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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

diy, internal exams- any midwives to advise about?

22 replies

littleducks · 04/03/2008 13:36

After reading the labour support threads on here, there is often the suggestion to have a feel for yourself as to how far along you are dilated.

What should it feel like?

Atm if i have a rummage (should i have name changed?) i can clearly feel the lump of the babies head through a fleshy wall (uterine?) but my cervix appears to be miles away out of reach up and behind the lump. It is soft but cant really tell much else as fingers arent long enough.

When i go into proper labour will it drop down?

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VictorianSqualor · 04/03/2008 13:48

Wow, You do realse this thread is going to have hundreds of women sticking their hands up their fanjos don't you?
I have no idea tbh.

Original poster

littleducks · 04/03/2008 13:50

Hey, i only got the idea after several threads on here! I can hardly ask my midwife can i?

OP posts:

VictorianSqualor · 04/03/2008 13:53

I'm sure someone will know, but the fact that you can actually still reach amazes me

Lulumama · 04/03/2008 13:55

not a midwife but i will comment !!

your cervix is posterior and behind the baby's head.... as you approach the end of the pregnancy it will come forward and be easier to reach...

an unripe cervix feels like the tip of your nose, a ripe one like a pursed mouth. sheila kitzinger wrote some good stuff about self exmainatin if i recall, you might even be able to feel the mucus plug

make sure your hands are clean and your nails are short

reikizen · 04/03/2008 13:55

Good luck trying! I'm a second year student midwife and I am still struggling to understand what I am feeling on vaginal examinations so I'd love to hear stories of how women manage to examine themselves themselves successfully.
You may not be able to feel any dilatation, the cervix might be too far back (posterior) and closed. If you are dilating you should be able to insert two fingers into the os. Part them to see how far you can stretch them. BUT for goodness sake be careful you don't rupture your membranes especially if the head is high (risk of cord prolapse and by god you don't want that to happen with your own hand up your flue) and there is also a risk of infection if your membranes have ruptured so wash those hands well! Keep us informed. I'm facinated!

Lulumama · 04/03/2008 13:57

re feeling dilation, you can go by fingertips for a while, but it can be really hard to assess yourself.. if you are wanting less or no internals, then there are other ways for the MW to assess how far along you are....

VictorianSqualor · 04/03/2008 13:57

Someone here says how to as well.

maxbear · 04/03/2008 13:58

lol I tried to do a self sweep the day before my midwife did one, could only just feel cervix and decided it was really unfavorable. Next day mw did it easily and said I was 3cm dilated. Checked myself again during labour, was much easier to feel once cx a bit open and further forwards. What you are feeling sounds normal for late pregnancy, but don't do it if your waters have gone.

reikizen · 04/03/2008 14:01

Sorry, a bit more. It doesn't drop down, but thins out and is taken up into the lower uterine segment, so becomes continous with it. In a first time mum it does this before it starts dilating (in the latent phase, as a result of braxton hicks etc). This may take days, hours or less everyone is different.
The soft bit you can feel probably won't be your cervix, I would have thought more like your vaginal wall. It can be very hard to reach a posterior cervix even from the angle a midwife is at (if you see what I mean). When are you due? Do you think you are in labour now?

Original poster

littleducks · 04/03/2008 14:47

OH, IM LOVING THIS!!!!

i ask and lulu informs me to make sure i have washed my hands, then the student midwife says i should keep them informed, i sense there will be much giggling by the end of it.

No im not in labour, oh i wish i was though. Am 37 weeks gone with no 2 and getting fed up as baby head is very low and i feel like i walking round with a watermelon between my legs! Bump is low and midwife said I was 3/5 in or out at appointement last week.

I didnt have any exams really last time but had a long latent stage of four days. I just thought if i could exam myself it would help to feel things are progressing, so this is my starting point.

I just couldnt get why and how the babies head would be in front of the cervix, as it feels like the baby would have to go up and round a bend to get out atm!

I can barely feel cervix but i think it isnt dilating at all just softening as its end of pregnancy.

Thanks for all comments.

OP posts:

cheerfulvicky · 04/03/2008 14:48

I'm not a midwife and I'm 16 weeks along, but this seemed a good place as any to mention this
I was having a feel about in there today and to my shock and delight I could feel the uterus pressing down very firmly when I was upright, through what must be the uterine wall. It was pretty exciting, and felt bloody huge!
I never thought about self checking for dilation, so this thread is interesting! I'll try and remember it..

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 04/03/2008 15:02

I'm a m/w and as a m/w it can sometimes be hard to find a woman's cervix when she isn't in established labour as they can be so posterior and often to one side. I can't imagine that anyone would be able to find their own. Maybe I ought to see if I can find mine........

VictorianSqualor · 04/03/2008 15:08

I tried, I can't reach mine.
The whole bloody thing down there seems to have turned into a chasm that swallows my fingers.
Plus I can't really get my hands over my bump.

spugs · 04/03/2008 17:27

i could find mine easily when i was ttc, might have a 'rummage' (so gross) and see what i can find later

spugs · 04/03/2008 19:41

think i found it, its round to one side of babies head (how wierd is it that you can feel that) right at the top. couldnt tell if its dilated though. loads softer then usual and a bit higher.

Original poster

littleducks · 04/03/2008 20:39

haha, im not the only one, thanks spugs! isnt it strange that cervix feels higher up when pregnant.
are you due any time soon spugs? then i can watch your labour thread to see if diy exams work at all for help.

OP posts:

spugs · 04/03/2008 21:17

im due on the 24th so still a little while to go yet. both my dds were born the day after their edds so im thinking this one will prob be the same. we shall have to wait and see i suppose. baby is 2/5 s engaged though it feels like it may have gone in futher. had lots of bhs with dd2 and a couple of false starts but nothing till actual labour with dd1 which i prefered.

BigBadMouse · 04/03/2008 21:26

Is anyone else crossing their legs while reading this? Bit concerned as everyone who has posted seems mor than happy to investigate

turtle23 · 05/03/2008 07:56

I thought I was the only one whose curiosity had got the better of them. Is an Olympic feat to reach mine, but it is definitely no longer long and is soft. Probably means nothing (37+3 today.)

sherby · 05/03/2008 08:06

I used to regularly feel mine from 30wks onwards.

At first it was hard and closed but as I got nearer to 40 weeks it went squishy and then opened up. At the end when I was 41+ I could easily feel the opening of the cervix and actually feel the babies head with my finger.

When the midwife came to do my first sweep as I was overdue and wanted a homebirth I was already 4cm dilated and hadn't had any contractions.

sherby · 05/03/2008 08:07

If you do do it please make sure your hands are V clean

maxbear · 05/03/2008 13:03

I would not think it was a good idea to do it until you are close to your due date, it might cause an unexplained bleed which although it would not harm you or the baby would cause untold stress and worry.

I had an unprovoked bleed at 33 weeks in my first pregnancy and ended up staying in hospital overnight which was horrid. I had several post sex bleeds after that though so there was no fiddling about for me until my due date was upon me.

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