When her waters broke at just 22 weeks, mum-to-be Louise Adams from Stoke-on-Trent in the UK was informed by her doctors that her baby only had a five percent shance of surviving.
Adams and her husband, Jack, explain they were in ‘complete shock‘ when doctors said there was nothing that could be done to save their baby because he had not yet reached 24 weeks.
“All they could do is monitor me in hospital, waiting for the inevitable miscarriage, which they said would happen in days,” she explains. “But I could feel Joseph kicking. I couldn’t just sit around doing nothing to save him.”
The 28-year-old – and her husband, Jack, were determined to keep their baby alive, and started researching other options. Online, Adams came across advice women in some other countries are given when their waters break prematurely.
In their search, they discovered that many doctors are advicing women whose water breaks early are advised to drink seven pints of water a day to replenish the liquid lost and help keep the baby healthy in the womb.
However, her own medical team did not hold much hope.
“Although UK doctors were sceptical, I discovered in other countries around the world mothers whose waters break early are put on a drip,” Adams reveals. “I’m convinced he survived such low odds because when my waters broke, I replaced them by ensuring I was well hydrated.”
Adams researched and dug around for advice online, and discovered that drinking more has been shown to replenish lost amniotic fluid – the liquid the baby needs to grow in the womb.
“The more the mother drinks the more the baby drinks and urinates, and as excretion of urine by the unborn baby is the major source of amniotic fluid production in the second half of pregnancy, it made sense that increasing my fluid intake could make a difference.”
However, after spending six days in hospital, Adams was discharged and went home – determined to keep her baby inside until he was bigger and had a better chance of surviving. Over the next 13 weeks, she constantly sipped water and also consumed cranberry juice and raw cloves of garlic after reading they could ward off infection, a scenario that is common when the waters break early.
“I shut myself off from the world,” she recalls. “It wasn’t easy but I drank around seven pints a day. Doctors and midwives were sceptical and gave me no hope. They told me there was little research and it was unlikely to make any difference. But I had nothing to lose.”
But beating the odds day by day, little Joseph continued to grow in his mum’s tummy.
“Getting past 24 weeks was the first hurdle as I knew at that point he at least had some chance of survival if born then,” says Adams. “Once past 24 weeks doctors finally gave me steroids to mature Joseph’s lungs and antibiotics to prevent infection.”
Three months later, when Adams were eight months pregnant and only four weeks shy of her actual due-date, the couple welcomed their healthy 5Ib 10oz baby boy via C-section at Royal Stoke University Hospital.
“When we heard him crying his eyes out, we were overjoyed,” the delighted mum reveals. “He was absolutely perfect and did so well, he came home after just a week.”
A spokesperson for Little Heartbeats, a charity which supports women who suffer from PPROM explained to MailOnline: “Many of our Mum’s believe drinking water to replenish their amniotic fluid levels have helped. Many other countries such as the US do recommend that mum’s increase their water consumption.”
