Q&A: After my water broke I felt another surge of water later on during labor.

Yes! We see this all the time and it can be confusing.

As you know, the amniotic sac is a membranous balloon around the baby that contains amniotic fluid. The sac ruptures and the fluid escapes before or during birth. This is often called "breaking your water."

The best explanation for how someone can apparently break her water early on and then have it break again is that the initial leaking was from high up on the sac. We call this a "high leak." This can lead to intermittent loss of fluid, but the entire sac doesn't empty. In this situation, the membrane in front of the baby's head is still intact, sometimes with a pocket of fluid behind it. An additional gush can come out when this "forebag" is ruptured.