cervical length

tvass1981

When I went in for an appointment a few weeks ago, I remember them saying that my cervical length was over 4cm.  Three weeks after that I had another u/s and it was at 3.4cm.  It didn't occur to me at the time to ask my OB about it, but is that a sign that it will continue to shorten, or does the length sometimes shorten and then steady out?  I guess I'm just scared that I'm going to go back in for another u/s in two weeks and find out that it dropped below 3cm. 

E&RMommy

If your length was measured around 15 weeks the first time, that's still a little early to get an exact measurement.  You can't distinguish well the lower uterine segment from cervix.  Although they measured it then, it doesn't mean as much as a measurement from 18-20 weeks.  Some literature says that cervical length shouldn't be measured before 18-20.

But trends are important and your doctor will be watching.

 

kmb585

Generally speaking anything longer than 3.0 is fine.  According to my OB there are various factors that can cause it to change from measurement to measurement like contractions, for example.  However one of the specialists that I went to told me that your cervical measurements at ~24 weeks is a very good indicator that you will be able to carry to term (or at least prevent preterm labor) if the lengtth is decent and if no funneling is occurring.

With that being said if you are experiencing any symptoms (i.e. increased pressure, increased BH, etc) you may want to have your Dr. check it again to make sure there hasn't been further change.

 

tvass1981

Thanks so much for the info.  It made me feel much better!  I'm glad that it's not necessarily an indication of a problem in the future. 

twinmomtobe

Just wanted to reply because I went through the same issue in the last couple of weeks. I went in for a growth u/s at 22 weeks. they measured my cervix to be 2.6cm. They didn't make a big deal of it but the doc did tell me that they were going to keep an eye on it because at the 18 week ultrasound, it was measured to be 3.6cm. They said it could of very well been a measuring error so they were going to have me rechecked after two weeks (which was yesterday). Yesterday, they did a transvaginal to measure the length and it was back up to 3.11cm (at almost 25 weeks). The doc said that that was a good measurement. So now I'm not sure if in fact it was a measuring error, or if it went back up...the doc said our cervixes are very dynamic and change depending on many factors - even hydration has an effect on it!!

 I understand your worry though because I've spent the last week worrying sick wondering if I was going to go into pre-term labour. I even went into L&D to get checked out when I was having some mild cramps. Everything turned out okay though.

 Hope that helps ease your worry.