1. How many exams did you have during pregnancy & labour?

I did not have any at all during my pregnany. There was no need. I think I would have refused them anyway unless it was an absolutely necessary life or death matter, iykwim?
During labour, I had two though. I had one when I arrived at the hospital and another towards the end of my labour.

2. How did you feel about them in pregnancy & labour?

I didnt have any in my pregnancy and I wouldnt have wanted to. I think I would have refused it if they wanted to do it, unless it was absolutely necessary.

I had two while in labour and I was ok with that. I had one shortly after arriving at the hospital so that they could check my dilation. I was ok with this as I wanted to know if I was dilated at all so I let the midwife the VE. I was a bit nervous as she said it feels like a pap smear and my last pap smear was a horrible experience, so I think I was tense which made it painful.

I wasnt so keen on the second one the midwife did, just before I started to push. I didnt really want it and I dont remember her telling me she was going to do it, although she probably did tell me.

3. Did your carer explain the procedure to you and why they were doing it?

For the first one, she very breifly explained. She basically asked me if I would like her to check how dilated I am and then asked me to get up on the bed. She showed me the whatsit (sorry having a mind blank and cant remember what its called) that she was going to use to do the VE and warned me that it might hurt or feel uncomfortable. I hated how I had to lie on my back while she got her things ready to do the VE.

The second one was when I wanted to push. This was done by a differnt midwife who was more rough than the other midwife. I dont remember whether ror not she warned me when she was doing it - I was zonked on peth - and so I got a bit of a fright and I think I screamed because IT HURT!!

4. Did you feel that your carer did too many or more than you would have liked? Did you feel they were justified?

No, I dont think there were too many. Aftre the first one, I told her that I didnt want them to be done unecessarily. In hindsight, I wish I didint have the second one, but I dont feel that it was unecessary.