By Lesley Bailey, Basildon, Essex England
PROM at 16 weeksDelivery at 17 weeks + 6 days.
Story added: 2005-07-03

It all began at 15 weeks with a thrush like discharge which changed colour daily from white to peach and then brown and finally a thick green discharge, by this time i was extremely concerned and met with my ob, he took swabs and gave me antibiotics to take. The green discharge continued for a few days and then a pink mucous began to appear. Bonfire day 5th November no leakage all day, things must be improving, bonfire evening was spent sitting watching fireworks around a friends house. I was relieved that all seemed well until just before bedtime when i felt a leak and discovered i was leaking fresh red blood. Back to the hospital i was checked over and told to go home and rest. The bleeding continued just like a period for three days, so again i went back to the hospital. They admitted me this time and i slept well the first night. I awoke at 7am and noticed a cramping in my abdomen. I went to the toilet and discovered a smelly wet liquid had soaked my sanitary towel. I asked the nurse to take a look and she confirmed it was amniotic fluid by using a amnistick swab. Ultrasound confirmed that i had <1cm of amniotic fluid left. My ob came to see me immediately and told me the baby had an extremely poor prognosis and that i should terminate the pregnancy. A University hospital also scanned me and confirmed the prognosis. After many hours of trawling the website for more information, I terminated the pregnancy at 17w6d. Right or wrong i did what i felt was best for my baby, i have no regrets, just heartache at having to make the decision to end a life. I am currently expecting again and have been told that i have a short cervix as a result of colposcopy treatment. With regard to the infection the swabs all showed negative and my ob is baffled by the discharge. I am 15 weeks, now, i have had a cervicle cerclage (stitch) and am on bedrest most of the time. So far so good, but otherwise one day at a time.