Sweeping membranes

[SugarAndSun]

Has anyone had this done or know the pros and cons? My mw would like to do this tomorrow if I'm not yet in labor.

Thanks for any info.

[ellymay]

I know what it is...it is where the doc runs a finger on the inside of the cervix to loosen the bag of waters away from the cervix....I have never
had it done. I was supposed to have it done today but I decided not to.

[boingo82]

It is uncomfortable to painful. It can supposedly get labor going if you're "ready". But it can also mean crampier labor from the get-go. I had it done 3x with my first, would not do it again.

[Sydnee]

I had it done with Emma and Alayna, and would do it again. It did not hurt that bad for me, and it put me into labor within half an hour.

[tomtemama]

I had my membranes swept in my first pregnancy about every two days from halfway through my 41st week. I went 12 days post dates before I was induced medically for a fever so I had them swept about 5 times.

I think that it is supposed to increase the amount of prostaglandins that are in your cervix but I also think that only helps with effacement so if you are already thin I don't see the point. It can also increase your chances of ruptured membranes and if your baby wasn't ready to be out yet it may be forced out.

[djinneyah]

it does also increase your chance of infection....separating the membranes from the cervix creates a space for the bacteria that has now been pushed up closer to your cervix by the MW's hand to come in and colonize between the membranes and the cervix/wall of the uterus, which can cause infection/fever in the mother.

so...it may get labor started, it may not..it may be uncomfortable/painful, it may not...either way, it ups your infection risk.

[flowmom]

I would never allow sweeping of membranes. First of all, research indicates that sweeping membranes once at 38-40 weeks' gestation does not significantly increase the proportion of women who begin spontaneous labor within 7 days so there's no point in doing it anyway during that stage. Second, this puts you at a higher risk of infection, even if your MW is careful about hygiene. Third, this puts you at risk for having your membranes ruptured, which is not a good idea if you are not ready to go into labour. Henci Goer discusses the risks in detail in her book The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth.

What is the rush?? Are you over 42 weeks? If not, I really don't see any advantages to this procedure.

[KerriAZ]

I had it done with both pregnancies... With my first, it was just midly uncomfy to have it done and I went into active labor an hour later. This time, it was painful, but compared to the back/pelvic pain I had been having, no biggie, really! LOL (And it only hurts for a few seconds, really! At least for me!) I started having strong contrax an hour later, just like with DD, but then it stopped. So it didn't really do much this time around... I had them stripped on Tuesday and had DS on Saturday night... So it might have helped *some* but I thnk it worked better with DD...

Kerri