Will my Doc check me at 36wks?

Re: Will my Doc check me at 36wks?

• tokenhoser member

  January 2013

  If you don't want to be checked, then tell that to your doctor. Mine was happy to keep her hands to herself.
  

  
  
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• sbevmc09 member

  January 2013

  36 weeks is definitely on the early side, but I've seen people talking about checks as early as 35 weeks.  I've been with a different practice for each of my pregnancies and at both places they have you do the GBS swab yourself.  At my first practice, which was just a traditional, large OB office, they wanted to start checking you at 37 weeks, but I declined until 38 weeks.  I probably could have declined again without much fuss. 

  At my current practice, which is a MW practice, they don't start routine checks until 40w.  While they recognize that it doesn't mean much as to when you'll go into labor and that sort of thing, they said they like to get a baseline of where you're at starting at 40w just so they can document it for your file and such going into 41 weeks when they start liking to do additional monitoring to make sure everything is ok with baby.  

  Ultimately it's your body.  Even if they do want to start doing checks next week, or whenever really, it's your prerogative to decline them if you don't feel that you want them!  
  

  
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• iris427 member

  January 2013

  You are right. No reason for a cervical check at 36 weeks if everything is going well. If your doctor wants to check you, you have every right to say no or ask how it will benefit you and your baby.
  
  And I didn't have any cervical checks until 40 weeks with my first. None with my second.

  
  

  
  

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• luvmyducks member

  January 2013

  My OB doesn't test until the results of the GBS test come back. Something about introducing even more bacteria. He doesn't see the point of checking but will at request. I did at 39w.

   

  
  

  
  

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• RJM050705 member

  January 2013

  sbevmc09:

  36 weeks is definitely on the early side, but I've seen people talking about checks as early as 35 weeks.  I've been with a different practice for each of my pregnancies and at both places they have you do the GBS swab yourself.  At my first practice, which was just a traditional, large OB office, they wanted to start checking you at 37 weeks, but I declined until 38 weeks.  I probably could have declined again without much fuss. 

  At my current practice, which is a MW practice, they don't start routine checks until 40w.  While they recognize that it doesn't mean much as to when you'll go into labor and that sort of thing, they said they like to get a baseline of where you're at starting at 40w just so they can document it for your file and such going into 41 weeks when they start liking to do additional monitoring to make sure everything is ok with baby.  

  Ultimately it's your body.  Even if they do want to start doing checks next week, or whenever really, it's your prerogative to decline them if you don't feel that you want them!  
  

  This is my first, but I asked the mw at my 36w appt and she said they don't do them until 40w unless asked to.  She said that you can walk around dilated to 3cm for weeks or go from long and closed to having a baby in 6 hours.  

  And ditto sbevmc09 - you can certainly decline them if you want to! 

  
  

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• nyki06 member

  January 2013

  My practice doesn't do checks to see if you're dilated because they see it as unnecessary but they do a check at 36 weeks to make sure the head is down. 

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• AmyRI member

  January 2013

  My MW did check me at 36 weeks after the GBS swab. She was looking for confirmation that baby was head down. They would have been fine if I declined.Their standard is to not check again until 40 weeks.

  
  

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• sthomas1222 member

  January 2013

  My doctor left it up to me. Had my GBS last week and let her check me. Glad I did, since we found I was 3-4cm and 50% effaced. It doesn't mean anything b/c you can be that way until delivery. But I had contractions pretty much all week last week. Friday night I had contractions that were 5 minutes apart lasting 60-90s and they did that for 5-6 hours until I passed out from exhaustion. They were more widely spaced but still there. I went ahead and let my OB check me again after I had my weekly fluid u/s and we had trouble finding DDs head b/c she had dropped farther down. This week I was 5cm and 80% effaced. Knowing that progress had been made helped restore faith in my body and made the past weekend's "false" labor easier to deal with mentally. If I hadn't had such an exciting week of starts and stops I would've declined a check. I also plan on letting her check next week b/c she said if I make it to my next appointment she'll sweep my membranes and I'm ok with that. DD is already at a -3 station and the pressure is really insane.

   

  So, to sum up, it's up to you. It doesn't really mean anything. I'm still pregnant and 1/2 way dilated! But I feel it has it's place and for me I changed my mind when events dictated that a change may be necessary. 

  
  

  
  

  

   
  

  
  

  
  

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• Joyfullnoise

  January 2013

  AmyRI:

  My MW did check me at 36 weeks after the GBS swab. She was looking for confirmation that baby was head down. They would have been fine if I declined.Their standard is to not check again until 40 weeks.

  Ditto this with the midwifery group I used for LO1. I was actually dilated and effaced a bit and it made me super bummer at when, at my 40 visit, I hadn't progressed any more. I think it made me have head-games until LO came at 40+7.

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