Anyone super educated on checking your own cervix during labor?

[DeChRi]

This may be a super dorky question.

I check my cervix all the time when we were TTC. We are having a hospital birth and the plan it to go as late as possible. We are less than 10 min from the hospital. My last two births have been pokey until about 4cm, then I dialate from 4-10cm in about an hour. I would like to be able to check a couple times, just to see where things are going.

Are there any specific nono's when checking your own cervix during labor? I generally decline all cervical checks at the hospital while in labor, with random nurses popping in and out. Do all those same reasons apply to me checking my own probably? Just curious.

[rootzdawta]

Moved from I'm Pregnant to Birth and Beyond.

[kltroy]

I'm not personally experienced in this, but my mom is a CNM and she tells me that a cervix in labor feels TOTALLY different than your cervix does normally. Like so different you don't always even know what you're feeling. I wasn't particularly inclined to try and reach mine while in labor, so I can't confirm that...

[dachshundqueen]

Find a chart

Find a dilation chart that you can print out, if you are so inclined to truly check things out in labor. If you're attending those hospital classes, they usually give you a copy.

I didn't have any difficulty checking my cervix in my first two pregnancies. First pregnancy, lost plug and checked and was 2-3 dilated, but at 32 weeks so went promptly to OB. Second labor, it was very useful as I was able to tell the MW where I was, um hello, bag bulging (that's about 8 cm) and I can feel the baby's head, please come!

Liz

[1babysmom]

I admit that I love checking my cervix in late pregnancy. I consider it much safer than someone else doing it, and I am SO fascinated by the changing pregnant body. (plus I am a total info junkie and love being able to gauge changes- even though they can mean absolutely nothing- and compare to my previous pregnancies/births, etc)

I would get a feel for things now (just try a few times) because like a PP said, and IME as well, the cervix feels a lot different at this point than when not pg. And once you're familiar with it, here is an awesome site!

http://www.joyousbirth.info/articles...xlearning.html

[honeybee]

I would be wary of doing it after your water broke, due to possibility of infection. It doesn't matter who's doing the poking, if something's going up, there's an avenue for infection.

I'm guessing you must have some other "markers" of the quick transition from 4-10 cm that might clue you in to when to go to the hospital. For me, throwing up is a pretty good sign, so if I start to feel even slightly nauseous, I will be calling my mw... even if my contractions at the time aren't doing much. I progress very quickly (which is also why I prefer homebirth... my midwife has only barely made it to my last two births... I shudder to think what they would've been like if I'd been trying to get someone to the house to watch the kids and then make it to the hospital).

[DeChRi]

Honeybee, good thought. I am a puker but from big hurl to push is about 5-10 min. I may just play it safe and go a bit before I think I should. My time span from totally functional to totally floored and immobile is super short. My labors tend to have 2 phases, comfortable and immobilized, lol.

[Sk8ermaiden]

I was completely educated and planning to do it in the last weeks and labor, but I could not reach my cervix for the life of me. It was SO high and posterior. I was really disappointed. I never had a problem reaching it before. For some reason I couldn't reach it in the last trimester. Everyone kept trying to blame it on the belly, but that was NOT the problem.

[mambera]

I gave myself the WORST contraction trying to check my own cervix in labor. The pain was so awful I couldn't pay attention to what I was feeling and I got no information out of it anyway.

Agree with pp that you shouldn't check your own cervix when your water has broken bc of infection risk.

[Belle]

I could'nt reach my own cervix in late pregnancy. I checked it in early pregnancy and I think around 16 weeks or so also.

I did have dh check it though. We got out our copies of TCOYF and Spiritual Midwifery to give him diagrams of what he was supposed to be feeling. He estimated me to be around 2-3cm dilated. This was around 5 days before dd2 was born. My water broke 36 hours before labor began so cervical checks during labor were out of the question.

[DeChRi]

Consider me sufficiantly convinced not to check my own cervix. Thanks for all of the feedback!

[emnic77]

I checked mine with my last baby to see what was going on because I did not want to go to the hospital too early. It was nearly impossible to tell what was what, everything felt like mush, but I quickly realized that the mush that I felt was a bulging bag of water. I figured that was enough of a signal that I was far enough along to go.

[loveneverfails]

I found it very easy to check my cervix during labor, and it is extremely important for me to do so. I have gone to full dilation without my contractions being any more intense than my regular Braxton Hicks. The only clues I had were that they were further apart and my cervix was getting more open.

I find it easiest to check dilation by squatting next to the bathtub. At first all I could tell was "more open" or "the same" but throughout subsequent pregnancies, I've gotten better at it. I am a big fan of being able to assess yourself if you have fast labors.

[AutumnW]

I'm really excited about doing it this time. Last pregnancy I checked before and at the beginning of labor. There was little change and then my water broke so I kept my hands out of there after that. I am looking forward to feeling the changes this time.

[boogiebearlove]

I was under the impression that while you are at home there is very little chance of infection, because the germs are germs that your body lives in and is used to.

Originally Posted by honeybee

I would be wary of doing it after your water broke, due to possibility of infection. It doesn't matter who's doing the poking, if something's going up, there's an avenue for infection.

I'm guessing you must have some other "markers" of the quick transition from 4-10 cm that might clue you in to when to go to the hospital. For me, throwing up is a pretty good sign, so if I start to feel even slightly nauseous, I will be calling my mw... even if my contractions at the time aren't doing much. I progress very quickly (which is also why I prefer homebirth... my midwife has only barely made it to my last two births... I shudder to think what they would've been like if I'd been trying to get someone to the house to watch the kids and then make it to the hospital).

[claddaghmom]

I have done it, but never during pregnancy. I couldn't reach! hehe.

DH did it for me.

[jeminijad]

Originally Posted by boogiebearlove

I was under the impression that while you are at home there is very little chance of infection, because the germs are germs that your body lives in and is used to.

Even those familiar germs aren't meant to be introduced inside of your uterus, though.

[Mamabeakley]

Even though I knew rationally that checking myself after my water broke was a bad idea, I absolutely HAD to do it in the moment. It was part of my labor coping approach w/both DS2 & DD's labors. 6.5 hours & 4 hours total labor, though, so there wasn't exactly time for any kind of dire infection to set in.

Should you choose to check yourself, I found it easier to identify how much cervix was left rather than how much was gone. I.e., it didn't matter much what size the opening was - but I could easily tell how much cervix was still there blocking the baby's head. And actually, both times this gave me valuable information because I had a lip w/DS2's birth and DD's head was asynclitic so the cervix was dilating VERY unevenly - we changed what we were doing to address those issues in each case (homeopathic arnica & manual reduction by my MW for DS2 and asymetrical position for DD)