deepest vertical pocket" method to measure fluid, and not the outdated "amniotic fluid index," which is a 1-25 scale and what is typically used. ACOG no longer endorses the AFI, instead it endorses the DVP method because it reduces unnecessary intervention without additional risk to the baby. It is important to remember as well that testing used to measure your amniotic fluid catches only 10% of all cases of true low amniotic fluid accurately (Gilbert 2012). Low fluids can be a sign that something is wrong with the mother, the placenta or with the baby genetically, but it can also be dehydration or normal fluid fluctuation throughout the day. To increase the accuracy of your results, try to drink two liters of water before your appointment to keep your fluid levels up and lay on your left side during or before the testing to get the deepest measure.

The Final Word

You are responsible for you birth. You are responsible for planning and educating yourself. You are responsible for speaking up and using your voice. You are responsible for keeping the line of communication open with your provider when it counts.  Make sure you are making informed decisions about your care. 

You can do this. 

If you are concerned about having an unwanted c-section or being feared into decisions that are not based in evidence and science, let us help! Join The Birth Lounge to have an informed and confident birth experience, push for less than one hour, and avoid a c-section!


Post written by Kristin, TBH Team Member & Doula

Comments

  1. Hello everyone, I am from Wembley, Britain. I want to write this testimony to tell others and thank Dr. Odunga for what he has done for me. The first 12 years of my marriage I had 5 miscarriages and I was called all sorts of names by my mother-in-law and this made my marriage life very hectic and a burden of sorrow. I contacted Dr. Odunga for help and I will say that he is a very strong and honest man and he indeed helped me solve my problem. I saw his email in a testimony and I contacted him, little did I know it would be the end of all my problems. After 2 days of contact, I received a fertility herb and he told me to use it. The herb worked and my husband even loved me more and bought me expensive things. One afternoon, I went to a nearby hospital and came back home with the positive result of my pregnancy and after 9 months I gave birth to a baby boy. Ever since I contacted Dr. Odunga, my story has been different. I have 3 children at present and I am very happy in my marriage. Please, contact him at odungaspelltemple@gmail. com OR Whats App him +2348167159012 to help you too

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vagina Whispering: Everyone's Doing It

Meet The Vagina Whisperer [This is also an episode of Friday Free Talk on The Tranquility Tribe Podcast on iTunes. Listen  here .] Hey Tranquility Tribe!  I’m so excited to bring you this episode of the Tranquility Tribe podcast!  Today, Hehe talked to Sara Reardon, also known as the Vagina Whisperer.  As you may be able to guess from her nickname, Sara is an expert in all things vagina, which means that this episode is full of super essential and often understated topics! Who is the Vagina Whisperer? Sara Reardon is a physical therapist who currently practices in New Orleans.   She specializes in men and women’s pelvic floor health, and she is passionate about speaking up when it comes to treatment and prevention of pelvic health issues.   By bringing humor to the often sensitive topic of staying healthy “down there,” Sara helps to unpack countless vagina-related topics that many women have experience with but few are comfortable talking about.   In addition t

Sexual Wellness with Rebecca Alvarez Part 1 of 2

Sexual Wellness Products with Rebecca Alvarez (Part 1 of 2 of our interview derived from The Birth Lounge Podcast Episode 130 ) You GUYS. I am SO excited to bring this interview to life here on the blog. Did you know that 98% of all feminine care products has at least 1 toxic ingredient? That's scary! Rebecca Alvarez earned her BA in Women’s Health & Sexuality from UC Berkeley and her MA in Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State and is the founder of The Bloomi. She is joining me to dive deep into what’s wrong with traditional sexual wellness products, how to spot harmful ingredients and false labeling, and what you need to know about long term effects of these issues in sexual wellness and women’s health! So Let's have Rebecca introduce herself! Rebecca : I consider myself a sexual wellness expert. I'm also an entrepreneur and my passion is bringing clean intimate care products to women and femmes. I'm sure we'll talk about why that's important and wha

Do Inductions Really Rise Around the Holidays?

Do Inductions Really Rise Around the Holidays? As long as I can remember in my doula career, I have been told, both seriously and sarcastically, that inductions rise around the holidays because doctors want to control the births they will have to deliver on..let’s say Thanksgiving day or Christmas Day.  I have to be honest in that I never really paid much attention to it because our team typically takes off the end of the year! It has been an intentional decision in years past to not take births in the months of December and January. This provided us with the time to disconnect, visit family and friends, and wrap up one year + dive into the next with a solid foundation. As you well know, 2020 has changed so much of what we knew and, for us, this meant not having the space to disconnect without leaving birthing people vulnerable in a global crisis and not traveling for this holidays. With this, we decided to work straight through 2020 into the start of 2021. And in this moment, the enti