Too Much Amniotic Fluid (Polyhydramnios) | www.justmommies.com

A baby growing in its mother’s uterus is surrounded by a sac containing amniotic fluid, which serves several vital functions. The fluid protectively cushions the developing fetus, helps to prevent infection and maintain a constant temperature inside the womb, gives the baby room to move around, which is needed to enable proper muscle and bone growth, and provides fluids necessary for the baby’s digestive and respiratory systems to develop. As the baby grows, it breathes the amniotic fluid into its lungs, swallows some, and then excretes it as urine to keep the volume of amniotic fluid steady. Initially, amniotic fluid is made up largely of water and other fluids provided by the mother; later in the pregnancy, most of the fluid is actually comprised of fetal urine. Sometimes, too much amniotic fluid builds up in the womb – this condition is called polyhydramnios and usually happens during the second half of pregnancy. Polyhydramnios (sometimes called just hydramnios) occurs in only about 2% of pregnancies.