Does a previously torn cervix mean slow labour?..

[floppops]

I am umming and arring over my birth choices-am 11 weeks today with second DC. I haven't had a booking in appointment and am not sure when I will. Tbh I only self referred to the hospital this week.
Anyway I'm not sure whether I'll go private or not. Yet another worry has popped up in mind today that I was told I had a torn cervix( by a private gynaecologist) months after my first birth. I'm wondering if the scar tissue will cause labour to be slow or even not progress properly. I also am worried that the NHS wont take that worry seriously as they didn't pick up on the issue anyway.
First labour was 21 hours ending in ventouse and pph.
Would elective cesarean be a safer option? Would the NHS think so? Or would I have to go private?..
I will ask the midwives about all this when I see them but that might be weeks away so wondering if anyone had a similar experience?

When i gave birth to my first dc many years ago, i had a third degree tear. My cervix also tore literally in half & pph.

I had dc2 2years later. No problems at all. Im now on my 6th baby!! All natural births- last 2 were waterbirths.

Its really about how you feel & what your comfortable with. Im really scared, even now of a c/s so for me i needed to concentrate on giving birth with as little medical intervention as possible.

Good luck!

Not wanting to worry you, but if your cervix is torn, it's possible it has been weakened, so if you can I would strongly suggest getting a cervical length check at 16-18 weeks, or with your anomaly scan. Definitely be pro-active with the midwives over this as not every medical professional takes things seriously unless they're pushed over it. Not sure if it'll mean a consultant referral though.

I had a torn cervix when I was induced at 35+4. It was torn from ten days earlier, when I had PTL with a cerclage in place. My hindwaters went from the PTL, and as I was showing signs of infection they chose to induce. I could not get past 5cm despite being on the maximum drip setting all night, and apparently my cervix was like an oval. Examination proved it was the scar tissue preventing dilation and I ended up with a c-section shortly after.

So basically they were okay to leave me labouring for a while until it was obvious I could not progress, then there was no hurry for the c-section (although to be fair once off the drip it wasn't like anything was going to happen!)

I have heard of some midwives being capable of breaking up scar tissue and I've often wondered if I'd had the "right" midwife if that might have been possible in my situation, but by that point I'd been handed over to the doctors..

Thanks for the replies. Yes I think I should have the cervical check. I'm thinking of having a private nuchal scan as I don't think I'll be offered one in time so I may well get an anomaly scan with a cervical check as well although privately they recommend doing that at 20 weeks.
I will go through all this with the midwives but I anticipate it not being easy.
Crispy it sounds as though it would have been easier for you to have had a c section to begin with? Your experience is really what I worried might happen.

I think because I was already at 4cm when they started the induction (I'd been at 4cm since the PTL incident and the stitch removal) they thought baby would just fly out so it was worth a shot. They had no idea about the scar tissue until the induction failed to progress, then they checked closer.

For what it is worth, and I have no idea if this would be the same for everyone, but I was in practically no pain during the induction. I even slept. The midwife was confused, she said I should be yelling in pain yet I'm just sitting there updating Facebook. I think because I couldn't dilate, nothing hurt maybe? Who knows. With my first birth, a natural pre-term precipitous labour (so probably my cervix was already weak at that point) I was in excruciating agony the whole time so it's not like I'm some weird lady that has no pain in birth or anything!

If I'd waited for 20 weeks for my cervical length check, I would not have DD2.. my doctor told me when I had the scan at 18+3 that I had 3mm left, baby's feet were by the exit (she had to be pushed back with a balloon) and I was within 48 hours of delivery. I do have a ridiculously crap cervix but I do think 20 weeks is leaving it a bit late just in case. Perhaps have two checks - an earlier one at 17 weeks or so then another at your anomaly scan? I ended up paying for private checks as the NHS is not always on board with people who advocate for their babies

Thanks Crispy that's good advice. I'll try and get a cervical check done earlier. Do you know how early they can check cervical length? Could I get it done with my nuchal scan at 13 weeks? Will prob be having that privately.

They can check at 13 weeks, but it's often not that useful as baby is not heavy enough to put any pressure on. It's why they do preventative stitches around that time too - baby is out the first trimester risk period but it's still too little to cause problems! I think from about 15 weeks on it starts to potentially become more of an issue but I don't know for sure and I'd suggest you do some checking of your own. In my experience (anecdotally) most IC-related losses are after 16 weeks, usually 18 or more.

Having said that, I had a permanent trans-abdominal stitch (TAC) placed at 13 weeks last pregnancy and the consultant who did it said I had under 10mm left at 13 weeks. That's one trashed cervix and extremely unusual - even the consultant expressed genuine surprise. With my stitch in, it's usually around 25mm give or take a bit and rock solid by its nature (a piece of tape round the top of my cervix on the inside - needs a laparotomy to be placed). So it would do no harm to ask for a check at your NT scan especially if it's private as they are usually sooooo much more helpful!!

Good luck! Hopefully it will all be fine. In fact during my research I read that sometimes a scarred cervix will be stronger than a regular one as the scar tissue can be so rigid.. but I'd imagine that would make you a candidate for a worse labour if so!

It's all fun and games, isn't it?

a torn cervix? [faints] sorry, no help whatsoever.

Hehe - believe it or not I never even knew mine had torn as it didn't hurt at all! That's apparently quite common!

What DID hurt was the ERPC I had with my first ever pregnancy when they manually dilated me and I came round from that in absolute agony in that area, so much so that I was sure they'd broken something. I'm pretty sure that's the root cause of my IC and the other things that followed (traumatic birth, another ERPC, an HSG) just compounded things.