Refusing cervical checks at hospital

coffeeandbooks

Anyone planning on refusing internal cervical checks at the hospital during their labor and delivery?  Have any STMs already refused them during labor?

I had mentioned to my midwife today that I would like to labor at my own pace and not be checked and she didn't seem to think this was acceptable.

Curious to know how others would handle.

sschwege

I agreed to one in triage and requested them thereafter.  With my second I arrived ready to push, so it wasn't an issue.

mrshall10210

My birth plan simply states, Please limit the number of vaginal exams.  I don't plan on refusing them, but I don't want them done too frequently either, especially once my water has broken.  For one reason, because it increases the risk of infection, but also because I don't want to risk them deciding that I'm progressing too slowly.  Being a FTM and delivering in a hospital, I'm not sure how this will work out, and I'm worried about several items on my birth plan, this one included.

SarahinMD

This is probably more of an issue the more time you spend at the hospital. Lots of the women here prob. have or plan to labor at home as much as possible. W did that with DD and will again with this LO. Turns out I arrived fully dilated, so I only ever had one check. We may go earlier this time (to avoid giving birth in car!) but laboring at home for a good bit will at least reduce the time they have to want to do these checks.

Aurora_Borealis

If you truly want to labor at your own pace, labor at home as long as possible.

I had exactly one cervical check during labor and it was at my request. It was in triage because I was insisting that I was having.my.baby.right.now. The midwife was skeptical because I was a FTM and had been in labor less than 9 hours. She checked and to her (but not my) surprise I was fully dilated and DD was crowning. I barely made it out of the triage room.

A37licia

That's one thing I would have pushed back on a lot, for many reasons (disrupting my labor concentration pattern, risking infection, care provider looking at progress vs the clock, etc). I haven't labored in a hospital though for two kids so I didn't have to put up the fight.  I'd suggest talking to your midwife again about it and making it clear you are firm about this, and request that she look at other signs of progression (there are several).  She still has hospital policy over her, but lots of midwives find ways around it.

PhoenixBritt

I was checked in triage and when I told my midwife I felt that I needed to push and I was a 9 at that point. She offered earlier but I declined but it was not an issue.

dmhrn13

Aurora_Borealis:

If you truly want to labor at your own pace, labor at home as long as possible.

This. Or if you are that hard core, have a home birth maybe.

tantdylf

I declined them through the majority of my last labor. This time I want zero. If I can make it through with zero I would be a happy camper haha

tokenhoser

I laboured at home and was 10 cm when I was checked in assessment. I also highly recommend staying home as long as you can if you don't want cervical checks. It's just so ingrained in the system it's going to be hard to decline.

danienross

With my first I'm sure my OB would have fought me had I declined exams.  With my second the MW always asked "do you mind if I check you".  I got checked twice.  But my second birth was a home birth.

BeckyTheEngineer

Lurking here since I did not have natural births, but my hospital had a radical policy shift in the last 2 years.  When my oldest was born they checked me every two hours or so, I think.  When I went in for an induction with my second child, I was told that they would only check me when they had a reason to.  I was checked when admitted, when the doctor broke my water (at 5 cm) and when I was saying that I was ready to push (and I was 10cm).  Maybe ask your MW how often she/the hospital would do checks, and it might be a very low frequency that you might be agreeable to anyway.

robyn2201

sschwege:

I agreed to one in triage and requested them thereafter.  With my second I arrived ready to push, so it wasn't an issue.

This.

Also, just because your MW is not in agreement does not mean the nurses will be of the same opinion. With my first, my OB was not very NB friendly but my nurse was completely ok with all of my requests. My OB just showed up and "catched" DD1.

iumegan716

With DS2, apparently I just made a face that said "don't you dare go near me" and the nurse in triage said she would hold off on checking me.     When she did check me about 15 minutes after that, I was 10cm.

I'm surprised by your MW's response...  with DS1, my OB (who was not very NB friendly) decided not to check me at all after I arrived at the hospital (b/c I had just come from the dr office and was 7 cm there).  She said when I felt like pushing, I could.   

alliejoe

I agree with the poster above who suggested finding out how many times your MW plans on checking.  My water broke at home before contractions started and when I got to the hospital my MW said she didn't want to check me because there was no reason to introduce germs since my water had broken.

I did get checked once about 4 hours into labor because I couldn't keep fluids down and if I wasn't progressing much they wanted me to consider an IV.  I was at 8 then and didn't get checked again till he was crowning.

outnumbered

tokenhoser:

I laboured at home and was 10 cm when I was checked in assessment. I also highly recommend staying home as long as you can if you don't want cervical checks. It's just so ingrained in the system it's going to be hard to decline.

I am not sure that it is that ingrained in all hospitals anymore.  I have had three births.  Two were hospital based midwives and the last was an OB. In all three I was checked when I first arrived at the hospital.  They asked first. In my  first birth I was not checked again until I was ready to push and that was only to help the 'tiny lip' of the cervix remaining to dilate.  The other two I was never checked again and nobody requested a check.  This was at three different hospitals.

Haley.Beth

That is part of why I'm choosing a home birth midwife this time around. With dd, my water broke and I went to the hospital too soon out of excitement. They wanted to do cervical checks every hour or so and it was MISERABLE. It was painful and I had to get back in bed every time, and it threw me off my "groove". But I was a ftm and not as prepared to fight as I thought I was, so I got tired of saying "no." I was in that hospital 16 hours, and was checked at least a dozen times. It is one of the main things I think about when I remember my negative experience in that particular hospital. This time I'm having a home birth, and my midwife is asking me to let her check once when she arrives and when I feel like pushing, and I'm perfectly fine with that. 

I agree with pp's, ask your midwife how frequently she checks during labor. If it sounds like too much, her inability to compromise would be a huge turn-off for me, but that's just because I had a really bad experience with it last time. But it's up to you how important that is.