Anyone had a cervical stitch?

[LucyLucyLonglegs]

Just trying to find someone else who has had a cervical stitch due to previous m/c. Had one put in 4 weeks ago as it looked like this pg was going belly up, thankfully they caught it in time. Lost last baby at 17weeks pg due to early opening of cervix.

Just want to see, once they take the stitch out, how long before labour begins?
Been told stitch will come out 4 weeks before due date and to stay near hosp. Is this correct????

Thanks Jenty - i am so afraid of going into labour without realising it i am glad my waters may break en ough to notice (when i lost my last baby i slept through most of it and only knew i was in labour once i was 6cm dialated, my waters never broke and there was no bleeding untill the very end).

Kez

Certainly. I was in a randomised controlled trial where 500 women with cervical length of less than 25mm at 22-24 weeks were given either progesterone pessaries or a placebo. The women who received progesterone were 60% less likely to deliver before 34 weeks. Since the study was completed, it seems (based on the ladies I know through the BLISS board) that it's become much more common to have progesterone. The docs I've seen since dd was born have said that this kind of result is a very strong one in this field so I would definitely ask about it. The study was published last year and I can email you a copy if you want to let me have your email address. If you register on the BLISS board you can contact me through my profile there: Liza and I can private message you if you prefer.

I did get progesterone but will never know if it did prolong my pregnancy. However I had no cervical length at 25 weeks, and hung on to 27+5 like that. If it bought us even a few days then that will have made a huge difference to dd.

Re cervical stitches, my understanding is that the research gives conflicting results on whether they improve outcomes. They seem to have most benefit when done on women with a previous history of late miscarriage and premature birth due to short cervix.

I think normal range for cervical length is anything over 25mm at 22-24 weeks and 35-70mm outside pregnancy.

Do consider your options re where you get seen. Although a small unit is probably best if you have a straightforward pregnancy (and I really hope you do), do consider going elsewhere if you have the choice. In general, if all is going well you'll be discharged by the consultants at 28-30 weeks anyway.

Take care

(Sorry if this is all rather long-winded)

Hi Lizzy, thanks so much. I will look you up through BLISS. I have of course read up on all of this stuff, it is just really good to have some personal experiences. I am unable to go to a different unit but I do know that ours is ranked as one of the "best performing" services in the country so I don't have too many worries on that front. They have also told me that stitch, progesterone and fetal fibronectin testing will all be available to me if needed, so I know the options are open to me, I'm just trying to get all the information from people who've been there really. I want to be as informed as possible going into this :-)

Happy to help, look forward to "seeing" you there. Sounds like you have been offered a good range of options, however do be aware (whatever anyone tells you) that patient choice means that you can choose where to go. My experience so far has been that if you have a clinical reason to want to be seen out of area, then the docs will facilitate that. I do realise though that if you are in a rural area distance plays a part.

I feel I should share my experience of having cervical sutures.

Pregancy 1 - all going well until I went into labour at 20 weeks. No signs of infection. Dr's thought an incompetant cervix could have been the cause.

pregnancy 2 - Stitch at 12 weeks, only a small amount of blood on wiping. Stitch removed at 37 weeks, DD1 born one week later.

pregnacy 3 - Stitch at 14 weeks, also a small amount of blood on wiping. Stitch removed at 38 weeks, DD2 born two weeks later.

pregnancy 4 - Stitch at 15 weeks, didn't feel right afterwards. First and second time I stood I was gushing blood. Baby still had a heartbeat. Four days later #i miscarried. A PM showed baby didn't have any signs of infection and I was probably one of the unlucky ones as it can go wrong.

pregnancy 5 - Decided not to have the stitch (got pregnant one period after mc). Had scan every two weeksuntil about 30 weeks. DS born at 38 weeks - he was 9lbs 9oz and I also had polyhydraminous (excess amnitoc fluid) and my body managed to carry the baby without any help!

I wouldn't have a stitch if I ever had another but don't regret having one for my dd's as it was the right thing to do at the time.

Good luck

Thanks gf3, think it confirms what I feel about having a stitch, ie that there are no guarantees. Burst into tears at my first AN appt this morning when the lovely midwife asked if I wanted to book for a tour of the birth centre......emotions along the lines of chance would be a fine thing.

Hello. I've had two cervical stiches. Or at least one cervical stitch on two separate occasions. I had a c-section both times at 39 weeks and they removed the stitch at the same time as performing the c-section.

I lost a baby boy (my third child) at 22w 5d due to what is thought now to be an incompetent cervix. Subsequent pregnancy I was monitored for cervical shortening and sure enough at about 15 weeks gestation I was advised to have a stitch due to shortening and funnelling. The following pregnancy I opted to have the stitch without waiting for the cervix to begin to shorten. I suspect my cervix was damaged during a mid cavity forceps delivery (after ventouse failed) of my DS2 - he was a big baby 9lb 9oz and stuck. DS1 was also 9lb 9oz and he was born by emergency c-section after a long long labour. My body is useless at childbirth, clearly.

Both times I had the stitch I had no bleeding whatsoever. But I did have a huge amount of vaginal discharge which is always a bit disconcerting. Sorry if that has put you off your lunch!

Thanks Swedes regarding your angel son, I don't know how you found the courage to try again. Good to know about the discharge iyswim.

Lizzyt how did the progesterone make you feel? apparently this is the hormone that causes the morning sickness/nausea I'm dreading it as I can't even take the pill without becoming evil.

I was offered a local consultant at our small hospital I asked what her experience in pre-term labour was then I was offered a consultant 30 miles away at coventry and warwickshire, I went with him and the travelling is a pain but he performs the stitches oversees the trials on them and progesterone and seemed like the better option.

Another factor they should go through in alot of detail is the medical notes on previous labour, was it painless,PROM, spontanious labour? the only sign of pre-term labour I had was a bit of pink discharge, I'm soo glad I took my sisters advice and went in to get checked out they found i was leaking amniotic fluid.

No side effects at all apart from permanently gunky knickers due to the pessaries (REALLY sorry if TMI ). The only side effect I recall being told about was possibility of an upset tum. Think I was so scared I forgot to be evil. The only reason they picked anything up was due to the trial they were doing, which meant that they did a cervical length measurement on everybody who consented. Otherwise I had very ambiguous signs before having a show 36 hours before she was born.

Plus would agree with your choice re treatment. This time will be seen at St Thomas' fetal medicine unit rather than our local hospital - which I stress treated us well last time but no way would I consider going to a hosp without a level 3 baby unit.

Hi Everyone! I am 27 weeks, had two cervical stitch. First one was done at 20 weeks but two weeks later I had a vaginal scan and they found the membranes were still buldging. Second stich was done at 22 weeks and I had to stay in the hospital for almost two weeks. It was so painful the second time. I was on all sorts of different antibiotic to prevent any infection. So far so good but I am just afraid as anything could happen. Although I have some off white colour discharge but have no smell. I told my doctor and he said its ok as my cervix is open and its normal. I have some discomfort down below and it's hard for me to stand up for too long even to sit for too long. I guess I'm just waiting for mother nature to take its own course

Hi Ozymum and good to hear from you. It sounds like you have had a really scary time but you are definitely heading in the right direction. Can recommend the BlISS messageboard at blissmessageboard.org.uk if you need more company!

Keep posting

Hi everyone, so sorry for those of you who have had losses (((hugs))) and difficult pregnancies. I lost my beautiful DD at 20 weeks last year and in this current pregnancy had a stitch at 21 weeks as I had funneling on the cervical scan. I am now 34 weeks and scared. I am prob having a section as I have had more than one section already but they are saying full term and I am scared of going into labour early.

JB, well done for getting to 34 weeks, can understand you are feeling very anxious. Do remember that although there are no guarantees (and this is what the docs stress) most babies born at 34 weeks plus do very well and are home quickly. I too was concerned about whether labouring with a stitch would cause problems but have been told this is not normally the case.

Thanks LT that is reassuring x

hello all, progress update, 23 wks today, started my progesterone suppositories last week, oh the fun!can't wait till I'm 30 wks after that I'll breath a sigh of relief! I think I'm thinking 30 wks in particular because my daughter was in neonatal 4 10 wks and all the babies born after 30wks seemed to be out in a couple of wks (assuming no other complications and just needing to gain weight)I'm trying to put alot of the anxiety down to past experience my sister had 3 problem free pregnancies but was so anxious throughout them all so I believe just being pregnant and hormones can contribute alot, I spent an hr in the shower crying yesterday, today I feel really happy??!! to JB so sorry for your loss, 34wks well done you should be very proud!!! Sit back, relax...

hello all
I wentfor a routine scan at 23 weeks and they found I was two cm dilated and the babys foot was pushing out. I had a stitch put in later the same day with a spinal block. I felt a little tender after but nothing major and stayed in hospital for around four nights. I was monitored afterwards and worked from home. I had the stitch removed at 37 weeks and was told I would probably go into labour straight away. In fact even though I started walking again everywhere and being much more active I was a day overdue. My baby was healthy and fine. I am now eight weeks pregnant again so fingers crossed it all goes well again. For those of you who have lost babies my heart goes out to you. Hopefully mine is a cheering tale- they told me there was a five percent chance the stitch would work at the time and all was ok. I'm just hoping to have such luck again.

Hi fudge, glad to hear your story. Are they going to put a stitch in this pg or is it wait and see?

Is there anyone out there who has had a cervical stitch put in, and then actually felt it for the rest of their pregnancy? Am told it's unusual, so grateful for any responses on this.

Hi boo, I am currently 22+4 and am sure I could feel the stitch after it was put in but only occasionally now. I suspect it depends on a few things like the type of stitch and where exactly it's placed. There's a bunch of us posting on the pregnancy board here if you want to meet some others in the same boat.

Thanks lizzytee, just what I was after.

hello, is anyone still out there? I went for the second scan yesterday, 21+0, and they found my cervix has shortened. I've had a LLETZ surgery so its not exactly suprising, but I'm pretty nervous.

At 12 weeks my cervix was 3cm, but yesterday it was down to 2.2cm. They have given me progesterone pessaries, and reading the above I'm pretty pleased to have them rather than anything more invasive. I'm getting scanned again in 2 weeks to see how it is going.

Does anyone have information on survival rates and likely complications for births at different weeks of gestation? The thing I worry most about is going into labour before around 32 weeks, it feels like a long time away today.

Hi Michaela

Can I recommend the pregnancy forumon this board. There are a number of people who have had extremely or very pre term babies, or cervical issues in pregnancy currently posting. The main site also has good quality up to date information about prematurity.

I was diagnosed with a short (12mm) cervix at 23+5 in my first pregnancy and treated with progesterone prior to dd's arrival. If you are trying to inform yourself, do avoid general pregnancy books and sites as they are often out of date or downright inaccurate when it comes to this kind of issue.

Feel free to send me a private message via my BLISS profile if you like - Liza