Meconium

Sometimes baby’s have their bowels opened whilst still inside you and can occur as often as 1 in 5 labours. Meconium is only found once your waters have broken and the liquid draining is (or changes to) a green colour. This can sometimes indicate that your baby has been in distress at some point either in your pregnancy or during labour. Unless the birth is imminent it is recommended that your baby’s heartbeat is monitored continuously thereafter.   If you are at home or in a birth centre then transferring to delivery suite will be advised.

This page was last modified on Thu Jul 29 2010