I didn't have too many internals... 1st when they put the induction gel in, 2nd for ARM, & 3rd when I yelled at my midwife that I was pushing LOL. I wish she'd done an internal before I started on the gas though. If I'd known I was that close to pushing (ie only a couple of contractions away!) I wouldn't have bothered with it! I guess sometimes they are beneficial, a lot of times they aren't.