V painful attempt at sweep - worrier for induction on Friday

[Tulip292]

Hi

I’m currently 38+5 and booked in for an induction on Friday due to many episodes of reduced movements over the last few weeks (will be 39+1).

I saw my midwife this morning and she offered me a sweep to see how things were looking prior to induction on Friday (she was very clear in that I had a choice for this) - I have had a history of awful smears and VEs previously but decided to give it a go today.

Well..it was incredibly painful and the midwife didn’t even get to my cervix so I have no idea if it’s even started to soften yet. I do have quite severe PGP too so I struggled with the position required.

Anyway, I’ve come away feeling very tearful and anxious about the induction. I can’t see how I’m going to get past the first VE hurdle before they even start the induction.
Does anyone have any similar experiences at all?
Thanks!x

As an inpatient you can use entonox for analgesia during VEs. Dont be afraid to ask for it. Controlling your breathing really helps too and having your supportive person of choice there. I've cared for lots of women with PGP (I'm a midwife), vaginismus and trauma which made examination very difficult for them but going slowly and setting up position helps. Discuss your worries with the midwives, it's their job to advocate for you! I have once cared for someone who couldn't tolerate VE at all due to severe vaginismus who needed an epidural but that's one amongst hundreds. You have the right to ask for LSCS too but of course that Carrie's its own risks. Good luck OP.

Excuse the typo! Auto correct!

Thank you so much for your reply Fispi.
That has made me feel better and not as silly as I was feeling previously! I did wonder about LSCS too but wasn’t sure if I could ask for that and if I would have to wait a lot longer for that to happen.
I have a lot of anxieties around getting baby here safely as this is a pregnancy after two losses and the reduced movements really haven’t helped with this!! (Baby is always fine, I just think he’s lazy!)

I had an induction a couple of years ago and found all the internal examinations/pessaries very painful. They let me have gas and air when they broke my waters and I later found out I could have requested it (had I known) for the other examinations. Definitely tell them you want pain relief of some kind. There shouldn't be any reason why you need to suffer. Good luck.

Hi there,
I had 3 sweeps to which my midwife told me there just like a smear test 😳 no they are not! Jesus they’re pretty rough.
Induction wasn’t as bad. Even when they managed to break my waters - didn’t feel a thing!

I get how you’re feeling, sorry you had a bad experience. I actually had to ask the doctor to stop mid way through a sweep as it was so painful! I’d been in early labour for days so was expecting a sweep to be the thing that really kicked it off - I really beat myself up at the time for not just gritting my teeth and going through with it. Induced a few days later and that went swimmingly, and a decent birth made me feel a lot better about it. Hope your induction goes well.