Sweep process

[Sjjr23]

Someone talk me through what (honestly) happens please
Expected on Tuesday at 39 weeks
First born resulted in a long long long labour and 3rd degree tear

Hi there! It's honestly not that bad at all. First you lie in a position like you're going to have a smear test. Then the midwife inserts a couple of fingers and feels for the cervix. If the cervix is open enough they will sweep their fingers around the cervix and possibly also around the baby's head. The first sweep I had wasn't completed as the cervix was tightly closed. Three days later I had what the doctor described as a good sweep. It went on for a few minutes and it was an odd sensation rather than painful. Towards the end of the sweep, when the doctor was really going for it, I felt fairly mild period type pain. A lot of people say a sweep is a bit like a smear. I'm not a big fan of smears and find them pretty uncomfortable. I can honestly say, the sweep wasn't as bad as a smear. Hope this helps X X

Good description above. It was mildly painful for me. Would have another if circumstances necessitated.

Was as above and it was 100% pain and discomfort free and took just seconds.

Thanks for this, I'm booked for one on Wednesday so this is really useful!

Thanks all, much appreciated

Update....
Not as bad as expected as pp said.....resulted in baby 20 hours later 😊

I’ve got one onTuesday and everyone says it is not bad just as you have said. Fingers crossed it is as effective as yours!