Vaginal wetness or leakage of fluid in pregnancy may be due to a variety of causes. The most concerning is loss of amniotic fluid (eg, labor, intraamniotic infection); therefore, all pregnant patients with leakage of fluid require evaluation for prelabor rupture of membranes (PROM).
ROM regardless if PROM or PPROM typically causes a large gush of fluid but may also cause vaginal wetness or intermittent leakage of small volumes + visualization of amniotic fluid emerging from the cervix with Valsalva (eg, cough)
| Diagnosis | • Vaginal pooling or fluid from cervix • Nitrazine-positive (blue) fluid due to (ie, alkaline amniotic fluid) • Ferning on microscopy | | --- | --- |