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Original poster

Advantages and Disadvantages of a sweep

53 replies

surreygirl1987 · 30/09/2018 11:40

Hello- my due date is today and I'm expecting to be offered a sweep by my mw tomorrow at my appointment. I had initially decided to decline but now I'm getting impatient...

The advantages of a sweep are obvious - a way to possibly kick start labour, and a less invasive way than induction (ideally I want to avoid!).

What about disadvantages? My thinking was that he'll come out when he's ready and I didn't want to force a 'natural' process. Also I've heard it's uncomfortable (I HATE smear tests and get anxious and tense about them so hate the idea of a sweep which I assume is not dissimilar!).

Any other pros and cons??
Thanks :)

OP posts:

SoyDora · 30/09/2018 19:09

Goostacean mine was similar to yours! I am usually a fairly unemotional person, and have a high pain threshold (have given birth twice with no pain relief bar a tens machine) but I found it excruciating and I sobbed when I left the room. I had a 20 min drive home and it took me about an hour to calm down enough to attempt it.

Original poster

surreygirl1987 · 30/09/2018 19:28

😯 okay that sounds terrible!!

OP posts:

ifoundthebread · 30/09/2018 19:31

My cervix was no where near ready when they attempted my first sweep and It hurt, it brought A tear to my eye. The second attempt my cervix was alot more favourable and was just a slight bit discomfort, no pain.

afloat · 30/09/2018 21:43

Was researching this last night as my due date is this week. This lays out the best evidence:
evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-membrane-sweeping/

I’ll take one this week if my doc says my cervix is a bit open. He said that otherwise it’s very painful and not useful.

Good luck!

Goostacean · 30/09/2018 23:26

Sorry OP, didn’t mean to scare you- I just wish I’d known before I agreed/experienced it. I had a second several days later with my midwife whom I trusted implicitly, and that was better although still painful. I’m glad I’m not alone, @SoyDora, although very sorry to hear about your experience! For DC2, if we ever get there, I won’t bother with any sweeps, personally.

dinosaurkisses · 30/09/2018 23:39

I had one with dd at 39+6- cervix wasn’t favourable bit it didn’t hurt for me. I didn’t even find it uncomfortable.

Started contractions within 24 hours which went on for four sodding days.

Went back to the MLU on the fourth day and was given another stretch and sweep- MW warned me she was really going to go for it and recommended I take gas and air which worked well so although it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t unbearable.

I don’t think I’ll accept a sweep with this pregnancy- after my labour I had a birth debrief and the MW suggested that it was the sweep that had prompted the long drawn out prodormal labour, so I’ll be trying to avoid that again!

Original poster

surreygirl1987 · 01/10/2018 08:04

Interesting.... sounds like it varies so much person to person. Thanks - really appreciate all the input, even the 'scary' responses!

OP posts:

JessieMcJessie · 01/10/2018 10:36

My own personal experience of smears is that they are completely painless, just a slightly weird feeling when they scrape your cervix. I had 2 sweeps, they were nothing like a smear at all. Midwife is basically rummaging around your cervix and I think they have to be pretty firm to do it properly. Not comfortable, no sharp pain exactly but definitely sore. However over fairly quickly and no real lasting effects (to be honest at 40 weeks everything feels pretty uncomfortable anyway). Also it’s much less painful than labour!

LittleRen · 01/10/2018 10:44

I had a sweep with my second and it was fine, with my third it hurt like a bitch but she really went for it and "walked" the cervix. Sorry. Be open minded! Didn't work for me with my third, possibly worked with number two!

LittleRen · 01/10/2018 10:45

And a smear is definitely easier than a sweep!! As PP said it's totally different, a sweep is more invasive.

cholka · 01/10/2018 11:21

I had one at nearly 42 weeks, just felt like the midwife waggling her finger around a bit, didn't hurt at all. In fact I thought I could have done it myself at home and saved the journey! I went into labour later that afternoon, who knows if the sweep caused it or if it was just time.

If you're at all inclined to have sex, that gives you lots of waggling too and the semen softens the cervix.

Snap5 · 01/10/2018 11:37

Sweeps, even though a medical procedure are the most natural way of encouraging labour and a good start if you want to avoid proper induction. You'll hear a lot of scare stories asking about sweeps, so this should put them to rest and ensure you're aware of the possibility of bad outcomes:

If a sweep is horribly painful, it just means your cervix is not nearly ready enough for labour, but you won't know this until they do the sweep. People who complain it's horrific only feel this because their body is not ready for it yet.

Even if a sweep doesn't send you into labour, it will encourage a lot of the cervix work to be done in prep; softening, shortening etc, even though it might not dilate you.

I have had quite a few sweeps and each one has brought me closer to labour and made the whole process (I felt) easier in the end.

It is normal to get cramping and spotting afterwards, and a sweep CAN just cause you to have strong BH and pains for a few weeks without starting labour. Be aware of this going in. People who complain if did nothing but cause them more pain were likely not aware that was a real possibility.

If you are prepared to risk nothing happening and discomfort against the possibility of it kick-starting things, I highly recommend sweeps. Just do your research, as its people that don't who give sweeps bad publicity on forums like these.

Goostacean · 01/10/2018 12:41

That’s a bit unfair, I did my research and was told it is uncomfortable and obviously might not work. I wasn’t told it would be a violent- frankly- and extremely painful procedure. I was 40+2, from memory.

It’s not a question of giving something a bad name, it’s a matter of sharing a variety of experiences with the OP so she has a heads up. Probably if I’d expected pain, I wouldn’t have such a negative review now- the whole thing was just so far from what the professionals and my reading described.

Anyway good luck OP, and hopefully you have a positive and successful experience! And meet baby very soon :)

SoyDora · 01/10/2018 12:44

Agree (again) with Goostacean. I asked my midwife what it entailed and what the risks are (I would have thought asking an expert would class as ‘doing my research’, wouldn’t you?) and she said ‘some women find it mildly uncomfortable but no worse than a smear’. Which turned out to be far from the reality.
The OP asked for experiences. I gave mine.

Stuckforthefourthtime · 01/10/2018 12:47

I've had four - 3 worked well (baby within 24 hours, twice within 12 hours, and no negative side effects) and only one was properly painful, and that was the one that didn't work, so is suspect that I was just not far enough along.

Smears don't bother me, but this is definitely more than a smear (though a lot less than labour!) - also, if you can't let them do it properly then you'll get worst of both worlds, with discomfort but also no effectiveness.
I'd recommend it for anyone who has a good reason to want the baby out but also wants to avoid a chemical induction. Agree with pp who said to look at hypnobirthing or other breathing exercises, and see it as a small prep for labour.
Also do be prepared for some red spotting and cramps immediately after, even the time that it didn't work, I still got this and got my hopes up a bit much! Good luck whichever way you go

AhYeahOkayThen · 01/10/2018 14:43

I've rarely had discomfort being examined or having smear tests but found the sweep painful and useless. However they offered it on my 3rd day of inducement so I was already in a lot of pain. I think it would be fine had I not been in the process of being induced. It didn't kick start labour though, so for me useless.

s2204 · 01/10/2018 15:41

I’m not completely up with the actual technicalities of a sweep but my midwife only did mine on the provision that a) baby was engaged, and b) my cervix was soft and ready. As she told me if my cervix was closed it would be painful and unsucessful. She even stopped half way through, told me that my cervix was soft and would I like her to continue with the sweep! Maybe I had a nice midwife in comparison to some of yours but every bodies different and I think a lot of it depends on how ready your cervix is. Before mine I had mixed reviews, people saying it was very painful and others saying it was uncomfortable, I just figured actually giving birth is going to a lot more painful so it can’t be as bad as that x

Original poster

surreygirl1987 · 01/10/2018 16:41

Got a sweep booked for later this week... but will ask the mw to tell me how 'favourable' cervix looks before committing to having a go. Your comments have all been really helpful, despite being so varied, so thanks so much! Baby isn't very engaged at the moment which is making me think I've probably got a while to go still too :(

OP posts:

Hails1324 · 02/10/2018 09:13

Today 17:01 Hails1324

Hello, we are a married lesbian couple with a four and one year old, just wondering if there are any similar families in or around Coventry that know of any groups where we could meet others as my children don't know any others with gay parents. Thank you.

Breen86 · 02/10/2018 19:43

I found it a little uncomfortable but not bad at all. It worked very fast for me, I went into labour a couple of hours afterwards x

Merrydoula · 02/10/2018 20:25

I wouldn't bother, if you're body is not ready to go into labour there is nothing that a sweep will do to bring it on, it gives false hope and expectation which even more so heightens anxiety and makes mums more impatient. Due dates are not accurate, 40 weeks is great, you're almost there! Just hng I'm in there and it will come very soon when baby is fully cooked and ready

chloechloe · 02/10/2018 21:22

FWIW I’m in Germany and they don’t do sweeps over here as they’re not proven to have any effect. I was reading something recently where it stated that for first time mothers they’re not recommended here as it’s generally painful and unlikely to do anything.

HugoBearsMummy · 04/10/2018 17:04

My cervix WAS favourable (1-2cm dilated) and I found it really hurt, the babies' heart rate went through the roof as the midwife touched his head! So it was all a bit distressing.. I had 2 more after that initial one too, none of which worked. I was induced using the pessary and I thought it was great, no problems at all.

Original poster

surreygirl1987 · 05/10/2018 12:05

Oh dear! That sounds awful! Well I have an appointment for this afternoon and if my cervix is found favorouable I think I'm going to go for it.

I'm glad your induction went well. Was it not as painful as they say? Did they let you go home for early labour?

OP posts:

HugoBearsMummy · 05/10/2018 17:27

@surreygirl1987
The pain and contractions did go from 0-60 very quickly, but I had gas and air and a shot of diamorphine right at the end stages so the pain was manageable & cant have been too bad as I’ll be doing it again in 21 weeks time ha ha! Yes they inserted the pessary, monitored me for 30 mins then allowed me home, I was starving so stopped in Tesco (5 min drive from hospital) and I went in to labour lol! Contractions every 3 minutes so my mum took me straight back to hospital once I had eaten a sandwich 🙂. 10 hours later DS was born!

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