Stripping membranes?

[tangomoon]

At my next OB appointment I'll be 39w5d, and my doc said that if there's enough dilation, he offers membrane stripping for women who are interested in it. Are there pros/cons to this procedure? I haven't had any internal exams yet, and still no major contractions. BH are getting a little more intense, but no plug loss or anything like that yet.

With my first daughter, I went into labor on my own at 39w3d, so didn't have to think about anything like this. Thanks for any input ~ I'd like to be able to make an informed decision next week!

[bocks_box]

Personally, I wouldn't. With my first child, my OB stripped my membranes without my permission, and I did go into labor. It was 3 days of prodromal, followed by water breaking, hard labor all night and a c-section in the morning. IMO, he was not ready to come. He was floating and posterior.

I very much regret not being educated enough to refuse vaginal exams.

Anecdotal, I know. YMMV.

[scrappingmom]

not from your DDC but reading anyway

I"m still undecided myself about what i think of membrane stripping ...but wanted to offer that.. not always does it turn out so badly as bocks box .. with my 3rd, i was having a horrble time unable to move at all and was requesting to be induced anyway, Dr wouldnt until my due date but offered to do membrane strip the week before .. FOR ME .. it wasnt uncomfortable or anything got enough contractions going to move baby down to a more solid position, she kept moving sideways... but i still didnt go into labor until i was induced a week later .. i wound up nearly paralised from damage done during teh pregnancy(chiro explained it to me) but with TONS of chiropractic work.. i'm doing fine now. In that case i feel the doc SHOULD have induced early since it would have drasticly reduced the damamge.... but the membrane strip helped get baby more to a comfortable spot even though it ddint start anything...which i was bummed about...lol .. FOR me.. it helped some.

informed is good... but take into consideration your own gut feeling as well.. she has been the only one i've thought it was a good idea for...my 5th is due in june.

[jstar]

i had my membranes stripped two times during my first pregnancy. 1st time i was 40w4d. i had bloody show afterwards and then......nothing. went back a week later and he did it again. so by then i was 41w4d. bloody show again that night. next morning my contractions started and i had my ds later that night.

so in my (own limited) experience it doesn't do anything if your baby isn't ready to come. mine obviously wasn't ready the first time my ob did it. 2nd time...who knows if it really worked or if that was just my 'time' to go into labor.

i won't have any reservations about having it done again.

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by jstar

i had my membranes stripped two times during my first pregnancy. 1st time i was 40w4d. i had bloody show afterwards and then......nothing. went back a week later and he did it again. so by then i was 41w4d. bloody show again that night. next morning my contractions started and i had my ds later that night.

so in my (own limited) experience it doesn't do anything if your baby isn't ready to come. mine obviously wasn't ready the first time my ob did it. 2nd time...who knows if it really worked or if that was just my 'time' to go into labor.

i won't have any reservations about having it done again.

Me too, but I didn't actually ever go into labor on my own... just had more BH contractions. Then I was induced (which worked out ok, but would have been better if I managed to go into labor on my own).

Word of warning though... it's painful when they strip the membranes, so if you choose it, just be prepared for a not-so-good time. Oh, and plenty of fun cramping afterward.

[maliceinwonderland]

I haven't ever had it done, but my midwife offered today. Or rather, said she would, but suggested that because I'm not even at my due date yet she would wait, and that stripping of membranes can cause irregular contractions, and because I labour really fast she would be concerned about me wondering whether I was in labour or not, and then the midwives not making it in time.

I decided against it..I'm not overdue, and I feel like I'd be setting myself up for bad luck by messing with the natural process of things. But that's just me. If I was actually overdue, I probably would have it done.

[Synchro246]

Without any pressing reasons to get the baby out there's no real reason KWIM?
The risks include accidental (or not depending on the caregiver) rupture of membranes. This could put you on a "clock" to deliver. . .not a good situation to possibly take on for no articulatable reason IMO.

Though, *if* I did need to consider induction it would probably be one of the first things I'd opt for.

Under any circumstance I would most definitly ONLY do it IF the baby were in a great position. LOA, nice and low. Just in case the water did break I'd want to minimize the risks of it impacting my labor progress negatively.

[BrooklynDoula]

I would not do any intervention in the absence of a reason to do it. If you are very post due and facing time limits on your birth choice, if you have a medical condition, if the baby is at risk, etc. BUT, sounds like you are in perfect health and so is baby and you won't have even made it to your due date. Why mess with a good thing Your body will help you bring that baby out when it is time and trying to force things is just one intervention that could lead to more. ALL studies show that having an intervention significantly increases your chances of having more interventions and ending in a c-section.

That's my take on it

[roadfamily6now]

no one has ever offered to do that and I would have refused anyway.

Based on the fact your first baby came on his own I would trust your body to do the same this time.
There is NO advantage to stripping.
However, the choice is yous.

Good Luck!

[emiLy]

I wouldn't do it until I was at least a week "over due." There's just no reason to do it. Things usually work so much better when the body is allowed to go into labor on its own.

[clavicula]

Originally Posted by Synchro246

Though, *if* I did need to consider induction it would probably be one of the first things I'd opt for.

i agree. never happened to me, so no idea!

[veganbaby]

I personally wouldn't either. But like a PP said, I would consider that first as induction.

[Slingin'Momto4]

I have had my membranes stripped once and it worked, I started having contrax one hour after it was done. My DS was born that evening, But I was having contrax before having it done.

[crysmomofthree]

I can significantly up your chance of infection, and if your water breaks during the procedure or shortly after it really increases the risk of transmitting an infection to the baby. If the infection hits the baby you can end up with a baby that isn't breathing. I wish someone had told me that (I didn't have stripping done, but my membranes ruptured then I had lots of vaginal exams)

It is a form of induction, best left to when there is a medical need or mom is going overdue and often it doesn't work, sometimes it causes prodromal labor

[tangomoon]

Thanks for the input. I'd already been leaning towards declining the offer, and this confirms it for me. If I'm still waiting for baby at nearly 2 weeks over, then I may consider it :-)

[stacey0402]

I didn't know better with my first pregnancy and I let the nurse strip my membranse 2 times. Both times I got very sore, bloody show and lots of cramps...then nothing. I wasn't even over due yet, and it was my first pregnancy. If I knew then what I know now!

I think its up to you. In my opinion its one of those practices that nudges you in a direction you were already headed, so what's the point?

[crittersmom]

I gotta agree its not the thing to do if you want to lessen the chances of infection. I was GBS+ last time and they were going to induce me because at that practice its SOP for anyone who takes meds for high BP.My dr had been told to be very generous with stripping my membranes at my last appt.Luckily she was a very good Dr and when I told her no way because of the chance of infection she didn't touch me.I had Zoe 3 days later on my own time.(beat that damn induction date!)

[dorianboy]

Well, I just had mine stripped on Fri afternoon (it's now Sun at midnight) and very little has happened, except some mucous this morning. I am due on Tues, but was hoping to get things going this weekend. It's obvious that the baby isn't ready, so I'm not going to try anything else from here on out. BTW, I also had my chiro stimulate acupressure points for labor on Fri morning, so now I know that the babe really isn't ready!

[amyleigh33]

wow im glad the "search" function worked for me today and i found this thread! my mw asked me about this and i told her i didn't know and i'd get back to her.

so do ya'll think that EPO actually does anything? she recommended it, but i didn't get it cause it's in gel-caps and gelatin is a touchy vegan subject (it's a waste-by-product so some people don't worry about it; i'm sorta on the fence i dunno..) but i REALLY don't want to go super far overdue, cause then my mom will be gone (coming tomorrow, leaving on 30th) and i'll be on my own with a baby, which terrifies me--yikes! but not enough to do something as potentially risky, but more likely pointless (from the sounds of this thread) as membrane stripping.. hrm.

[sarabrynn82]

I think epo is like most natural methods of induction/ripening... it works if your body is ready for it to work! I started using it at 33 weeks in hopes of ripening my cervix for a planned induction at 34 weeks and it did nothing (thankfully the issues we were seeing cleared up, and now I'm still pregnant at 37+ weeks!) I haven't been checked lately, but I'm still taking it. I just assume that when my body's ready, it'll only help things along even more. And while I'm looking at probably having my membranes stripped soon (aging placentas, would like to avoid interventions), I don't think that I'd do it just to get the baby here at a better time IMO.

But there are other threads about natural methods to get labor going... I'd start trying as many of those as possible!