Quick help.......would you ?????

[15yrsbetweenboys]

Resort to stripping membranes if you are up against a timetable?? I am VBAC, so my choices are more limited and I am only getting til 41 weeks-which is rapidly approaching. My appt. is today and I have to decide by 1:00 if I want to try the stripping to "get things going". I really want to wait-but know that the pressure is on now........so...........

if you were me-would you go with the stripping/sweeping and hope it works? I am doing everything to encourage birth without "real" interventions at this point (walking, squatting, rrl tea, nip stim, acupressure etc)-but am torn on the sweeping thing........


help!

[maciascl]

Personally I would. I was going to ask my mw to do that at my appt yesterday, but I ended up not doing it, however I am not being threatened with induction or anything either.

I have heard that it can cause trauma to your cervix, but from what I know about it they basically just pull the bag of waters away from the cervix. So my guess is that as long as the person is gentle & knows what they are doing it should be fine. Also of course you'd have to be dialated enough for the person to get past your cervix & touch the bag of waters easily.

So I say go for it, maybe talk to your care giver about any concerns you have about it first if that will make you more comfortable too. Good luck, I hope it works for you!

[crazyeight]

i would say go for it. exspecially if you've already got some dialation and effacing going on it can help move things a little quicker. its a whole lot better than other interventions!

[noteworthy]

It might work, and it not. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I am up against a timetable too and I think that is stressing me out plenty to delay labor.
Know that there are risks... infection, possible rupture of membranes, irritating the cervix. Did I have it done? You betcha! Did it work? NO! still here... worked with dd though 2 years ago. I was in labor in a few hours after. Good luck and you will know when you are at your appt what the choice will be.

[15yrsbetweenboys]

thanks for the replies ladies I have been weighing the risks, and I actually had it done with my oldest-but that wasn't exactly a great experience either (not the membrane sweep itself-but the labor that ensued), so that has partially tainted my viewpoint on it. Of course, I was only 37 weeks at the time, but gave in after several days of prodromal labor and had them do it-which did help I guess......it was only 29 hours later that he delivered (after 99 hours of latent phase and 12 hours of "active" labor).

Part of my concern is that with postdates it increases the risk of AROM and baby is still high enough to allow prolapse of cord-so I am hesitant on that front, but if they can do it without membrane rupture I think it would probably work...

[15yrsbetweenboys]

also, it might seem minor-but part of me is afraid it will work too well LOL-and with all the prodromal labor I have been having it might make for a very fast progression and birth. I am hesitant about that because I live 45 minutes from the hospital, and am a little scared to drive home after and then not make it back up there in time LOL. I am driving myself-as I am all alone now-and hate to put myself in an "awkward position" :0

[gwinith]

Position Of Cervix?

my MW offered sweeping but i declined (so far... i am only 40 wks + 4 days today- first time mama)

but every week i am offered this procedure. i am concerned about the positoin of cervix. if cervix has come forward that is a definite sign your body is already getting ready. my cervix was pointing back at the time my MW offered to do it... saying she could even pull the cervix forward a bit... this did NOT sit well with me (i was 38 wks at the time)... so although i don't know for sure the best situation to do a sweep, it seems to me that it would be nice to know that at least my body has already begun its own natural positioning and even softening of the cervix.

i'm going to start another thread on black and blue cohosh... see that thread.

gwinith

[15yrsbetweenboys]

well, I neglected to include that I am VERY effaced (nearly 100% LOL) and only dilated to about 2 or 2 1/2 (depends on who is doing the exam)-but I know that in itself has little to do with the start of active labor-it can change so quickly.

[ariahsmum]

fwiw- and prolly not much at this point, I would not strip, and instead let the baby decide when. You are up against timelines not due to medical reasons and research, but due to politics, I assume. To me, not a good reason to rush things.

If I were faced with timetables for reasons of politics I would seriously consider doing everything myself and letting the baby decide!

But then, that is exactly what I am doing, for exactly the same reasons!

Good luck, mama... from another mama planning VBAC