VERY Painful Sweep- Am I a wimp?

[Tinkerbell43]

Hi All,
I'm 40 weeks pregnant and had my first sweep this morning to try and regulate the annoying contractions I've been having for the last week or so.. however I found it to unbearably painful to the point where I had to ask the mw to stop several times to breathe and then eventually stop all together! She only managed the V/E didn't even make it to the sweep!
The mw was lovely and gentle and gave me plenty of time to breathe when i needed to and was happy to stop when i asked. I have never been told that sweeps are painful before and this is really worrying me, is it normal for them to hurt or am i just a complete wimp?
Seriously considering re-writing my birth plan to include a epidural, if i cant cope with a sweep how am i going to manage birth?!
scared.com

[polkadotsrock]

There is a little thread just a bit further down entitled 'is it just me' and you need to get yourself on it- you could be the op ;)

[twinklesparkles]

You're not a wimp. Mine was very painful

It hurt more than the bloody contractions :(

Seriously :(

[ChunkyPickle]

Nope - I never had a sweep, but VEs had me clawing the ceiling!

Next time I'm only going to let them do it very, very rarely - I just don't need the extra pain.

[HumphreyCobbler]

I find VE very painful yet I coped with contractions ok.

[DreamsTurnToGoldDust]

No your not a wimp, I remember telling dh Id rather walk over broken glass than have another sweep, wish to god I hadnt had it, it was worse than labour for me. I would never have another.

[KnottedAnchorChief]

No you're not a wimp. Or if you are, I am too! I had a v painful first sweep and when it came to the second one the mw gave me g&a! It still bloody hurt but at least it gave me a bit of a distraction.

None of them did any good.

[ladymia]

The very honest MW told me it will be painful and if it's not then I need to let her know because she is doing it wrong :) She did make me laugh and wasn't lying!

[worsestershiresauce]

I managed labour without any form of pain relief until the injection to numb where they cut me. The attempted sweep however nearly had me in tears. It was h*ll. Never again.

[DreamsTurnToGoldDust]

And it didnt do anything

[ladymia]

Yes I also want to add, I had mine 5 days ago and despite it being a "favourable" sweep I have had no signs that labour is coming.

[Pudgy2011]

Oh my gawd, my sweep was utterly horrendous! I almost jumped off the recliner and the OBGYN gave me no warning as I was only 37+6.
Seriously, everything that followed shortly after was a breeze. Contractions, transition, crowning, episiotomy. None came close to the pain of that damn sweep!

Did the job though...

[Pollaidh]

I had 2 sweeps, 1 was uncomfortable and the other was leap off the bed and shriek painful. Second one worked. You're not a wimp and it doesn't mean anything for your chances to get through birth - I got through a 3 day labour in total control.

[gloti]

sorry for being ignorant but when do you have this sweep!? sounds like very late pregnancy? does everybody have to have it and what is it for? you ladies have scared me so much! lol

[Tinkerbell43]

You don't have to have a sweep! :-) It's your complete choice, you can refuse it if you don't want to have one but yes it's usually when your past your due date to try and get things moving x

[gloti]

phew thanks Tinkerbell! let's hope I'm on time lol it sounds horrendous!

[purrpurr]

What does VE stand for?

[DangerMousey]

Vaginal examination - usually carried out in labour to see how dilated you are (also optional - you can refuse to have one if you don't want one at any point)

[Ilovestackingcups]

Victory in Europe.

Sorry, vaginal examination I think.

Sweeps suck, avoid having another.

[purrpurr]

So examinations are painful? I thought you had to have an internal every four hours? If you refuse then presumably they won't know when you're actually in labour... ?

God I wish there was an A Level or something to go along with pregnancy and childbirth. Let alone the whole raising-kids thing.

[Tinkerbell43]

My ve was very painful, maybe because my cervix is still pretty posterior (if that's the right word) but I was told by the midwife that you always have a right to refuse a ve or sweep, so there must be other ways for them to check.. Not sure though!!

[abigboydidit]

I had 2 sweeps - the first had me clawing the bench in agony at it did sweet naff all . The 2nd was just 2 days later and was a bit uncomfortable but nothing worse than a smear. DD was born 2 days later

[space21]

So is the consensus they are very painful and rarely work?
I was thinking of requesting one at due date midwife app. on Sunday.... now not so sure!