Taking the worry out of leaks

Community Midwife, Emma Herbert
While being pregnant is full of joys and elations, most expectant mothers will be aware that they may suffer from aches and pains as the pregnancy develops. A challenge many expectant mothers may not be aware of is urinary incontinence and wetness. Leaks are not unusual. Research by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and Royal College of Midwives confirms that one in three women (34 per cent) experiences urinary incontinence during pregnancy. While this can be embarrassing and uncomfortable, there is no danger for either mother or baby. [1]
However, a leak can be a sign of a premature rupture of the amniotic sac, which may present a risk to mother and baby, and may require immediate medical attention. Estimates vary, and are complicated by differing definitions of PROM in the UK and US, but as many as one in ten pregnancies is
complicated by PROM (premature rupture of the membranes) [2] and in three out of five cases women go into labour within 24 hours. [3]
It is therefore crucial to determine if the wetness experience by the expectant mother is due to amniotic fluid, or urine incontinence so the relevant medical attention can be sought.
This is exactly what AmnioSense™ is designed to do; to detect if the leak is due to amniotic fluid. A panty-liner format, the polymer strip inside will turn a blue-green colour when it comes into contact with moisture with a pH of more than 6.5, and amniotic fluid has a pH equal or greater than 6.7.
The pH of urine can vary from 4.0 to 8 1 , but it also contains ammonia. As a result, AmnioSense includes reagents which react differently to ammonia. This helps eliminate false positives caused by incontinence. In some cases, if the leak is urine, the pad will change colour immediately, but then fade within 10 minutes. The test area will remain a blue-green colour for at least two hours when the
reaction has been triggered by amniotic fluid.
AmnioSense takes the worry out of leaks. It can be used by mums-to- be at home so they can easily identify when they need to seek immediate medical attention and can be used by healthcare professional to determine a diagnose. AmnioSense is an evidence-based non-invasive test, and is
clinically proven to be as accurate as hospital based tests when compared to the most common tests performed in hospital; sterile speculum examination, microscopic ferning test and pH paper test. [2]

References:

1 http://www.unitconversion.org/volume/microliters-to- drops-conversion.html
2 NICE review, on file
3 Reported in a published summary of a congress of the obstetricians and gynecologists

Staff Writer