Cervical/internal checks in 3rd trimester

Hello All

I am just over 39 weeks pregnant and I have been speaking to my neighbours who recently had a child and I found out that they have had several internal check (cervical/sweeps) in their third trimester.

I am now over 39 weeks and due next Wed 15th April and had scan today and all looked great. They said I could wait even if I go over my due date and they would be happy with that. However, so many of the women I speak to say they had internal checks way before 39 weeks! They said that it was strange that I had not had one at all.

I am KEMH in the Maternal Fetal Assessment Unit as well as the East Wing Clinic and thought that if anything, I at least should have had one internal check??... Or is this not necessary AT ALL?..

I have another midwife check up next week but they didnt mention about definitely having an internal check and it seems that if they are happy to let me go overdue, I wont get one. One woman said that if the cervix is very tight (not soft) labour can be pretty long trying to soften it.

Any experiences on the above or any advice?.. Is it normal NOT to have ANY internal checks? Baby is healthy but a small baby (although a guessed weight of 6lbs to me as a woman who is just under 5 feet tall is not exactly SMALL but normal as the sonographer said!)

Thanks!

Well I didn't get as far as 39wks but i certainly didn't have any internal checks before labour at 35+wks. Even when i was admitted the midwife only did external monitoring for contractions etc.

The ob the next morning (i was admitted at 9:30pm) did an internal and also to double check my waters were completely broken. The ob checked again about 3pm so 8hrs later and the midwife only touched me when i said i was ready to push. (from there who would have a clue).

It seems that some places are internal happy and others are pretty well leave it alone unless there's an issue. The earliest I would expect an internal is 36wks. But I know plenty of people who only have internals when labour is happening (or not so happneing usually the case).

I don't think I had any internal checks until the day I was in labour which started 5 days before my due date.

I didn't have any with my DS's (1 or 2) not until being induced with DS#1 and not at all with DS#2 (who was a C/S in the end)... I don't think they are necessary unless there are complications?

I didn't have any internal checks until I went into labour (at 38 weeks). They did two checks during my labour to see how it was progressing. I was under the care of a private obstetrician who I saw every week from 35 weeks.

Thanks for your replies! Appreciate it! Makes me feel better knowing that they might npt be as necessary as some women have made it out to be.

I wanted to get more opinion. Yes, everything is ok with baby and there are no complications so I guess until I go into labour no checks will be required!

Thank you! :) x

i had my first internal at 41 wks, and that was to do a s & s, cause i'd started to go into early labour, but thats the only one i have ever had.

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i had my first internal at 41 wks, and that was to do a s & s, cause i'd started to go into early labour, but thats the only one i have ever had.

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Thank for your reply. So maybe I get one done at around the same time if she hasnt come out yet by then. Will have to wait and see I guess!

Thanks again! x

Only necessary if you want one.
I think it is stranger to have them before term, TBH. It really doesn't tell you anything much - it can look completely different even the next day.
I don't intend to have any this time, unless I really want to know what's going on when I'm in labour. (That's the only time I had them last time - one when I arrived at the hospital, another to make sure I was fully dilated before I started pushing.)

A few OB’s will do an internal examination from as early as 38 weeks. I have no idea why they would do this. An internal at this stage in pregnancy will not give you any useful information. I once asked an OB why he wanted to do an internal on a woman who was 39 weeks. He said that he wanted to check if the cervix was still closed. I said to him ‘you would know if the cervix was opening as the woman would be in labour’. I don’t think he liked this comment.

i didn't have any internals with DD until the day my waters broke! I hope this makes you feel more comfortable! :D

I had my first internal 6 hours into labour!
Dont worry :)

All these comments have been really really useful and insightful. My neighbour said she had examinations from earlier than 38 weeks (like for almost two months!) and that is what got me thinking if I should have at least had one. She might have had a completely different reason or complication that she didnt mention.

I am much more comfortable now - glad I havent (until labour arrives that is!) been internally examined as it is not the most pleasant of things! lol

Many thanks for all your comments. I wait for baby to arrive now!

:)

x

I can understand why you feel that way! I remember from about 35 weeks -- every time I went to see my obstetrician I was expecting to have to drop my pants and it would make me feel so nervous :hide: but it never happened!

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He said that he wanted to check if the cervix was still closed. I said to him ?you would know if the cervix was opening as the woman would be in labour?. I don?t think he liked this comment.

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:clap: ahahah love it Alan!

I had no internals with any of mine.... first was c/s so none at all. Second, internal done only once I was in labour to check what was happening as heartrate was dropping to 40bpm and so far with this one (38 wks 6 days today) have had no internals. I would actually refuse if they told me they wanted to do one unless there was a medical reason for it.

I had my first internal at 40wks for a S&S and at this stage I was already 1cm dilated. (I didnt go itno labour until almost 2 weeks later)

They said they would not do internals before then as there is no need. THe only other time I had an internal was during labour.

I have only ever had an internal done when I have been in labour - and I don't ever intend on having one except if I am in labour or a situation arises where the medical professionals can convince me it is absolutely nesseccary. They are not exactly the most comfortable experience.

There is an article on this somewhere. Maybe you should do a search or perhaps a mod or someone could point you in the right direction.

Sorry if Im hijacking the thread, I've got a question that kind of relates~

8am. I was about 2-3cm Dilated. Steady contractions, and my OB broke my waters.

Four hours later, I was in a lot of pain and I think driving the midwives on the maternity ward crazy, cause they told me my labour wasn't progressing so I was to have a syntocin drip. And I had to have an epidural because if I couldn't handle this pre labour I couldn't handle a syntocin labour.
This decision was made without any internals except from the one at 8am in which my waters had broken.
DD was born 2hours later while I was told to wait for the guy to come and do the epi( about an hour after they moved me to the Suites while telling me it was too early to go there really).

I'm not really sure if what I think is right, but was I meant to have an internal before all that was decided?

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Sorry if Im hijacking the thread, I've got a question that kind of relates~

8am. I was about 2-3cm Dilated. Steady contractions, and my OB broke my waters.

Four hours later, I was in a lot of pain and I think driving the midwives on the maternity ward crazy, cause they told me my labour wasn't progressing so I was to have a syntocin drip. And I had to have an epidural because if I couldn't handle this pre labour I couldn't handle a syntocin labour.
This decision was made without any internals except from the one at 8am in which my waters had broken.
DD was born 2hours later while I was told to wait for the guy to come and do the epi( about an hour after they moved me to the Suites while telling me it was too early to go there really).

I'm not really sure if what I think is right, but was I meant to have an internal before all that was decided?

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Firstly, can I just say I think you were treated pretty badly. But I doubt this is uncommon - I've heard loads of people say they were dismissed as being in pre-labour, yet they birthed their baby only a couple of hours later.
In terms of what they are 'meant' to do, my suggestion is not that they should have done another internal before deciding that your labour should be augmented, but that they should have had some bloody patience.
IMO, there should have been some sort of medical reason for them to want to augment your labour, not just that you've been 'taking too long'.
I am sorry that you were treated this way.

Thanks Snacks, I think your understanding is worth more than anything! I was mostly wondering if that was right/wrong in a way.
The whole birth has been sitting in the back of mind bothering me since it happened. There were a bunch of tiny little things like that throughout the whole experience. So now when I mention it, I have to edit all the ranting out of it.

With my first I didn't have an internal check until I was about to be induced for pre-eclamsia and with #2 I didn't have an internal until overdue and looking at induction plans so I would say it's pretty normal. Neither of my dr (both different) did the strep test. I too thought it was weird that everyone else was having updates in their final weeks as to if they were effacing/dilating etc I got nada. Interestingly enough at both my checks I was 3-4cm dilated and my laboours were only 5 and 3 hrs respective. I don't think having an internal is going to change the duration of your labour, nor tell you how long it will take as you can dialte and efface quickly or slowly I walked around 3cm dialted for over a week without going into labour :-)

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Thanks Snacks, I think your understanding is worth more than anything! I was mostly wondering if that was right/wrong in a way.
The whole birth has been sitting in the back of mind bothering me since it happened. There were a bunch of tiny little things like that throughout the whole experience. So now when I mention it, I have to edit all the ranting out of it.

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Babes, feel free to rant as much as you like! (I did just then, and it wasn't even my birth, LOL!) There's a section on the forum devoted to birth debriefing. You'll find that a really comforting place to go through it all and get it out there, if that's what you'd like to do. Ranting and all ;)

de-briefing-disappointing-traumatic-births/

Never had an internal before I was in labour - and they would be absolutely DREAMING if they thought I would submit to one before I was suffering agonising labour pains!

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I'm not really sure if what I think is right, but was I meant to have an internal before all that was decided?

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At Least! I've been told I wasn't progressing too and had the baby 4 hours later while they were 'deciding what to do with me'. So much for not progressing! That was WITH an internal! Horrible way to treat a woman. :hug: for you.

No internals are completely unneccessary unless there is a reason like to obtain your progress in labour or to see if your cervix is open enough to allow your membranes to be broken in the event of an induction. Actually unless your thought to be in strong labour they don't like them done at all before 37weeks because of the risk of starting something or exacerbating something thats already going on (not that thats a concern for you as your 39weeks). Id say yeah for you and hope you don't need many (your usally very lucky to avoid them during labour though).

Thanks guys.
Hearing it has really helped. :redface: Sounds so corny!

I've read a few stories on the forum and mine seems so nice in comparison. So I've been hesitant to post. (That and I'm a bit shy~ I sit here and work up courage a bit before posting. :redface:)

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Thanks guys.
Hearing it has really helped. :redface: Sounds so corny!

I've read a few stories on the forum and mine seems so nice in comparison. So I've been hesitant to post. (That and I'm a bit shy~ I sit here and work up courage a bit before posting. :redface:)

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Kam, you don't need to worry about anyone here, your input and experiences will always be welcomed. Wonderful, wonderful people here.

No doubt it does seem nice in comparison. I was horribly traumatised by the aftermath of my 3rd labour - but when you compare it to some here or my older sisters, it seems tame.
I does not - in any way, shape or form, demean how I was left feeling about what I went through. Its the same for you. You don't need to be tied to a bed, sliced and baby pulled out with an ice cream scoop to be unduly traumatised, and you will find support here no matter what the circumstances. I do recommend debriefing if you havent gotten it out yet. I should probably debrief on mine because it is making me a really difficult 'patient' - but I think I like it that way! :lol:

Don't ever hesitate to get involved!

*dehijacks thread, lol*

Yes you should have had an internal to see if you were "not progressing" before the decision was made to start Syntocinon. Once your waters have being artifically ruptured they usally like to start the drip within a few hrs if nothing appears to be happening or if they need the baby to be born sooner (ie if its distressed) but you should have had an internal if you were having regular painful contractions that had being increasing in duration and intensity since your waters were broken.

i do know how you feel Karmarine.

My waters broke at 35wks and after intially being told i would be on bed rest for 1-5wks by the admitting midwives. The ob in the moring delcared i would actually be giving birth.

From memory i was 3cm @7am. He never gave my a chioce about being out on the iv and due to short staffing and a mini baby boom no one actually explained the process to me (hadn't completed birthing classes either). There was some confusion as to what my gbs results were as well which confused the process even more.

So i went with the flow and didn't ask many questions as i was concerned about the fact dd was preterm. I had a pretty strightforward vag birth. Now i relise that the drugs given to me can contribute to jaundice (which dd got). But that being said if you go from waters breaking to birth it was about 20hrs and i only started the iv at 10am so maybe i just wasn't going to go into labour ( i wasn't actually having contractions even morning after waters broke).

So i am left with lots of ques but overall happy with the result. Now as i approch 30wks I know i have lots of ques to pose to the ob and i won't leave them till my 36wks appt.

I should add that i was not offered a epidural as part of the process. Infact i was only offered pethadine @3pm when i was 7cm. I was told now or nothing at all. Taking it was a decision i regretted as it made me violently ill but hey who knew how i would react to pethadine as this was only my 2nd time in hosp since being born. the first only a year earlier so hosp and drugs is very unfamiliar to me.

You guys are amazing, I should have posted more from when I first joined a year ago!!


Maybebabie - I did the same thing! I just ate everything they told me. I had to be induced. I had to have my waters broken. I had hours to go. I couldnt have drugs cause this labour wasn't really labour. (They gave me panadeine forte like 3 hours before DD was born. I didn't feel a change at all? So I guess I don't count it as pain medication.) Going with the flow seemed the best way.
I mean, I got what I wanted, a vaginal birth and a healthy daughter. But I feel like it was at their schedule not mine?

Im TTC and DF and I are determined to be more in control and know what to expect this time :D