sweeps & examinations

[roundabout1]

I had a sweep last time as was overdue & found it really painful. The whole experience made me dread the actual birth itself, I ended up going overdue & went to be induced, cue lots of examinations, inserting pessaries, checking dilation etc. I remember this 4 yrs on as much as the actual labour pain. Now overdue again, have been offered a sweep on tues by my comm mw. Now I would be a lot happier her doing it than going into hospital as last time, as I know her & will probably be more relaxed but still am dreading it already. Just wondering if it was a common experience finding the exams so painful as anyone else I have spoke to has just described them as uncomfortable.

Mine was hideous,really really distressing.In the end DH had to ask the midwife to stop as I was crying and I felt very shocked afterwards.I didn't know it was going to happen,and I felt assaulted.My body wasn't ready for labour ,and I ended up with a c-section.I even cried trying to tell a consultant about it when I was pregnant with DD2. I wouldn't have one ,if your body isn't ready it will be horrible,and if it is ready then you'll go into labour soon anyway.There is a school of thought that any intevention can disturb the complex hormonal chain of events and disrupt the birth process in a negative way.Even accupuncture falls into this bracket,although if you are very overdue then that would be the action I would consider.Trust that your body will do what it needs to in its own time.

I had the same experience HellyMelly. Was talked into a sweep at 2 days overdue and 4 days overdue by a well meaning friend and as a first timer I was desperate to meet my baby so agreed- it was fine the first time but the second was horrendous and left me feeling faint and sick, in loads of pain and bleeding.

I ended up having an emcs for failure to progress as baby in completely wrong position and I lost 2 litres of blood when placenta abrupted - I am convinced my body /baby were just NOT ready.

This time I'm considering VBAC/ELCS in a couple of weeks. If I VBAC will refuse all intervention to 'speed up' labour e.g. sweeps and waters being broken (which I also had and found total agony and an hour later was bleeding all over the place.

I think nature should take it's course as much as poss and if baby/mum not in distress why force it???

How can they be so sure about a due date anyway?????

Take heart. I was induced with ym first and endured lots of painful examinations. And being induced was just shocking to me, the pain of the pessaried being put in was awful. I have been told I have a very high cervix so maybe this is why? With my second, I had a sweep which was uncomfortable, I am always shocked at just how much rummaging goes on but went on to have a very easy, 3 hour labour with not a single internal. I had a very very good midwife who could tell how I was progressing just by observing me. I didn't even need the go ahead to push, there was no way I was goign to wait for anyone to say it was OK
I found second time round that they were very understanding about not wanting internals and tbh, any midwife worth their salt will try and keep them to a minimum

Good luck with your vbac honeymoonmum.I tried for a vbac with DD2 and although I ended up with a second c-section it was all so much better and easier to handle than the first time,I was really glad I'd tried as I didn't go into labout the first time (failed induction,pre-eclampsia)and so the second time I went into labour naturally,my body was ready,the baby was ready and although sadly it didn't progress and there were concerns about my scar,hence the section,it was great! the C-section was calm and I'd been through it before so I knew what to expect,I'd been well prepped by the birth centre that if i got shipped over to the labour ward for any reason that was a sign that all wasn't progressing well and I should ask for/or would be given another caesarian,so when that happened it wasn't a shock,I had more support as I'd had a horrible time the first time,and it really did heal the wounds of the first birth for me,even though it wasn't my ideal natural delivery.

Thanks for your replies, you have made me feel better. I was beginning to think it was just me & I was a freak of nature of something. I did explain to my mw that I found my last sweep painful & felt violated afterwards & she has left it completely up to me whether I have one done. At the moment veering towards a no, as you say hellymelly - if I'm ready labour will soon follow anyway sweep or no sweep & if I'm not ready it won't do any good.
booksgalore - I wasn't told if there was a reason why I found them so painful last time, for my sweep I had a very unsympathetic mw who seemed to find my discomfort amusing & joked that I would def need lots of pain relief for the birth if I was that bad for a sweep. That really didn't help & from that point on I was absolutely dreading the birth.

Weirdly my sweep (done at 41 wks) wasn't painful at all (I was told that "conditions were very favourable" and went into labour that evening!) but the 2 internals I had during labour were awful!

They made me have gas and air for the second one (50 hrs of drug free labour up to that point, [proud emoticon]) because I complained so much about the first one!

You'd think that the pain of contractions would make the internal seem less painful by comparison, and why did it hurt so much when the sweep didn't??? A mystery...

Anyway, in conclusion, your sweep might be perfectly fine. It sounds as though you are comfortable with your midwife and I suspect that will help considerably.

Best of luck with the sweep, I hope it works and you don't have to be induced, and wishing you a safe birth

PS paracetamol half an hour before your MW appt

Yes,good luck with your birth,keep us posted! x

Well after spending last night with bad back ache thinking something was happening only for it to completely disappear I decided to go for the sweep. My mw was so gentle & understanding but unfortunately couldn't manage to carry out the sweep. Was gutted, she did say even the internal may start things off but I'm not convinced. So hoping I manage to avoid an induction as I know that just means more internals.

roundabout1, see if you can have another sweep in about three days, things might have changed by the and the midwife might be able to reach your cervix to perform the sweep.

Ella-bella