Midwives against cervical checks

agapeflower117

It was pretty neat today; I went in for my 36 week appt and the mw said that she doesn't do cervical checks unless asked to do so - she said they don't really prove much and aren't that necessary in the long run.  I forgot to ask if that was up until my due date, or if they do it as I get closer to 40 weeks.

I'm excited that they don't do them routinely, although I'm sure that the further I progress the more curious I'd get...but maybe it's best for me not to know.   

april262011

Mine was the same way and actually never checked even during labor.

CurbsideProphet

The MWs I saw would have done one if I asked, but were fine with not doing them at my appointments. I was only checked once I was in labor.

tinabean00

I'm pretty sure, ala MWs FB group, that mine does this too.  I was super excited to not have to deal with it!

wifeofadam

april262011:

Mine was the same way and actually never checked even during labor.

This.

It was so nice not knowing.  

jennyann28

Yep, mine only do them if you ask for them!

pugznploons

my OB also doesn't like to do them.  Now he refuses to since I've ruptured. They checked me in L&D the other night but he says he won't do it again now.  

sschwege

Mine doesn't do them either, isn't it great!  They even have you do the GBS screening when you go in to give the urine sample.  It's so nice!  

Jcrab

The only check I had with this last pregnancy was when I was sick and contracting a lot at 33 weeks. No checks during labor even, but I had a HBAC and was pushing by the time the MW arrived.

Charliebear84

sschwege:

Mine doesn't do them either, isn't it great!  They even have you do the GBS screening when you go in to give the urine sample.  It's so nice!  

Same here...I got to take the swab home with instructions, bags etc and do it at home myself. My total pregnancy I had three internals...one at 40 weeks and two during labour (at my request).  

LindseyJW

my CNMs did them beginning at 36 weeks.

my CPM only did two internals: one when i requested a membrane sweep at nearly 42 weeks and the second when i asked her to hold my cervical lip back through a few surges so that i could be complete, since the baby was pressing down on it.

your MW is correct, they show absolutely nothing except the present condition of your cervix at that moment.

your cervix can open rapidly or close, so what's the point of knowing where it is at 9:25am? 

caralck

My OB doesn't do them routinely either.  The nurse asked me at 36 and 37 wks if I wanted it done and I declined.  Last week she had me dress down for it but my doctor still gave me the option of having it done or not and since nothing exciting wasn't going on in terms of contractions and my back was sore, I declined again.  I've had more contractions in the past week (nothing painful, just stronger than my B-H) so I'm a little curious but since I can't reach my own cervix, no matter how hard I try, I can't imagine anything exciting is going on in there.  If my doc really wants to check, I wouldn't be opposed since I'm kind of on the fence if I want to be checked or not this week (39 wks).  I've got ice cream making plans all week long so I'll have to make sure he knows not to do any membrane stripping yet.  LOL!

iris427

sschwege:

Mine doesn't do them either, isn't it great!  They even have you do the GBS screening when you go in to give the urine sample.  It's so nice!  

My OB with my second was the same way.  It's nice to have a provider who treats you like an adult. 

tokenhoser

I just declined them from my doctor. I don't enjoy random hands up the hoo-ha.

I didn't have a check until I arrived at the hospital in labour. I was 10 cm.

agapeflower117

tokenhoser:

I just declined them from my doctor. I don't enjoy random hands up the hoo-ha.

I didn't have a check until I arrived at the hospital in labour. I was 10 cm.

Wow! Did you labor at home for a long time, or was it just a fast baby? 

tokenhoser

agapeflower117:

tokenhoser:

I just declined them from my doctor. I don't enjoy random hands up the hoo-ha.

I didn't have a check until I arrived at the hospital in labour. I was 10 cm.

Wow! Did you labor at home for a long time, or was it just a fast baby? 

A bit of both - labour started slow at about 11 am; I didn't believe it until about 4 pm. We went to the hospital at 10 pm, baby was born at 1 am.

I wasn't aiming to be that far along, but it worked out well.

Ms Molly

My mw said she doesn't do them until 39 weeks unless you request them.  I'm sure she wouldn't press the issue if I refused them either.  I had to see an OB for a couple weeks while my baby was breech and he did one at 36 and one at 37 weeks.  They didn't really bother me, I just found them pointless, especially since my cervix was completely closed at both.  I'll be 39 weeks at my appt this week so I'm kind of just curious to see if all of these contractions have done any work on my cervix, but I also know that it won't really mean much in terms of when labor could start.

flyer23

april262011:

Mine was the same way and actually never checked even during labor.

This. My midwife never saw me undressed until I was ready to push DS out. And through 39 weeks of this pregnancy, she still hasn't seen me undressed...

If I want to know where I stand with regards to when I'll give birth, I'll roll a dice and use that as my current dilation. It'll tell me about as much as a cervix check would!

Oh, and a funny. My mom was watching DD while I was laboring with DS. She mentioned to my midwife, "When I was in labor, they checked me and gave me some number that told me how I was progressing." My midwife just smiled and said, "I don't need to check her. I just look at her and I know how she's progressing."

Have I mentioned how much I love my midwife?

JoyfulW&M

My midwives did them if asked, or if there was reason to believe preterm labor had started and they wanted to see if dialation was happening.

They do a cervical check when you come in in labor to see how far along because they aren't allowed (by the ob who over sees the birth center) to admit anyone even in obvious labor who isn't at least 4cm.

But unless you want, they don't do any other checks.

I was able to avoid all of them because I arrived pushy and started pushing halfway down the hallway, and crowned as I crawled onto the bed.