Midwife said at sweep…

[Sleepdeprivedmamma]

Hello!

Im 37+3
i have to be induced next weekend as i suddenly have really high blood pressure and my placenta has started to slow down (they knew this from a blood test and then a scan that confirmed the placenta is starting to calcify).

terrified of an induction after two really good very very quick births with my first two, they were both a week overdue i feel like thats just when my body is ready so to force it at 39 weeks feels scary - but obviously whatever is safest for baby !

anyway went for a sweep today - as i suspected she said she couldnt really do it as i wasnt ready but that my cervix was soft and shortening ‘only has about 2cm left’ - what does that actually mean?

any positive induction stories?

2 inductions, both at 37 weeks. Both straight forward and (epidural) painless. Both babies were fine, no nicu stays needed. Good luck.

Hi a cervical sweep is when the the midwife can insert two fingers in to sweep around the cervix to separate the amniotic sac from the cervix releasing prostaglandin to hopefully kick start labour.
It sounds like your cervix might not be fully effaced/ thinned out and is 2cm long in length. This is perfectly normal for the gestation your are right now.
The propess pessary given for induction will hopefully shorten your cervix and help dilate it. It is already soft which is good and usually ladies with raised B/P labour quickly plus you have had two previous quick labours.
Goodluck with everything and I hope you have another quick labour and baby is here soon.

Hi OP,
Cervixes soften, shorten/thin out (effacement) and open (dilate), the 2cm likely meant it felt like it was effacing which is a good sign :) It isn't unusual to be unable to do a sweep at 37 weeks but things can change very quickly, especially when you've had babies before. The fact you have given birth twice before should also hopefully mean your body responds well to induction.

I had an induction with DC2 and only needed one hormone pessary, waters breaking at 4cm dilatation and DD was born within a few hours.

Over the next few days try to relax and get the oxytocin going as much as possible. Watch comedies, relax in a warm bath, snuggle with your partner/kids, eat chocolate, have sex if you feel like it.

And any change or concerns about baby's movements go and get checked out immediately (but I'm sure you've been told that a lot already!) Best of luck!

My first 2 were Easy (late) water births with no pain relief. My 3rd was induced at 38 weeks for small baby and slow placenta
Induction was a little weird- you feel like you've been badly beaten up from the waist down but as soon as I was able I was walking up and down any stairs I could find in the hospital. After 6 hours I had a bleed ans baby was rushed out with ventouse- but it was still a pain relief free birth that I don't regret.. there was a true knot in the cord and baby was teeny tiny only 5lbs. Fwiw my 4th was fine - 39 weeks natural labour that was about 2 hours from first twinge to delivery.
Trust the medical profession - and your body - knows what it's doing and all will be fine
Xx

Read the room 😬

I had a super quick and uneventful induction at 38 weeks with my twins. I was nowhere near natural labour whatsoever. Pessary in at 6am, in labour by 12 and babies out by 4am.

Hi OP,

I was induced at 38+4 for gestational diabetes and decreased movements with my 1st baby

I’d had a very positive induction - DM for full details.

Words of advice : Try and stay as mobile as you can if you’re able to when having pessaries / gels - this will help cervix to dilate. Once you’re on the drip they will want to monitor you but can still bounce on the ball / walk in a small circle. Some places have wireless monitoring so you can ask for that.

once they break your waters you can ask them to give you an hour or so to see if you will naturally go into Labour especially as your body has done it successfully twice before

Some places will give you a gel / pessary and let you go home to see if you will go into Labour / allow dilation to happen - you may be more relaxed at home which might help things

contractions get intense pretty quickly so don’t be afraid to consider all pain relief offered - to oxytocin drip gets increased every 30 mins or so which results in quicker / more intense contractions than would happen if you were naturally going into Labour.

you can still do hypnobirthing whilst being induced - i did!

be aware that you can get to a place where you are ready to have your waters broken but you may have to wait for there to be space on the Labour ward - this was the only negative for me - I only had to wait 12 hours though and it meant I got some sleep so I wasn’t too mad about it.

you will be grand - sending positive vibes - message if you want further details - good luck

The cervix gradually shortens/thins so that’s what she was talking about.

There's always at least one who have to demonise inductions.

I've had two 37 week inductions for pre-eclampsia. Zero signs of labour both before and after the gel and ARM. Had to wait 5 days to go to delivery suite with my second, as it was abnormally busy at the time. But it usually isn't that bad. I wasn't even technically ready (only 1cm dilated) with my first before I was sent down for comparison.

Once on the drip contractions ramped up slowly until active labour. Some time and pain relief later, my first was born vaginally, while my second was a C-section. I cannot stress enough that it was not the fault of the induction. Just sheer bad luck with his positioning so that he got stuck. Would 10/10 choose induction every time if needed.

Cervixes are around 3-4cm long when pregnant. It then thins right the way down to the thickness of a piece of paper. So it having shortened to 2cm and softening means things are already starting to move in the right direction.

Best of luck with your induction OP.

Not always. I did it on gas an air. I would like to be induced again should I have another baby as I was happy with how it went - and we had to have interventions and I had a PPH. But I was still happy with the induction process.

First birth came on after sweep. Super long and hard.

Second birth waters broke and no contraction after 24hrs. I was induced at 7am and baby was born before 12. Did it with gas and air. Would take 2nd one hands down every time! Also baby was 10 days early. Wishing you all the best 😊

Insist if you need the drip that you get an epidural first. It also helps lower your BP so will look after you as well.

You never can tell I don't think. I was induced with dc3 (dc 1 born on due date after a very long labour, dc2 born at 41 weeks after a sweep about 6 hours before he was born) because of anhydramnios (apparently that means that the placenta has stopped working). Bishop's score unfavorable, so they decided to induce with Propess.

Latent contractions started about 4.5 hours after propess inserted. In early labour (1cm) after 12 hours. Baby born 18 hours after propess inserted. All much easier than expected.

Good luck, I hope it all goes well

I imagine she meant your cervix is stretching and effacing/shortening and that's what the two centimetres left refers to. Essentially she is saying it's shortening well showing progress towards a spontaneous labour or at least a successful induction. Sounds like an induction will work out for you. Good luck!

I know many people will think this is a myth and it may well be, but I heard about all the stuff that helps you when in labour - raspberry leaf tea, dates etc. Ordered the tea but didn't get a chance to drink it because I went into labour 3 days after ordering... however I ate 7 dates for 3 days in a row and day 4 I was in labour at 38 weeks and it all went very well. Might be silly of me to think but I reckon the dates helped me along

Im so grateful for all of your replies its really helped calm me!
My eldest (6) is autistic and im so worried about how long i will have to be away from her/how much she will struggle/how anyone will struggle to look after her - i dont imagine this helps my body relax x

You need to relax. Being tense and worried won't help.
Are you able to go for a massage of some description?

I swear it was a back massage that put me into labour with my first.
It was spur of the moment I walked in and asked could they do me a back massage, they were yes we can fit you in but can you lie on your front (I hadn't thought about that issue). I lay on my side and they gave me a gentle massage. Bliss!

Hi OP - I'd also ask your consultant or midwife how they expect your baby will tolerate an induction vs a c-section. Hopefully no concerns there but I think it's worth being direct.

I had high blood pressure (which developed into preeclampsia right at the end) and placenta issues. I started off with a balloon induction, which is thought to be more gentle, but then lost a lot of blood and switched to an emergency c-section.

Afterwards various consultants who checked on us said it was a good thing we switched as DD was so small she likely wouldn't have done well in a vaginal birth. I was a little bemused as they knew how small she was beforehand but none of them had presented a vaginal birth as particularly risky.

You may not have that issue but I would still ask the question directly to make sure. All the best for the rest of your pregnancy and birth! 💐

I was induced with my 3rd a few weeks ago and it was intense once my waters went (spontaneously- I only needed the pessary in the end) and she arrived quickly. I was told the intensity is normal but on the positive side it all happened very fast so it was over quickly. As your previous births were fast without intervention, you’ll probably find the same thing, especially if your births were more recent as you’ll body will remember better what to do. I had a gap of over 10 years between 2nd and third births and I was warned the induction might be a long process as if it was my first baby as my cervix had gone back to pre birth position or something. Sweeps did not work for me.

@fungibletoken thank you for this i will deffinitley mention this tommorrow! They actually have said baby is small but they said this with my last two and they were a totally normal weight (but then they were overdue)
i feel like they are wrong as he is sooo strong ive never had movements like this in my other pregnancy's x

@LittleBitAlexisLaLaLaLaLa do you mind me asking how many wks you were?

mine have both come very quickly after waters
1st - 4 hrs total - 2 hrs after waters
2nd- didnt even think i was in labour went in as i had a small bleed - labour 1hr 30 - arrived minutes after waters went
But i was overdue with both x

Good luck @Sleepdeprivedmamma!

My midwife and consultant told me constantly that my baby would be born within two hours and he was not 😅 But the experience was okay; and its supposed to be a lot, lot faster and smoother if you’ve given birth before.

I hope baby is with you soon!

If you've had two vaginal births after spontaneous labours already, odds are very high that you'll have a successful induction. Good luck.

I was in a similar position with placenta and they wanted to induce at 38 weeks. I refused the induction and opted for a c section instead. Mostly due to knowing the threshold for going to emergency cs was lower and the higher risk of needing an assisted birth with induction were things I felt strongly about. If I could have gone naturally to full term I woke have but that wasn't an option so c section worked best for me. The added bonus for my eldest was knowing exactly when is be going in to plan.

My first induction took ages - got labour going but was slow and long (2 days). Second induction the pessary seems to have got my cervix ready as midwife gave me a sweep and less than 6 hours later (after much bouncing on a birthing ball) dd2 was here.

eta both were at 41 weeks and due to reduced movements