104 votes
cantaloupe / 6059 posts
@Mrs.ThinMint: You're not alone. I just had a cervical check at 39 weeks and it was neither painful or uncomfortable.
kiwi / 600 posts
I don't remember if they were done with my first...she's 13 now. lol. But I opted out of them with LO#2. I (accurately) predicted that I would go into labor early, and I didn't want to do anything that could help encourage labor. I'll probably do the same thing this time around...as we get closer, no more internal checks unless absolutely necessary. (But I have a shortened cervix and just started on progesterone, so I imagine they won't be messing around up there anyways. Lol)
clementine / 828 posts
My OB does. They can be useful for telling whether you are making progress in labor, and on the likelihood of a successful induction. My OB was able to predict the week I would go into labor based on it, but I do not think that was the primary reason for doing them. It was not too painful during appointments. During labor the cervical checks were extremely painful, though.
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
@Mrs.Someone: Same!
Although I had one at 35 weeks because I was going 1.5 hours away on a camping trip and she was concerned. Now it's weekly and I even asked the nurse ahead of time if I could decline, but they really wanted to check, so I was like, whatever. It's also nice to have reassurance that baby is still head down!
And for me it doesn't hurt that bad, it's uncomfortable sure, but not painful.
pomegranate / 3716 posts
Can someone explain what a cervical check entails and why/how it is uncomfortable or even painful?? No idea if my OB will do it...
pomegranate / 3895 posts
Nope, my midwife's practice doesn't do them until labour, and then only minimally. There's no need to introduce bacteria to the area, particularly when they don't necessarily tell you anything in terms of how close you are to going into labour.
persimmon / 1420 posts
Mine did, I think because she wanted to make sure I wasn't dilated at first, and later to see if she was going to have to induce me. Perhaps twins are a different scenario?
coconut / 8279 posts
@Mrs.ThinMint: @coopsmama: I was checked at the hospital and it didn't hurt at all, I think it depends on how high baby is and how dilated you are.
When I was checked at the office I saw stars it hurt so bad but I barely felt a touch at the hospital (I was induced at 40w1d, not dilated but baby was lower).
cantaloupe / 6059 posts
@rachiecakes: That would make sense. They told me baby was extremely low at this last check so maybe that's why?
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
My first cervical check was when I arrived at the hospital after my water broke.
grapefruit / 4442 posts
my OB gave me the option. I opted not to because I was told they hurt. So we didn't do it and she came a week earlier than expected.
coconut / 8279 posts
@coopsmama: probably! I was so terrified at the hospital - haha, I was getting induced and most worried about cervical checks! But it was nothing, barely a touch.
pear / 1799 posts
Our midwives do not perform routine cervical checks during pregnancy ... Of course, I guess if I wanted them to, they would have. I never even had a cervical check during labor.
honeydew / 7589 posts
@Meridian: A cervical check is basically where they stick their hand inside your vagina and put their fingers in your cervix. Based on how open your cervix is and how many fingers they can fit in the opening, that tells you how dialated you are.
They aren't particularly useful before labor because dialation isn't a good predictor of when you will go into labor (I've known women be 4 cm and go for two weeks, and then ones who are tightly closed right up until labor begins).
Because they aren't research supported before labor, you can decline if your doctor asks to do one before labor. There is absolutely no reason you would need one except to check if you were having premature labor or if you are checking to see how favorable your body would be for an induction.
It can hurt if the provider isn't gentle, if they have short fingers and have to stick their whole hand in there, etc. my first cervical check was insanely painful (I screamed). Later I had another provider and it didn't hurt badly, it was just uncomfortable. So... I think a lot of it is based of who is doing it.
I will be declining any and all cervical checks next time around, including during labor. If I had known the research before I had my last baby, I would have declined it more strongly then as well.
pomegranate / 3716 posts
@Arden: holy crap, I had NO idea that they sometimes have to stick their whole hand up there, that sounds terrible!! Ugh, not looking forward to this!
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