[Farmingmom]

MW offered to strip membranes at end of week if I am still waiting on arrival!!

Anyone had any luck with having membranes stripped?
Any bad experiences?
Any thoughts on this?

 

[beanbean]

The experts will weigh in for you on this, but I've heard that it's much more effective for 2nd + time pregnancies than for first.

I did have mine stripped for my 2nd (and I gave birth 3.5 hours later!). I believe I was already dilated to a 3/4 that day, and women in my family tend to go fast after 5, so it may have just "pushed me over the edge" so to speak. I was past my due date (with known conception date) as well.

 

[alegna]

I would absolutely not do it without medical reason. It's far too easy to have a provider "accidentally" break your water too....

Babies come when they're ready.

-Angela

 

[Jimibell]

I agree with Alegna!!
this is not necessary and it has many KNOWN risks! don't let your mw downplay those risks.......
you expect OBs to offer this but when mws do it, it really really bugs me.....aren't mws supposed to be following the midwifery model of care!?

check out this:
http://www.motherfriendly.org/MFCI/
and this:
http://www.motherfriendly.org/MFCI/steps.html

stripping the membrames is different from rupturing the membrames but it can make it easier for your membrames to rupture. There are real and known risks involved and being post date is not a risk in and of itself. The following is from Henci Goer's site:

http://www.hencigoer.com/articles/elective_induction/

"rupturing membranes: Because amniotic fluid prevents umbilical cord compression during contractions, rupturing membranes increases the odds of episodes of abnormal fetal heart rate and cesarean section for fetal distress.12,15,28 This may be more of a problem during inductions because contraction pressures are often higher. Since the interval between rupture and birth may be long with an induction, rupturing membranes increases the risk of infection in women who subsequently have vaginal exams and women colonized with group B strep. In rare cases, it precipitates umbilical cord prolapse. Cord prolapse is most likely when membranes are ruptured early in labor when the head is still high, as would happen with inductions."

don't believe the hype!

 

[MrsTC]

I had my cervix checked at 40 weeks with my first and my midwife "stirred up" my membranes/stretched my cervix a little (I don't know if this is a clever re-naming or the same thing as sweeping)...and I can tell you it hurt like a really huge mean dog. Omygoddess. And it didn't work. I had it done on like a Tuesday and went into labor on Saturday night.

I'll have her do it again, though, if I'm still pregnant at 40 weeks, dangerous or not. Done being pregnant.

:

 

[Jimibell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsTC I'll have her do it again, though, if I'm still pregnant at 40 weeks, dangerous or not. Done being pregnant. :

this is irresponsible

 

[MrsTC]

I wasn't aware that all opinions weren't welcomed here.

 

[DoomaYula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsTC I wasn't aware that all opinions weren't welcomed here.

This is a place for Natural Family Living; inducing labor is NOT natural. In some cases it is medically necessary (I had an induction with twins due to chronic TTTS at 34w) but disregarding the very real risks to you AND your baby just because you feel that you are ready to finish being pregnant is irresponsible.

 

[wombatclay]

To the OP- I had my membranes stripped twice while pregnant with my first...once at 41 weeks and once at 42 weeks post-dates. I didn't go into labor until three days after the second attempt, so at least for me it clearly didn't do much! It also wasn't any more uncomfortable than a pelvic exam usually is. But obviously other mamas have other experiences.

Like any intervention there are pros and cons and you should gather info and make your own decision. And like most of the induction methods at the more "natural" end of the spectrum, stripping the membranes certainly doesn't assure you of being in labor within a few hours! However, if you are past dates and faced with certain situations then it could be worth trying before moving onto more medical induction methods. It really depends on your individual situation, WHY you want or need to push your birthing, and all that jazz.

I'd suggest starting with more moderate induction methods (EPO, sexual activity, nipple stimulation, RRL tea, walking, pineapple, etc) to see if your body and babe is ready before moving on to stripping...

Good luck and happy birthing!

 

[CaraNicole]

i had it done by my nurse...She DID NOT ASK! i asked her what she was doing down there b/c it really hurt...needless to say i was super miffed...it didn't work either i still had to have an induction...i almost lost my baby and i think that being "stripped" had alot to do w/it!

 

[birthjunkie27]

I had it done with my last. I was 40 wks 5 days and I was in EXTREME discomfort (I was HUGE and had very bad pelvis, etc) was getting nearly impossible for me to care for my other 2 children.

Did not hurt at all when I had it done, which actually disappointed me because I heard that for it to be successfull it had to hurt. I did not bleed or cramp.

I went into labor the night of 40 wks 6 days and gave birth at exactly 41 weeks in the early morning (the whole labor was about 7 hours).

My water didn't break until right before I started pushing, although I know that membrane stripping *can* cause rupture of membranes.

My daughter was a hefty 9lbs 14oz and I feel she was ready.

I have a friend who's Dr. stripped her (she didn't know until AFTER the fact) at 37 weeks and a few days, and she went into labor that night. She had about a 12 hr labor, water didn't break until just prior to pushing. Yes, I know, it's absolutely horrendous that a Dr. would do this at 37 weeks and without patient consent. I'm not being snarky.. I REALLY think it's horrendous.

 

[birthjunkie27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wombatclay To the OP- I had my membranes stripped twice while pregnant with my first...once at 41 weeks and once at 42 weeks post-dates. I didn't go into labor until three days after the second attempt, so at least for me it clearly didn't do much! It also wasn't any more uncomfortable than a pelvic exam usually is. But obviously other mamas have other experiences. Like any intervention there are pros and cons and you should gather info and make your own decision. And like most of the induction methods at the more "natural" end of the spectrum, stripping the membranes certainly doesn't assure you of being in labor within a few hours! However, if you are past dates and faced with certain situations then it could be worth trying before moving onto more medical induction methods. It really depends on your individual situation, WHY you want or need to push your birthing, and all that jazz. I'd suggest starting with more moderate induction methods (EPO, sexual activity, nipple stimulation, RRL tea, walking, pineapple, etc) to see if your body and babe is ready before moving on to stripping... Good luck and happy birthing!

I think this is a wonderful and helpful response, unlike a couple of others.

 

[AugustLia23]

It worked for me, and it only felt like a long pap smear. Like with anything else, it'll only work if you're right about there anyways...

Since it put me into labor, I would consider doing it again, but it'd also be nice to let the baby choose his/her own birthday.

ETA: I had it done carefully by my midwife and it did NOT rupture my membranes, there is more of a risk of this happening, but usually if that happens , the practitioner was aiming for that. My membranes didn't rupture until I was past 7 cm(and aritficially, who knows when it would've broken on it's own).

 

[aran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YumaDoula This is a place for Natural Family Living; inducing labor is NOT natural. In some cases it is medically necessary (I had an induction with twins due to chronic TTTS at 34w) but disregarding the very real risks to you AND your baby just because you feel that you are ready to finish being pregnant is irresponsible.

How do you know she ignored the risks? Can you present data to substantiate the risks? Do you know why she was "done" at 40 weeks? As far as risks go, have you read the Cochrane review for membrane sweeping? Here's the plain language summary.

Quote:

Sweeping the membranes during a cervical examination is done to bring on labour in women at term. The review of trials found that sweeping brings on labour and is generally safe where there are no other complications. Sweeping reduces the need for other methods of labour induction such as oxytocin or prostaglandins. The review also found that sweeping can cause discomfort during the procedure, some bleeding and irregular contractions.

Your definition of "natural" does not agree with everyone else's here, so although it is an NFL site, I know many people would consider sweeping to be in the same ballpark as sex, nipple stimulation, or acupuncture, which are all physical ways to get labor started if you are already on the verge, and which many (though not all) people consider to be natural.

 

[Whisper-ma-Phone]

:

I agree some replies have not been particularly helpful. Here's my story and I'm risking being flamed to give you an honest reply.

I had a stretch and sweep about four hours ago (at 39+2), in my midwives' office. It was really uncomfortable while she did it (she did three rounds of stretching and sweeping) and I'm a little achy now. She said it won't likely put me into labour now, but they believe that it speeds things up by about four days overall. She did warn me that I may have some nasty false labour, and it could even make me contract (with no progress) for a week or more.

Why did I have it done? Well, I went at 37 weeks with my first, and since I was never expecting to go much past that this pregnancy, I'm having a really difficult time still being pregnant. I'm really uncomfortable (who isn't, I know) and I'm starting to lose my cool, particularly with my sweet little boy (almost 3). I have had the house in perfect readiness for a homebirth since 37 weeks, and I'm sick and tired of maintaining that. I'm ready to have a baby, settle down and let someone else take care of everything for a while. I'm been having evil early moring BH contractions for weeks, my cervix has been aching for weeks. Call it irresponsible if you must, but for me, it was the right choice. I am a miserable wretch at the moment and I just want to have this baby already! And just because I had it done, it doesn't mean it's going to work anyway!

 

[Synchro246]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farmingmom MW offered to strip membranes at end of week if I am still waiting on arrival!! Anyone had any luck with having membranes stripped? Any bad experiences? Any thoughts on this?

How many weeks are you?
How is your health? How is your baby's health?
Can the MW tell what position the baby is in?

I personally would take stripping over other forms of induction, but the baby's position is extremely important when making the induction consideration. IF your waters were to break you'd want that to happen with the baby optimally positioned. If the baby is not optimally positioned I'd work on that first. Sometimes just getting them in a nice LOA gives the cervix the nice even pressure needed to start labor.

 

[Jimibell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsTC I wasn't aware that all opinions weren't welcomed here.

who said that your opinion wasn't welcome?

I was just responding to your opinion.

I also think all the posts are helpful in that they provide a different perspective.....and it's important for others to counter those perspectives if they see something they disagree with or know to be not true, etc....this is what a forum is all about....

if you don't want to open your opinions to being countered by others then don't post them.

I also agree that stripping the membrames is a lesser of other evils when induction is necessary.......but doing it without knowing the risks or ignoring the risks is not ideal.......also, I question the motives for a lot of care-providers when doing this.......
is it routine?
are they doing it just because of the calendar or are the reasons truly valid....this needs to be looked at....

and hey, if you want to do it go ahead, I doubt anyone is going to try to stop you.......but the risks are there and could lead to something much more uncomfortable than late pregnancy......

 

[aran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimibell this is irresponsible

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimibell who said that your opinion wasn't welcome?

If this is not unwelcoming (especially given that's all you wrote in the post quoted first, above), I don't know what is.

Please see post #14

 

[AmyJayne19]

i had my membranes swept at 39 wks. 3 days. i was 3 cm dilated and my dr. asked me if i wanted it done. he said i could go into labour in the next 2 days or i could just go on until the my due date or past (this was if he swept my membranes). i started having contractions that day and delivered a health, beautiful baby boy the next day. I will say that the contractions were extremely painful and i believe it's because i had this done.also, my water had to be broken at 9cm.

 

[Jimibell]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aran If this is not unwelcoming (especially given that's all you wrote in the post quoted first, above), I don't know what is. Please see post #14

This doesn't really make sense to me what you're saying. I just stated my opinion against hers, why is that perceived as being unwelcoming?
If one is not allowed to have an opposite opinion how is there is supposed to be a discussion?

in response to your post #14:

Mrs TC posts:
"I'll have her do it again, though, if I'm still pregnant at 40 weeks, dangerous or not. Done being pregnant."

She is saying that even if it's dangerous she will do it again because she is tired of being pregnant.
So there is no need for documentation on her given situation as this is her feeling. I'm just responding that I think that's irresponsible, knowing the risks and doing it for convenience.......sometimes I don't feel like putting my child in her carseat either but I do it anyway, because I know there are risks.....

As for the risks of stripping the membrames, in her book, "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth", Henci Goer says this about stripping the membrames:

"Pros: Slightly decreases the number of oxytocin inductions by reducing the number of postdates pregnancies. However, routine induction for postdates pregnancy has questionable value."

"Cons: Potential of rupturing membrames, instigating infection, or causing hemorrhage if the placenta is overlaying the cervix (placenta previa). Does not decrease C-section rates."

All of her summaries are strictly evidence-based.

oh and see post #4

especially the link to the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative....
this has been sanctioned by hundreds of childbirth care-providers, organizations and individuals.....