September 2011 Moms
MsCrispy
member
Does effacement mean anything?
MsCrispy
member
At my appointment last week, I found out I'm 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. I know that dilation doesn't really correlate to when you will go into labor, but what about effacement. I'd like to think it means I'm on my way, but I'm guessing it doesn't mean anything at all.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Does effacement mean anything?
When I was in the hospital over the weekend I was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced. I was told that any one of those on their own, as they are now, don't really mean anything and that Baby Jellybean could decide to stay in for another month. It is a combination of dilation, effacement, and what stage the babies head is in that all matter. Now of course if you are 10cm dilated...that is a different story. But only being a cm or 2 doesn't really do much. Effacement is the cervix thinning out and as long as there is still something there I guess it doesn't really mean anything. I actually had an internal ultrasound to see how long my cervix was measuring because they wanted to make sure that it was between 1 and 2 inches because if it is any less than that then that means that there was a bunch of progress being made and they probably would have just gotten prepared for me to have Baby Jellybean. Pregnancy is such an uncertain thing. Everything means something but then again it may not...lol.
Sorry, that is not much help. But anything that is going on with dilation and effacement does mean that your body is preparing for the birth of your baby. However it could take 2 days or 2 or more weeks.
Sorry if I wasn't much help.
I am currently on bed rest for one more week for just this. And, I was told the following..
You can walk around dilated at 5 cm for a month and not have the baby. However, effacement is the thinning of the cervix in preparation for the delivery after the baby has engaged. The more effaced you are, the closer you are to delivery.
In my case I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced at 33 weeks and they put me on bed rest because that was too soon. I will be 36 weeks on Wed, and when they checked on Friday I was 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced. So, the effacement indicates progression. I guess once you hit 100% effaced-not necessarily dilation, labor is imminent.
And, FTM tend to efface before dilating and the reverse is true of 2nd time moms. So, if you are both early on as a FTM, like me and some other people on the board, that is why they are concerned because that is considered unusual in FTM especially at 33 weeks.