1cm dialated on outside but not inside

mommysd

Dr said I'm 1 cm dialated on the outside but not dialated on the insideside of cervix where baby is. What does that mean? Am I dialated or not? Just curious. Also sais she can feel baby's head and bob it up and down.

martha919

Um, yeah, I have no idea either. They told me this also when I was in the hospital for dehydration after getting sick post-Thanksgiving, and I have no idea what it means. I've been to birth class with the same nurse who said it and we talked all about dilation last week and this didn't come up. Hope somebody knows!

sbevmc09

LindsRockies:

Hmm.  I've never heard of a medical professional delineate between inside vs outside dilation.  Didn't think there even was an "outside" as far as dilation goes.

Either your cervix is 1cm dilated or it isn't.  At least that's what I've always been told.

Yeah... this.  I've never heard of anything like that.

landosmommy

sbevmc09:

LindsRockies:

Hmm.  I've never heard of a medical professional delineate between inside vs outside dilation.  Didn't think there even was an "outside" as far as dilation goes.

Either your cervix is 1cm dilated or it isn't.  At least that's what I've always been told.

Yeah... this.  I've never heard of anything like that.

ditto. 

martha919

landosmommy:

sbevmc09:

LindsRockies:

Hmm.  I've never heard of a medical professional delineate between inside vs outside dilation.  Didn't think there even was an "outside" as far as dilation goes.

Either your cervix is 1cm dilated or it isn't.  At least that's what I've always been told.

Yeah... this.  I've never heard of anything like that.

ditto. 

Yeah, that's why I was confused. Nurse lady "explained" to my DH when he asked at the hospital that "well, there's an inside part and an outside part of the cervix, and the outside part is about 1cm dilated" WTF. I've been having some doubts about my practice recently and this is not helping. This nurse has been doing this for 7 years...so I'd think she'd know what's up? Maybe they're not communicating it correctly? Hmm. I've seen about a million pics of cervixes and watched animated videos of dilation and it looks like one piece to me.

lotus_blossom

I was told this about a month ago when I was in the labor and delivery unit and the hospital.   I had gone to the dr for an issue with spotting and my dr examine me and said that it appeared that I was 1-2 cm dilated so he sent me to l & d to have me monitored for contractions and have an ultrasound done (to make sure I wasn't in preterm labor).  He said that a lot of times s+tm's appear to be dilated "on the outside of the cervix" (I guess they can tell when you are checked) but that it's very normal for s+tm's. He had an ultrasound done to check my cervical length and make sure i wasnt dialted "on the inside".  I wasn't thinned out at all and I wasn't having any contractions either, so for me It was just because Ive had a baby before. Hope that helps....it's what I understood from what they told me, lol. 

martha919

Well, after more Dr. Google "research", it looks like maybe because our cervixes are still fairly long at this point, the hole is a tunnel. It does make sense that one end of a tunnel can be more open than another...but there still really isn't an "outside part" and an "inside part" of the cervix like they're two separate things. It's just that the end of the tunnel on the uterus side is closed but the other end is a bit open. Totally weird.

martha919

lotus_blossom:

I was told this about a month ago when I was in the labor and delivery unit and the hospital.   I had gone to the dr for an issue with spotting and my dr examine me and said that it appeared that I was 1-2 cm dilated so he sent me to l & d to have me monitored for contractions and have an ultrasound done (to make sure I wasn't in preterm labor).  He said that a lot of times s+tm's appear to be dilated "on the outside of the cervix" (I guess they can tell when you are checked) but that it's very normal for s+tm's. He had an ultrasound done to check my cervical length and make sure i wasnt dialted "on the inside".  I wasn't thinned out at all and I wasn't having any contractions either, so for me It was just because Ive had a baby before. Hope that helps....it's what I understood from what they told me, lol. 

Yeah, I was reading that, too, about ST+Ms. As a FTM this worries me a bit, but I have been told repeatedly that I have a sensitive cervix, so maybe it's just prone to early softening (not good)? More questions to ask next week, I suppose...

rinascita

This was discussed in my Childbirth for Multiples class... they discussed that there was a difference between dilating from the 'inside' vs. 'outside' and that it could happen.

More so from a PTL perspective they said that the internal/'inside' dilation was of more concern and that the external/'outside' dilation would need to be watched but not something alarming most the time. 

PatchChild

All the more reason to skip the internal exams.  They don't give you any useful information and generally just cause people to stress more.  You could be walking around at 4 for a month or be at 0 and go into labor tonight.

sbevmc09

rinascita:

This was discussed in my Childbirth for Multiples class... they discussed that there was a difference between dilating from the 'inside' vs. 'outside' and that it could happen.

More so from a PTL perspective they said that the internal/'inside' dilation was of more concern and that the external/'outside' dilation would need to be watched but not something alarming most the time. 

This makes sense (as does what PP added from Dr. Google ).  I guess I've just never really heard it discussed.  I would assume if your cervix is still thick enough that you're only dilating on one side I don't really see how that could be considered measurable dilation in the first place, you know?  

misscarter87

wow i've never heard of this! I went to the doc today she checked my cervix &also did the strep b test she also said i was dilated 1cm! but nothing like 1cm outside or inside lol

dclsboo235

PatchChild:

All the more reason to skip the internal exams.  They don't give you any useful information and generally just cause people to stress more.  You could be walking around at 4 for a month or be at 0 and go into labor tonight.

Our hospital admits you at 4

dclsboo235

PatchChild:

All the more reason to skip the internal exams.  They don't give you any useful information and generally just cause people to stress more.  You could be walking around at 4 for a month or be at 0 and go into labor tonight.

Our hospital admits you at 4

dclsboo235

PatchChild:

All the more reason to skip the internal exams.  They don't give you any useful information and generally just cause people to stress more.  You could be walking around at 4 for a month or be at 0 and go into labor tonight.

Our hospital admits you at 4