Cervical checks at the hospital

Tigger & pooh · July 2013

Is it reasonable/ possible to ask for no cervical checks if delivering at the hospital?

tokenhoser · July 2013

I don't think you can do NO checks and deliver in a hospital. I only had one. I was 10 cm dilated when I arrived. If you labour at home, you won't have any checks until you go to check in at the hospital. After your intake assessment, you have more ability to decline checks until you feel the urge to push, but if that's a long time you're going to have a lot of push back from your nurses/doctor.

In other words: plan to labour at home.

Tigger & pooh · July 2013

tokenhoser:
I don't think you can do NO checks and deliver in a hospital. I only had one. I was 10 cm dilated when I arrived. If you labour at home, you won't have any checks until you go to check in at the hospital. After your intake assessment, you have more ability to decline checks until you feel the urge to push, but if that's a long time you're going to have a lot of push back from your nurses/doctor. In other words: plan to labour at home.

This is my struggle. Once I am in labor I just want to be left alone. The minute I start on my way to the hospital and then get to the hospital all the messing around they do makes me lose my focus and composure. I would love a home birth but DH is uncomfortable with it and worries something bad will happen. We are both a bit worried about pushing our luck after losing a baby at 20 wks this past November, so I respect his stance.

JennOH85 · July 2013

My doula strongly recommends declining cervical checks since they're a poor indication of labor progression (the "dialating 1 cm every hour" rule is definitely outdated), but like PP said, there will likely be push back. Ultimately it's your body and your baby, so you don't have to do anything that you don't want to do. Talk to your care provider and see how they feel about it. If you can get your doc or midwife to sign off ahead of time, the nurses might be less opposed.

aylafsu88 · July 2013

Not possible. You have to be checked when admitted and they check you before you push. You can refuse all other checks though. I got 3 checks at the hospital. The first was when I arrived and I was 6 cm. The second was when I felt the urge to push but was only dilated 8.5 cm. The final check was when I could no longer refrain from pushing. I was complete but had a small lip of cervix left. I had a natural birth friendly nurse so she never offered to check me unless I asked. Since I stayed home as long as possible LO came quickly so I was only in L&D for 2 hours.

sschwege · July 2013

IMO this is an area where it might be best to strike a compromise, perhaps one in triage and one when you are ready to push? There is a value to being checked. If you arrive at let's say 2cm, maybe it's best to return home and wait. If you start feeling pushy at 9cm, that's important information because you don't want to start pushing against a cervix that isn't complete. Labor at home as long as possible and it really won't be a fight. With my second I had just the one in triage because I arrived ready to push. You can always ask not to be told how dilated you are, that's what I did both times.

SarahinMD · July 2013

I think it's pretty standard to have them. I only had one...was fully dilated when I arrived after laboring at home with DH. If you are concerned it will make you feel discouraged, I think you could ask them just to not tell you what it is.

RayRay007 · July 2013

aylafsu88:
Not possible. You have to be checked when admitted and they check you before you push.

You don't have to do anything. They can't force their hands up your vagina without your consent.

That being said, they will probably try to insist on one before admitting and probably before pushing if you have a typical OB. As another pp said, that's a fair compromise.

bleusimp · July 2013

Technically, you can always decline. I know where I work, there aren't OBs just hanging out on the unit, so the nurse has to tell them your initial status to get admission orders, and has to call them for delivery with your status and give them time to get there when you are ready to push.

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