I used a .5 for "maybe"s /Julie

Premature Rupture Of the Membranes (PROM)
Survey
First result from 37 answers ( May 1:st 1997 )
Second result from 79 answers March 31:st 1998

When did you give birth to your child?
( week 29.26 average )
week 29.5 average average time between PROM and Delivery - 6 weeks

Did your baby survive?
( 26 - 37 - 70.2% yes )
( of the 12 PROMs occurring at less than 24 weeks, 4 live babies survived - 33% )
64 - 83 - 77% yes
Of the 24 PROMs occurring at 24 weeks or less 12 babies survived - 50%

Were there other complications that caused the birth other than PROM (Placental Abruption, Previa, etc.)?
( 13 - 35 - 37.1% )
19 - 60 - 31.6%

Did you have a diagnosis of an incompetant cervix?
( 3 - 33 - 15% )
5 - 58 - 8.6%

Did you have fibroids?
( 6 - 32 - 18% )
7 - 57 - 12.2%

Did you have an unusual shape or placement of the uterus?
( 7 - 32 - 21.8% )
11 - 57 - 19.3%

Did you notice or have a diagnosis of a leaking membrane prior to the rupture?
( 7.5 - 31 - 24.2% )
13.5 - 56 - 24.1%

Did you have a diagnosis of too much fluid or too little?
( 10 - 31 - 32% )
14 - 56 - 25%
(But all the leaking ones had low fluid so I don't think this is significant.)

Did you yeast infection medicine shortly before the PROM (1-2 weeks)?
( 7.5 - 32 - 23.4% )
8.5 - 57 - 14.9%

If so, did you use medication?
( 6.5 - 32 - 20.3% )
7.5 - 57 - 13.2%

Did you have a vaginal infection shortly before the PROM (1-2 weeks)?
( .5 - 31 - 1.6% )
2.5 - 56 - 4.5%

If so, did you use medication?
( 0 - 31 - 0% )
2 - 56 - 3.6%

Did you have unprotected sex within 5 days of the PROM?
( 9 - 31 - 29% )
18 - 56 - 32%

Did you have any noticable or severe stress near the time of your PROM?
( 9 - 31 - 29% )
17 - 57 - 29.8%

Did you have an amnio or CVS within 3 weeks of your PROM?
( 1 - 31 - 3.2% )
1 - 56 - 1.8%
( But note that 2 others felt they were probably leaking from their amnio over 3 weeks prior to the PROM )

Did you use any prescription medication within 1-2 weeks of PROM?
( 8 - 31 - 25.8% )
( But if you take into account the 4 who were taking antibiotics because of the PROM then its down to )
( 4 - 31 - 12.9% )
11 - 56 - 19.6% 
(most were on antibiotics due to cough/cold/pneumonia and 4 were taking antibiotics because of leaking)
If you remove those who were on antibiotics due to leaking then 7 - 56 - 12.5%

Did you use any over the counter medications within 1-2 weeks of PROM 
(Afrin, tylenol, sudafed, robitussin, etc.)
( 5.5 - 30 - 18.3 )
( 4.5 of the 5.5 took tylenol (though some also took gynolotrimin as well-overlap so ) 
7.5 - 55 - 13.6 
4.5 of the 5.5 took tylenol (though some also took gynolotrimin as well-overlap )

Is there anything else that you can think of that might have contributed to your PROM?
( 4 of the 35 were DES daughters or had DES exposure )
4 of them indicated that they were DES daughters or had DES exposure
( 3 had just excercised or swam )
9 of 56 had just excercised or swam - 16.1%
( 2 knew they had Group B Strep )
4 knew they had Group B Strep
( 2 had spotting in early pregnancy )
4 had spotting in early pregnancy
( 1 had a cough/cold )
5 had a cough/cold/pneumonia
( 1 though she had an infection after circlage )
1 thought she had an infection after circlage
( 1 had the baby giving excessive kicks the night before )
1 had the baby giving excessive kicks the night before
5 were multiple births
7 had multiple PROM pregnancies (but few respondants had subsequent pregnancies)

Other questions answered in the second round of responses:

Did your doctor test for infections? 18 - 26 - 69%

If so, did the results of the testing indicate there was an infection? 4 - 26 - 15.4% 

Any questions I missed?

Some thought that age of the mother at time of PROM would be significant, but those that mentioned age seemed to be in prime childbearing years 25-32 and the spread was evenly distributed with that as the peak timeframe.

My tenative analysis:
Some of the things that have been suggested as causes for PROM - Fibroids, Amnio/CVS, vaginal infections - seem to not be much of a factor in our respondants as originally expected.

The top four percentages in order are intercourse, other complications in addition to PROM, stress, and an unusually shaped or misplaced uterus.

Most of the PROMs did not have identifiable factors.

When I added the question about infection, it turned out that most people recently are being tested, but few had results which indicated infection.

And most importantly, the statistics show that many women do not go into labor immediately. The average length of time they are able to hold off delivery is 6 weeks and that includes the whole population, many of whom were automatically induced by their doctors because of a fear of infection (without specific indication of infection). Most women who were able to delay delivery were able to carry their babies long enough to be viable. Of those who had PROM at 24 weeks or less, 50% of the babies survived. Most deliveries of those surviving babies were delayed from several days to many weeks.

The results of this survey should not be treated as a recommendation or medical diagnosis or treatment, but you are welcome to distribute this information to anyone who would find it valuable.

Additional responses to this survey would be very much appreciated.

Julie  - mom to Jonny, 30 weeker 9/24/93 Leaking at 13-14 weeks, PROM at 21 weeks, abruption/delivery at 30 weeks