Internals - no thanks? How did you dr. react?

BabyCopper · May 2010

So I had my 36wk appt yesterday and had the GBS test and my first internal.

So yeah....that first internal? That seemed to be a whole lot of discomfort for a little bit of info. And because my husband and I can relate any situation to Family Guy - yeah, I felt like Peter who felt like he was violated during his prostate exam. Only difference being that I knew it was coming.

I'm 1.5cm dilated and not effaced. All to be expected, according to dr. I had heard that cramping and some bleeding could be possible. I was not dissapointed.

So this lovely experience gets to be repeated for the next 4 weeks at each appointment? Haha. I'm just wondering if it's possible to skip these until the 38 week mark if not later.

On one hand, I do realize I need to defer a lot to the professionals taking care of me - I'm not a dr., nor do I pretend to be one. On the other hand, I keep reading about how many practices don't do internals until 38 weeks or later.

Has anyone refused internals until a certain week? How did your doctor(s) react?

ccdcny · May 2010

OMG-I just had mine today and AWFUL-so uncomfortable and now i am sort of weird/in pain from it. WTF!

MommyTori1 · May 2010

I haven't refused any (yet), but I spoke with one of the midwives at my office about this at my 36 week appointment and she said that if you don't want them for any reason, it's not a big deal at all to tell them you'd rather not. I do not plan on having any internals.

doremi29 · May 2010

I was given the option at 37 weeks and I passed (I just had a feeling that I'd still have made no progress and I wasn't in a mood to hear it). She seemed surprised and asked if I were sure, but I stuck to my guns. She said that they like to do them because it does give them some info to work with but that waiting til 38 weeks would be fine of course.

cedge05 · May 2010

I asked my midwife about this and she said she doesn't do them until 38 weeks unless she thinks you need it earlier. She said no woman wants to go through that so she does it as little as possible.

JulyFiveBride · May 2010

My MW didn't even offer an internal until today and she did just that - offer. There is really no medical reason for them unless you think you are in labor. Routine checking tells you nothing. My MW said today "unless you are pushing this baby out, I honestly don't care how dilated you are."

tece · May 2010

I had a Dr's appointment yesterday and expected an internal - I will be 38 weeks tomorrow. He said it was not neccessary until next week - "why ruin my weekend with cramping" was his response. Ihave heard that it is common to refuse them and OK. My sister is a neonatal nurse and she says that they are helpful because if you do go into labor, you have a reference point - I was 1 1/2 centimeters tuesday. I don't know does not seem that important for me to know. They can also ( according to my sister) jump start your labor.

BabyCopper · May 2010

Yeah, I'm just beginning to feel "ok" again - a day later!!! Wtf is right. And I have a pretty high pain tolerance.

sarahbear · May 2010

My OB explained that if I wanted they would start internals at 38 weeks, but that they weren't necessary and didn't provide any good info. I told her I was going to pass and she agreed with me that that was a good decision.

MeanMommyLady · May 2010

I refused them. The only internal I had was at 39w1d, I was in so much pain and so uncomfortable that my midwife offered to see if she could strip my membranes for me. I was progressed enough to have my membranes stripped and it was the only pre-labor internal I had (my water broke the next morning). I also choose to have limited internals DURING labor as well and my wishes were respected.

triquetra123 · May 2010

The only two internals I plan on having is one when I get to the hospital to be admitted and one when I feel the urge to push. You can refuse as many as you want. It's your choice.

flyer23 · May 2010

With DD, I said I didn't really want any internals. My OB did ask to do them starting at 39 weeks. I was OK with that.

I did not have a single internal during my pregnancy with DS. Not during any of my prenatal appointments, not during labor. And *gasp* he came out just fine. My midwife didn't see the need to do them, and I certainly wasn't asking to have them done.

This is a really good blog post by an L&D nurse about why internals are totally unnecessary: https://tinyurl.com/q33t3n

BelleIsa · May 2010

My doc (who has been an OBGYN for 30 years) says internals are NOT necessary and he won't do them unless I go overdue (like, week 41).

He said when he was young he used to do them, but he found it gave very little information (because, someone could be 0 cm dilated and have a baby the same day, or be 4 cm for weeks and weeks). The only thing it's good for, in my opinion, is to know whether or not an induction has a better chance of success. (If you've already started dilating, chances are your induction will be more successful.)

Lauryn216 · May 2010

I had one at 36 and refused until 39 weeks. They didn't have a problem with it.

Want a personalized experience?

Internals - no thanks? How did you dr. react?

Re: Internals - no thanks? How did you dr. react?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards