Short cervix and pregnant again

[Dewdrop2015]

I had a short cervix 1.5cm at 20 weeks with my daughter. Spent 13 weeks in hospital on bedrest. Came off bedrest at 32 weeks and went full term. I'm pregnant again and have been offered a suture at 12-14 weeks or can wait and see. Anyone else been given a choice about this and did you have a suture? Really don't want to spend 3 months in hospital again.

Dixie I've heard it's really common just go very quickly into labour. I'm about 30-40 mins from my hospital so I won't be hanging around if I feel anything significant.
I can't believe my waters haven't broken yet. I did take 1000mg of Vit C for 8 months its worked better than I could imagine especially since my amnotic sac was found to be coming away from the wall around about 18 weeks!

I am on progesterone too (utrogest tablets) - can someone explain how rectally is better than vaginally? My doctor just told me to take them vaginally, so I that's what I've been doing (3x daily) - it's a bit annoying but otherwise I haven't had any problems really.

I am not in the UK - it sounds really harsh that you have to have repeated late miscarriages before they will consider a stitch. I'm not sure how it works here exactly - I'm at the very fortunate end of the spectrum, DS1 was born suddenly at 32+4 and was fine (no IC detected beforehand), with DS2 cervix was found to be short at 25 weeks but I went on bedrest and that seemed to do the trick - got up again properly at 34 weeks and went into labour normally at 36+4. I was offered a stitch this time, but I decided to go with (so far very modified) bedrest again. It's 5 years since my last pregnancy and so far things are going ok, although I'm only 23 weeks so it could all change quite quickly. My feeling is that over here they are much quicker to intervene and offer treatment, probably because it's the insurers who have to pay rather than the actual hospitals that carry out procedures - it can often go the other way, in fact, with people getting pushed towards procedures that are actually not necessary at all, but bring in money for the hospital. Pretty well the opposite problem to the NHS.

Hope all is going well today for all of you!

Must be different hospital to hospital. I'm in th UK and lucky in that I have never been pregnant before now, my consultant put me on progesterone three times daily and rest, and if after two weeks that had not worked he was going to put a stitch in. Hope all goes well with you all

willnot are you in the US? I've found that women in the US stand a much better chance of not having repeated pre-term deliveries or MC because they do interven much earlier.
I got the impression insurances companies pushed for it because a stitch &
meds are far more cheaper than NICU care.

It's frustrating because we asked if the reason was a cost issue and my hospital admitted it was a cheap quick procedure, not that specialist but still they wanted me to jump through hoops to qualify for it.

I looked into paying for it privately it looked to be around 3k to have it put in I'm not sure how much to take it out.

littlebairn No, I'm in Germany. (The system here with insurance companies is actually quite similar in theory to the US one - everyone has to have medical insurance - but it's more socially minded, there is automatic insurance for people who are e.g. unemployed so no one is allowed to fall through the cracks, and insurance companies are bound by law to cover most things.)

I think the intervention thing works both ways - with the stitch, it seems to me you're better off here, because there is not much lost by doing it (except money) - if it doesn't work, it doesn't, but it wouldn't do anyone any harm. Whereas there are other kinds of procedures where the NHS is better, because it is trying to save money. A cardiologist friend told me that they prefer putting in stents here to doing heart bypasses, because the stents need re-doing every few years and make money for the hospital, whereas the bypass usually lasts much longer...

By and large, most things here are similar to in the UK. Childbirth etc. is pretty well the same, midwife-led and anti-interventionist in theory - just no gas and air or pethidine on offer! I am always quite sad that I don't get to mess around with gas and air...

willnot Ive actually like in Germany, Munich. I'm not surprised they are so proactive. We've actually considered moving to Germany one of the pros was good healthcare. Although I might need to wait till we are finished having babies I couldn't do labour without Gas & Air!
G&A was also used when I had my stitch out too no way could I have coped without it.

little I'm in Munich, in fact! I love living here, and it's great for the kids, although I have my reservations about the school system now that we are having to deal with it. My DH is German, I can't see us moving any time soon... Healthcare is very good on the whole, but there are some things in the NHS that I think are better!

willnot ah yes the schooling systems yikes that's what has put us off tbh.
But it's such a beautiful green city and cycling is a much nicer experience.
I'm not sure I miss the naked swimming guys in the English Garden mind you...

little no, I don't blame you. I went swimming loads in my lunch break last summer as I work near the Englischer Garten, and they are all still there, just as bronzed and shrivelled as ever...

Hi,
Not sure this is helpful but I was referred to the preterm labour clinic at St Thomas (London). There they measure my cervix AND they do a fetal fibronectin test. The 2 combined have a very high predictive value in whether you will go in to labour in the next two weeks. The measures they can then take is to either do a stitch, give progesterone pessaries and/or steroids. Progesterone is used in the US a lot, but from what I understand from the prem labour clinic the progesterone supplementation is not harmful but there's not been a study that it actually works. That study has only recently started.

I would never trust the FFT over doing a stitch.
Even once I started shortening with the stitch and was sent home to wait my dr didn't feel it was accurate enough for it to be worth doing.

Statistically once you start shortening without a stitch you only have 7-10 days left before its too late even if you are doing strict bed rest.

For those of us with incompetent cervixes 2 weeks (which is the standard time between transvaginal scans) is a long time and the changes during that time can be dramatic.
With DD1 in the 10 days after the scan I silently dilated all the way to 6-7cm.
With DD2 in the 12 days between the scans I went from absolutely normal to having 1.4 mm of length left.

I intend to pressurise my Consultant to do a permant stitch after this baby.

willnotbetamed Feel like I'm going to get a reputation here for advocating putting stuff up the bum!

I took my progesterone (Cyclogest) rectally primarily because my consultant told me to. In his opinion, the less going into the vagina the better. He didn't want anything near or close to the cervix at all. However, having done a fair bit of googling about the progesterone, I encountered a lot of posts with women either developing itching, thrush and horrendous discharge when they took it vaginally. I just popped the suppository thing into my bum before I went to sleep each night and it just sort of vanished without any problems or side effects at all. Difficult for me to say in all honesty as I didn't ever try to take it vaginally, but it would appear to have been less of a faff to do it that way going by others' experiences.

sunflower don't worry no judgement from me. I took two Cyclogest pessaries every night, I was told vaginally but I did notice the box said both.
They would probably would have been much more comfortable rectally the week after my stitch. Ouch!
I never had any issues with mine sometimes when they dissolved some would run down so I would wear pads to bed.
But I did hate having to place them so deep do they would say in place.

I only get the itching when the discharge from them is on the pad. As long as I change the pad regularly then I'm ok . Couldn't imagine popping them in rectally though, mainly due to the joys of pregnancy constipation...

Am hoping my consultant let's me stop the pessaries soon, I absolutely hate them! 33 weeks now so it can't be too long... I hope

applecore I was told to stop taking them at 34 weeks, so you may be really close to getting rid of them!

Thanks Sunflower! I feel the same way as applecore, am always constipated in the evening and feel like vaginally is the better option. The discharge is annoying but so far not itching, thankfully - I hope it stays like that, as I have a long way to go until I get to 34 weeks!

The utrogest tablets are actually not pessaries at all, and all the info on the packet is about taking them orally. But my gynaecologist who gave them to me (she didn't prescribe them, just took them out of her cupboard - I wonder if the progesterone therapy has not been licensed in Germany yet?) told me to take them vaginally. Maybe that's why they don't itch?

Well, isn't this thread lovely? So glad to have people to share this fun stuff with...

I must have a tough fanjo.

apple I had the pessaries all the way to 36 weeks, I stopped them 2 nights before the stitch removal.

willnot ah the things I've shared online with strangers since I've been pregnant, shameless.

The Cyclogest are shaped like mini candle like billets. It was annoying when you got a batch that curved too much at the end, it would suction onto you finger and you would have a time of it getting it in and keeping it there.
Honestly I much preferred the nightly Clexane injections!

Littlebairn Are you still there? Is tomorrow the induction? Just wanted to wish you luck - please come back afterwards and let us know how you got on! Really hope everything goes well for you.

Thank you WillNot it is tomorrow evening I've to be induced but I'm not happy about sone of the arrangements So it may be delayed. I will keep you updated.

Hope all goes well littlebairn :) and I know exactly what you mean about the misshapen ones that are harder to get in. Such a pain!

Ooh I hope so sunflower have been using them since week 24, although at least I have been signed off work now

have just managed to catch up with the thread after being away. have my first appt with specialist midwife tomorrow although I'm only 10 weeks. I've been reading all the comments and can someone tell me what pprom means? hope all going well with littlebairn and everyone else.