question about not bathing???2 pregnancy questions?

Q: i was wondering at watch stage during pregnancy they say you shouldnt take baths??i havent discussed this with my doctor but i heard someone saying this...oh and another question is how many weeks were you before you registered at the hospital to deliver...the hospital where im delivering said 3 weeks before due date but i wanna know if anyone did it earlier....im 32wks 3days thanks well you can shower but they said not to bathe b/c you may not feel your waterr break

A: The 'no bathing' thing is an old wives' tale. People used to believe that dirty water could travel up the vagina and infect the baby, but now we know that baby is perfectly protected unless (as others have posted) your waters have broken. And if your waters do break, you probably won't feel it. I certainly didn't when it happened with my second. It usually doesn't gush like people suggest it does, anyway, since baby's head comes down and corks the hole. You may well experience a trickle that is similar to urine but will have a sickly sweet smell, not the ammonia smell associated with urine. It will continue to leak right up until birth, since your body continues to replenish it, so you can easily check if your waters have broken at any time after the event. It's also important to note that your waters only break before labour commences in about 15% of pregnancies. So it's not like it is something that happens to everyone! For many women, their waters don't break until they are broken artificially in labour using an amniohook, which is kind of like a long crochet hook. It doesn't hurt, although it feels weird :) As others have mentioned, don't let the water get too hot though. This also means avoiding saunas and spas, or anything else that is likely to raise your body temperature. Other than that - enjoy the relaxation of a warm bath. As for the registering thing, I'm in Queensland, Australia, and here we are registered at the hospital at 12 weeks. But it looks like I might be referred to a larger hospital anyway (I'm 35 weeks now) because bub might need some extra help at birth.

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