I don't understand my maternity notes after sweep

[yougotafastcar]

39 weeks pregnant, went to hospital this morning for reduced movement. Was monitored, everything fine, doctor has requested a urgent scan to be on safe side & offered me a sweep, which I agreed too.

MW said she was able to do it & poked the babies head. I asked if she was engaged and she said she was definitely getting lower. She also said sometimes the cervix never fully closes after a first baby (this is my second)

The notes I don't understand after reading when I'm home say -

EPV with consent, Cx 2cm dilated, 2cm long, soft, pp-cephalic -3

Can anyone explain what this means by any chance please? I wont be seeing a midwife until next week now

I THINK it means....

Sweep with consent
Cervix 2cm dilated (great :) )
Cervix is not yet effaced though - ie not drawn back - as it's still 2cm long
It's soft, indicating it's favourable
Baby's presentation is cephalic , ie head down, and 3/5 engaged

I think!!

I think cephalic means the baby is in an 'engaged' position, head down in the pelvis.

Obv your cervix is presenting as soft and 2cm dilated.

The rest just sounds like shorthand for postioning (PP) etc..

Thank you! I did sort of guess about being 2cm dilated but as she didn't mention it I was a bit confused. Would I only be 2cm because it never fully closed from last time?

With DC1 I went from 3cm to 8 in under a hour so slightly concerned haha!

You could ring the antenatal clinic and ask to speak to a MW to clarify, given the history of fast labour?

Will do, thank you

Hello, cephalic is head down.
PP is presenting part so together it means the head is coming first.

The cervix is 2cm open which is good, it sounds like you're slowly starting to dilate. The cervix is 2cm long, it will shorten until it's fully dilated. Imagine it like a stretched balloon during full on labour and then it dilates. In women who have had babies before this isn't such a big deal, the cervix dilates and effaced at the same time.

Soft is good too, it needs to be soft.

-3 is a measurement midwives use to describe how low the baby's head is. I think, if I remember correctly, this is the opposite to engagement from abdominal examination. So 2/5ths engaged, so well engaged.

All of that looks very positive for labour but it's no guarantee. Are you getting any other niggly signs?

Thanks, no other signs really. Was a bit crampy after the sweep and heavy down below, but that has worn off. Last weekend I was getting what felt like mild contractions but they disappeared too. Slight discharge with streaks of blood after my sweep too, but nothing major. I hate not knowing when it could happen!

-3 is where baby is in relation to ischal spines.

Ahh that picture really helps, thank you