Stitch in my cervix

[MrsSET]

Hi there - looking for some advice from anyone who has been in the same situation.

I went to see an obstetrician at UCH today as I had some treatment for pre-cancerous cervical cancer cells a few years ago, which basically involves burning out the effected area of your cervix.

As it can leave your cervix weaker, they want to put a stitch in mine when I am 24 weeks.

Has anyone had one? What was it like? I've been told I'll have an epidural for it and stay on labour ward. Would this be a day procedure or do you stay in overnight?

Any tips, advice or info you can share would be greatly appreciated!

MrsSET, just an update if it helps. I've just seen the consultant today at 23 weeks who did another measurement. As the cervix was still at 4cm (or 3.8cm at the most conservative estimate, as there's always a bit of margin for error) he said he was no longer concerned about the risk of incompetence and I don't need to go back to see him unless there's any other issue (which I sincerely hope not!).

He talked me through the risks of the stitch, which he described as much greater than leaving things alone in my case, and that it wasn't indicated anyway. He said he'd only consider a stitch if the cervix was 1.5cm or less (TBH I thought the limit was 2.5cm!) or if there was any previous relevant history. Interestingly, he said some hospitals no longer consider treatment for abnormal cervical cells a reason to monitor cervical length, and that it was the most cautious (UCH and mine obviously being two) that still do it routinely. I took that as a good indication the thinking is the general risk of problems after that surgery is quite small (or at least no more than the general population that hasn't had the surgery).

So, it's back to the community midwife track for me! I am a mixture of relieved and apprehensive as quite a big deal was made of monitoring when I had the cone biopsy done, but I guess I have been monitored and thankfully they consider me low risk for preterm birth.

Hope all becomes clearer for you at your next appointment too.

And all the best to all the ladies on the thread!

Hi All

Sorry to hijack -not a topic I've seen on here before and interested (and saddened in many cases) to hear your experiences.

Can I just ask a question to those of you who have had a stitch/been told you don't need one - is the cervix routinely measured during scans? I ask because I had abnormal cells removed just under a year ago (Dec '10) and did ask my GP afterwards if there were likely to be any implications for another pregnancy. He said not and I'm now 24 weeks with DC3. There's been no mention whatsoever of any sort of weakness - but I'm just concerned that it's not something anyone's thought to look for - it being my 3rd pregnancy, I've only seen the midwife twice (and she's now on maternity leave....) and am not due another visit til 28 weeks. Pretty sure I mentioned it at booking in though but just wondered if sonographer would/should have been aware of it.

Any thoughts welcome!

it should have been flagged but if my experience is any thing to go on they wont over egg it unless there is reason. they wouldnt do it this late any way. the likely hood of it causing issues now is low you maybe a couple of weeks early but i wouldnt worry if you have had no probs so far.

Hi Lacking, it seems to depend on the policy of your hospital and the nature/extent of the procedure you had. My recollection is that laser treatment has less implication for incompetence than cone biopsy (where they cut out a bit of the cervix) but it seems to also depend on the size of the area that was treated - can you remember what technique they used?

As I mentioned above, my hospital has a 'conservative' policy on monitoring after removal of abnormal cells, so after the op the oncologist told me I needed to have my cervix measured when I got pregnant - but he also stressed that the increased risk was REALLY small. The consultant I saw yesterday said that most hospitals are no longer concerned about it. Everyone I've seen has been pretty relaxed and if I hadn't been quite assertive from the start I'm not sure it would have been given much thought. They don't do cervical measurements on pregnant women in general unless there is some kind of history.

I'd be pretty confident all is fine, especially as you had discussed it with your GP at the time and the increased risk is so low anyway.

If you are worried I'd give your GP a call and ask for their advice, explaining that your midwife isn't around. There's a small chance she may have missed it at booking in, or the policy in your area may not see it as significant. The cervical measurement itself takes about 3 seconds using an internal scan, so it's also very quick to get done, but it has to be done by an experienced sonographer and ideally before 24 weeks AFAIK. They've now stopped measuring me at 23 weeks and aren't worried anymore.

HTH?

Thanks samwells and HotPink - very reassuring and helpful. I suspect it hasn't been checked out, purely because we fill in our own notes here prior to the booking in appointment so, whilst it was mentioned, I'm not sure it was particularly on MW's and therefore sonographer's radar. But am going to concentrate on the fact that GP did seem very relaxed about any increased and, more to the point, that they can't do anything now anyway! And, in fairness, all has been fine so far so I shall hope it carries on that way!

Thanks again!

am sorry for you ladies having to go through this pain.i too hav lot 3pregnacies1 at 20wks,2nd at 28wks 3rd at 20wks,nobody told me any thing till late,now av decided to go for a stitch the next round,i know this is the most difficult experience for anybody to go through,thanx for yr posts ladies they are really encouraging