advice needed, do I take the sweep?

[danio7]

Hi all, first time Mum here and due in two days.
I had my 'term' midwife appointment today and she offered to do a stretch and sweep, I was so 50/50 as I really dont want the baby to come if it's not ready, she assured me that if I am sitting on the fence it will just tip me off.

I experienced quite horrible cramps last night along with Braxton Hicks and had a really emotional day today for no reson . DH cannot do anything right, I have been a bit of a blubbery moody mess.

My Midwife has offered to come to my house on the due date to do a sweep for me but I have never been so torn over what to do. I understand that the baby is going to come within weeks anyways but have a hesitation which is quite ridiculous- how do I expext the unexpected? I have put off all of the labour anxiety for the past 9 months and now it has come back to bite me on the arse! ahh, sorry for ramble! WWYD?

p.s how effective is the sweep?!

personally i wouldn't take it. baby will come when s/he is ready

a due date is really only an estimate, and i never really understand midwives (and some parents) who start fretting over it and wanting sweeps and inductions the moment they hit that "ESTIMATED due date"

a sweep can be very effective, if you are ready to go into labour anyway. if you aren't, it probably won't do much and they may not be able to do much of one anyway.

I had one with my third when I was nearly a week over and it was really quite painful. If i;d know she was going to do it (she said she was just examining me!) i would have refused it.

Hi Danio, I also had my term mw app today, as I'm 40+2 now. I expected her to say "we'll book a sweep for you at the hospital for Thursday", but she actually said "you need to call the hospital when you're 7 days overdue". I asked if I could call earlier and she said you can try, but they may not do it. The reason is that apparently a sweep can cause unnecessary early contractions which can make you really tired.

I'm also now really torn, as I'm getting pretty desperate to have the baby. It's like you say - the unknown. I have no idea whether the baby will come naturally if I do nothing - I'd obvs rather leave things alone if that's the case. However, I don't want to make my induction date either! It is hard. Sorry if this hasn't been much help as I'm not sure what to do either!

thanks yesterday- this is what my Mum has been saying to me and I always 100% of the time take her advice, thats why I am so confused because a big part pof me is sayin 'do it'

ruby oh no, is it your first? I was under the impression that when it is your first they offer you a sweep at term and with subsequent babies they offer it at 41 weeks.

I am so desperate now but scared of the labour, what if I dont have the sweep and it goes on for another two weeks!! jeez so confused!

A normal pregnancy is 37-42 weeks. It's best not to think in terms of 40+ weeks being overdue.

Your baby is safely tucked up inside you. You're just nervous. Have a lovely bath, drink something, have some nice food and be reassured, it's normal to feel wobbly at the end. You'll be just fine. Promise.

hi

I had two sweeps with my daughter and it really wasn't too bad- it certainly wasn't pleasurable but not so bad that I was still in pain when it was done. I had one on my actual due date and had a show that night, and then two days later, and went into labour later that day. It is obviously hard to know if the sweep brought things on, but I don't think it did any harm either.

I had two sweeps with DS and didn't find them in the slightest bit painful. They didn't make any difference to me and I went into labour naturally at 40+10, but I won't hesitate to have one with DC2 in November. I think they will only really work if you're almost there anyway. With the first, the midwife said my cervix wasn't at all ripe and she didn't think it would make a difference, but we had a go anyway, I didn't see the harm.

okay ladies!! I have decided to do it!!

If it comes it comes and will be past it's DD anyways (I guess!) and if it doesnt come then it's not a big issue. Thanks so much for all of your help :)

Can I add that I wish I had listened to all the advice on here over a year ago which told me not to bother with multiple sweeps and that 40 weeks+ isn't necessarily overdue? I had three sweeps (they weren't that painful apart from the third, I just found them intrusive really), had cramps and bleeding afterwards and my baby was still induced at 42 weeks. She was quite healthy and on the small side and it took over 48 hours after I was admitted for induction and a lot of drugs for her to be born. She just wasn't ready. Sweeps aren't really an issue - whether you have them or otherwise - but don't feel that you have to panic because you are a bit "overdue". In countries other than the UK, sweeps are unheard of. Next time round, no sweeps and hopefully no induction (if I can avoid it) for me.