Cervical stitch-anyone had more than one

[Snips]

I just wondered whether anyone has had more than one cervical stitch, and if so, how close together you had your babies. I had a stitch during my pregnancy with my son last year. At the time my elder son was 3.5-4 years so he was able to do lots for himself and I was able to rest a fair amount. I just wondered if I decided to have another baby, would it be madness having a stitch pregnancy with a child under two. Would welcome any advice. I have an incompetent cervix by the way.

Thanks.

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Hi, i have had one cervical stitch used as an emergency which didn't work. drs are unsure what caused last preterm birth but i am pg again and it has been suggested, but because i have 2 fullterm children i have decided to go for cervical scanning and in the event of cervix dialating i will have a stitch.
im sure you will need alot of rest with a stitch pregnancy especially around 20 weeks where baby gets heavy enough to agitate yoru cervix. im sure its possible with a 2 year old, someone will know better than me anyway
will watch with interest

Thanks. How far along are you and how often will they be checking you?

i am 18 weeks and should be getting my 1st nhs cervical scan this week- i went privatly a few weeks ago as there was some mix up into whether i was going to get cervical scans or not. the private scan said my cervix was 36mm so i left with a huge smile.
my consultant is recommending a stitch straight away but i have decided to wait to see if it's needed or not because of the risks of the op.
when do they put one in for a definate incompetent cervix? is it around 12 weeks?

No they wait until at least 14-16 weeks to be well over the 12 week mark.

As you probably know it is an area of much debate and no one seems to agree on much.

I am myself part of a trial and have been put in scanning pool. Lucily my cervix is 4 cm long which is great!
Will be scanned every 2 weeks until 25 weeks. Am now 16. Lots of visits to the hospital...

Is that the CIRCLE trial dangirl? i was put on that recently but unfortuatly as its randomised ended up on the side of the trial which gets no treatment/scans. i was in a strange situation where my consultant said yes to regular scanning and the fetal med unit said trial or nothing.
since then i have been to see my consultant and she has made another apointment with the fetal med unit for a cervical scan, am really hoping they don't turn me away again.
i wish i was on the treatment side of the trial, but am not so have asked to come off the trial as i beleive that having no monitoring could put me at risk.
have you had a previous preterm delivery then dangirl?

Hi slinkstah,
Yes it is the CIRCLE trial.
My DD was born nearly 4 years ago at 31+5. We never found a course for the preterm labour but cervical incompetence is a possibility allthough Dr's think probably not.
Hoping it won't happen again. They reckon a circa 10-15 % risk that it will.
Wishing you the best of luck with your pregnancy!

Hi again. I had my stitch at 13+4 (just as well as at 12 weeks my cervix was long, but when the consultant did my stitch he said there was hardly anything there so it took quite a long time to do it).
Brief history-I have a son who is 4.5 yrs-normal delivery but ventouse was used. Next pregnancy-we lost our son at 21 weeks-cause really unknown but due to the way it happened it was suspected it was due to an incompetent cervix. Next pregnancy-stitch at 13+4. Scans about every 4 weeks-more around 20 week mark as I was sh**ing myself. Saw consultant every fortnight, more if I was worried. My consultant was fab. I saw him privately after losing our son (private health care will not generally cover for pregnancy but they will cover you for a "miscarriage"-how mad is that). We couldn't really afford to go private for our next pregnancy, but luckily he also did NHS so told me to contact him when I got pregnant. So I did. We had another little boy in May 2004. We are so lucky to have our little family. Don't know if it is madness to think of having another, especially since we have two healthy boys. But......there's a feeling in me that I'm not yet done. We're giving ourselves a few months to decide what to do. I had such a worrying third pregnancy, and wonder how I'd cope with a littlie if I was lucky enough to get pregnant again. Sorry so long.

Dear Snips - what a story!
Congratulations on your new pregnancy and the very best of luck to you and your family!

How far gone are you by now?
If you don't mind me asking do you remember how long your cervix was at the 12 week scan?
Just curious as to how quickly they can shorten.

I've had 2 stitches for my 2 surviving children after losing the first at 26 weeks. dd and ds are only 17 months apart in age, so dd was young when I had the second stitch, both stitches were put in at around 13 weeks.

Congratulations BTW

Sorry, I'm not pregnant. I was talking about my last pregnancy when I talked about the stitch. I was just wondering whether we should go for another.

I was about 4cm at my 12 week scan. I don't think my consultant told me what it was down to when he put the stitch in, but it was short. It picked up again after the stitch though and went back to 3.5 to four for most of the remainder of my pregnancy. Believe it or not I ended up being induced!!! (waters broke two weeks early).

Pindy-were you on any restrictions with your stitches? Did you find it ok managing with a young child when you had your second stitch. I was ok with my first stitch as my son could do lots for himself (or he certainly learnt to ). Would I manage with a year old child and a stitch???

snips, i am amazed that they thought it was your cervix even after you had a normal delivery most drs will not consider such as thing from my experience- the story is very similar to mine, i have had 2 normal pg and normalish births, after a large gap i lost my next dd at 23weeks. i am 18 weeks now so as you can probably understand i am sh**ting it too. i haven't had a stitch although it was discussed but i am having cervical scans, and as from today progestorone pessarys.
its great to hear the stitches made your cervix grow back again after the stitch was in. if i was given the choice at 12-14 weeks i would have had the stitch but was only given an option for it last week and i am too scared of the risks now as baby is bigger etc
does anyone know how fast cervixs can shorten? do you think cervical scanning is reliable way to catch thinning before it goes too far?

Haven't read all but I have 2yrs and 6 weeks between my two. I had stitches at around 13 weeks both pgs. I was on bedrest for a lot of the former pg, but less for the latter though I did put ds1 into nursery on a few mornings a week to be able to rest. Pgs were IVF and consultant was very positive about age gap.

no "official" restrictions, but because it was there I did take things very carefully, but having said that I still had a one year old to look after! Just felt quite vulnerable, but all was OK. No sex though throughout that time!!

I think the cervix can shorten fairly quickly. Having said that, the week before we lost our son I really felt like I was about to give birth (a lot of pressure down there). I ignored it as I thought it was madness at 20 weeks to feel like that. As it was I had bulging membranes a few days later. I know exactly what a difficult time you are going through, and my advice would be to go to the hospital if you feel anything even remotely strange. And if possible, rest as much as you can till you hit at least 28 weeks (esp 18-24). I know that will be difficult with 2 children.

Out of interest, did you have a forceps or ventouse delivery for either of your births.

Pindy-thanks for the info. If we decide to have another at least I know it's not impossible to look after a one year old with a stitch.

Does ventouse increase the risk of weak cervix then?
I had some cervical shortening at 23 weeks with ds, picked up by a scan. No stitch but had to rest as much as poss. ds was born at 38+0 by ventouse after a 2-day stop-start labour.

kayzed, I had an internal scan at the gyn at 23 weeks after thinking I'd lost my mucus plug. I hadn't, but the shortening was picked up from that.
(He did an internal exam first and said it was a bit soft).

I don't think a ventouse delivery causes cervix to weaken as such (I'm sure there are thousands of women who had a ventouse delivery with no problems in subsequent pregnancies), but I think that perhaps if the cervix is weaker than normal in the first place, then it can contribute to an incompetent cervix. This is the only thing I can put mine down to as I had a normal first pregnancy/birth, but they used a ventouse. No subsequent surgery/examinations etc, but then we lost our son at 21 weeks, and it was eventually diagnosed as an incompetent cervix. I was on another board for women with an incompetent cervix, and one other woman had the same experience as me. However I will add that these are my thoughts-the doctors I saw did insist that a ventouse delivery would not cause your cervix to weaken-though they could not explain how it did!

Hi...Can I ask a question?? Went for my 20 week scan last week and all was well..but since then iv had really griping low down pains...not sure if they are related to me having a meal (bizarre) but they seem to get worse after iv eaten which made me think it was wind and thats why iv put up with them over the weekend..but even when i wee i can feel them low down and when they are really bad i can stand straight..and if i bear down they become even more worse...again that why i thought trapped wind....anyway..now iv read SNIPS and she mentioned she had a lot of pressure below im worried that maybe its something more serious..and the first attack started after my scan so surely if there was anything wrong it would have been seen then???
Got a consultant appt on wednesday but due to go to France on Thurs for few nights and am worrying in case its something bad and ill be stuck in a foreign country having a trauma...oh lordy..this is a long one sorry....xx

Below meant to say i CANT stand up straight when they are really bad xx

The 20 week scan did not show anything wrong with my cervix and it must have been almost open at the time or extremely thin, as my baby was born just a few days after. I felt pressure for a week before i had my baby too, i also felt a bit "wrong" although would not call it ill. i felt out of breath when climbing stairs and exhausted when doing very little activity. i was told by the midwifes that this was all normal- however they were so wrong and did not have time to check me over properly! you definatly have to demand care in some places.

I would go for an earlier appointment dewberry as you are going away, i expect the pains could be a urine infection or similar. if you go in to hospital with pains they will check you out today, probably scan you and check urine for infection. if you are getting any pressure down low or around vagina, its a sign you need checking out. hope all goes ok, let us know, take it easy and don't worry too much

snips- i have not been diagnosed with incompetent cervix, the drs say its impossible as i have had two normal deliverys at term. they cannot offer any other explanation either apart from infection, which the placenta did show, although the type of infection is only caught after the waters break, which means i contracted the infection after i got to the hospital- leaving no explanation for why the sudden preterm labour before waters broke. I did query that maybe due to an early termination a while ago after my normal deliverys, the drs think this is unlikely. but hearing about drs saying your ventouse delivery being an unlikely cause for incompetent cervix yet still diagnosing you. I am starting to wonder. what do you think?

Hi there. The pains do sound like windy pains. What I was trying to describe was more a heaviness (baby dropping down which tends to happen towards the end of pregnancy). Didn't mean to scare anyone. However since our loss, my pregnancy motto has always been to get things checked out if I'm worried. Maybe pop to the hospital to get yourself checked out if you are worried. Hope you feel better soon.

Dont want to be too gross but it was not from my vagina i was getting pressure but pains up my bum ITKWIM..like sharp pains that went up me and low down when i pushed (as if going for number 2 even though i didnt feel i wanted one) the pains felt worse thats why i thought wind as i have bad digestion due to a dodgy pancreas which im on medication for..if they are bad later (been ok today really) ill ring the hospital..thanks for your help xx

Well Slinkstah, I did say I was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix, but not in so many words. My consultant did lots of tests after we lost our second son to see if he could find a reason for the pre term loss. He couldn't. He then operated on me to remove some adhesions from prevous surgery when I was much younger. You probably know there are two types of stitch you can have, cervical or abdomninal, and he was worried that if I needed an abdominal then they would not be able to get to it with all the adhesions. After this operation, he told me to contact him when/if I fell pregnant. When I got pregnant I got in touch with him and he suggested I have a chat with an obstetrician friend of his that works at the Portland who is a fairly well known ob. I called this guy (wondering how much I would be charged!!!), and he just chatted to me over the phone. He suggested that I have regular cervical scans and thought it unlikely that I needed a stitch due to my previous full term pregnancy. I listened, and had another chat with my consultant who said it was my decision as to what I wanted to do. I went for the stitch as I was offered this option, and it felt right to me. I think I mentioned that my cervix was really short when they put the stitch in, but it did lengthen again. I don't know what would have happened without the stitch. My consultant thinks I made the right decision in having it. But it is such a grey area, as in cases like ours, we don't have any of the criteria for incompetent cervix, so it can be difficult to get our worries taken really seriously. I personally think the ventouse contributed to my weak cervix (especially if I think about it logically and all the pulling that goes on). But maybe my cervical muscles were weak anyway. Just make sure you rest as much as possible. Keep us informed how its going-are you on one of the "due" threads???

Dewberry1-how are you feeling? Hope your pains have eased.