Cervix consultants

[Holiday16]

Hi, a couple of years ago I had an abnormal smear which led to me having to have a large part of my cervix removed by LLETZ. Now I'm currently 15 weeks pregnant and I have my first consultant appointment in a few weeks and I have no idea what to expect
Anyone else give me some insight please thanks x

not a consultant or have any medical knowledge but if i was you id be asking them to check cervical length and that it is routinely done, as the pregnancy progresses it may put added strain and poss early labour!

Hi,

I had a friend in a similar situation. Her cervix was short so they did a small op and put in some sort of mesh to keep everything closed and together as her little one got bigger x

I'm worried about this also. I've had a lot of bleeds in this pregnancy and worry that my colposcopy means I have a weak cervix and worry as baby gets bigger I will be unable to 'hold it in' until term

I've had three bleeds so far but they don't seem worried but I'm a nervous wreck. I'm worried I will delivery early too! Fingers crossed all goes well at our appointments x

All the best lovely xx

Hi @Holiday16 I can give you a bit of insight (from my experience so far...) I’m just under 23 weeks and have had lletz also and am under the consultant.
First appointment at 16 weeks and they explain the worse case scenario.. ie you are high risk of miscarriage / pre term labour if your cervix is shortening... and the solutions.... progesterone pessaries / injections ora cervical stitch.
You then have an trans vaginal scan, have you had one before?i find them painless and no problem at all. Essentially it’s a probe / dildo looking thing with lube on that can look at your cervix. They then measure it.(they will also let you see baby after).

Measurements can be one of two ways really, the first might show that your cervix is already shortened.... or it might just give a reading of what length it is. They also press down on your tummy to make sure that your cervix doesn’t open with this pressure.

Mine was fine first appointment so I was scheduled four weeks later for another one. In this time my cervix has shortened, they say 1cm isn’t great and they would get concerned... mine has shortened by 0.6 so I’ve got progesterone pessaries for the next 8 weeks daily and also I’m back again this week (2 weeks after last appt) to see how it’s going.
Essentially I am high risk of late term miscarriage now and pre term labour.
The consultant hasn’t really discussed what happens next (ie if cervix has shortened more) but I will find out Friday.

I’ve been really well informed and they’ve been great.

My lletz wasn’t actually very deep she said, but it’s because they’ve taken it out in two parts. I’ve also had a few instances of bleeding but I also did with my first (pre lletz) so don’t think it’s connected.

Any questions please ask 😊

I had some spotting and was advised to abstain from sex until I saw the consultant. First appointment for my cervix was at 21 weeks, had an internal scan to check the length, and due to mentioning the spotting he had me back for the next couple of weeks to monitor it. At 24 weeks my cervix had shortened by 1cm to 2.4cm and was soft. I also had a small leak from hind waters, I was given progesterone pessaries to put in four times a day and monitored until I reached 35 weeks, signed off at 30 weeks as she was fully engaged and again cervix was soft, so was ordered to rest. Stopped the pessaries at 36 weeks and although my cervix started to dilate at that point I still went to 40+5. So, worrying at the time but all fine in the end. Every trust is different though from what I've read on here

You should be having your cervical length checked at 16, 20 & 24 weeks with transvaginal scans.

If the length doesn’t change between weeks 16 & 20 then they won’t do the 24 weeks one.
With my third pregnancy I didn’t even see the consultant.

@annlee3817 I thought once a day was bad enough but four times a day?! Eeessh! We’re you in bed rest essentially or could you still work etc?

@pppppppp1234 I worked up until 30 weeks and then was signed off and mainly on bed rest until 35 weeks, he just focussed on getting me to there.

And yep, four a day absolutely sucked, but obviously did the job :) picking up the prescription was interesting

@annlee3817 thanks glad to hear they worked! Haha I can imagine 😆

@Pppppppp1234 hope all goes well with your pregnancy, you're almost at V day

Just following as I have have first consultant app in 2 weeks, following lletz last July.
Panicking a bit now after reading comments above, hopefully all will be ok.
I’ve only had 1 lletz, but worried as it wasn’t that long ago.

Thanks for the comments. I will be 20 weeks at my first consultant appointment - abit annoyed that it's so late as I also thought about 16 weeks would've been my first one! But midwife wasn't concerned about waiting so who am I to judge! It has eased my mind a little knowing what to expect so thankyou x

@Pppppppp1234 thanks for the comments. I will be 20 weeks when I have my first appointment and haven't really been told what to expect so that's helped a lot. Thankyou sweet xx

@holiday16
I’ll also be 20 weeks when I see the consultant! It’s the day after my routine 20weeks scan.
It’s 2 weeks on Wednesday so I’ll pop back on this thread and let you know.
I have a close friend whose had several lletz (about 4) from early 20s until having her first baby at 41.
She had no issues in pregnancy but had to have a stitch during labour.
This is my second pregnancy, first labour was difficult with back to back baby and severe haemorrhage...I think if there’s issues with my cervix I will ask for c-section as don’t want the risks of more complications.

But my dh is telling me I shouldn’t think the worst!

@Bere111

It might seem a bit scary but I feel in good hands to be honest, it’s been a bit frustrating re appointments as the clinic that they run in my trust is over stretched so my last appt was overdue and very last minute as they had a slot. But I am grateful for the extra care and the extra scans as I’ve seen baby each time too which has been fab!

@Holiday16 I didn’t really know what to expect either so hopes it helped a bit!

I'm now 17 weeks and have had a midwife appointment. I raised my concern with her that I had the procedure done in 2016 after a smear found abnormal cells and I'm concerned this is the cause of my bleeding in this pregnancy.

She has referred me to have a scan to make sure the bleeding isn't coming from anywhere around the pregnancy to reassure me. However she did not seem worried that the procedure of having the cells removed would cause a problem. She said if it was going to cause issues I maybe wouldn't have got to 17 weeks and that they only really worry if you've had this procedure done more than once or if they did a 'come removal' whatever that is...taking a larger part of the cervix I think.

I'm awaiting my referral as she originally referred me to Epu but they won't see me as i am now too far gone for them to scan me there apparently.

I'm assuming I will get a scan with the consultants as she re referred to them and they will know further if I need to be worried or not so it's a waiting game again x

*Cone removal that was meant to say

I'm so thankful to have found this thread.
I had a cone biopsy on 22nd March and the very next cycle have found out I am pregnant. A miracle in itself as this is a natural conception at 40+, after many unsuccessful IVFs and an MMC last year.

However, my cervix is still in healing mode and I'm terrified as to how sustainable this pregnancy will be. Already I have had some bleeding (watery pale red on wiping) throughout week five, which I am praying is from the healing cervix rather than the uterine lining. I read that the blood supply to the new cells is fragile and can leak, especially with the influence of pregnancy hormones. I was on clexane to thin the blood for another reason but my consultant has just taken me off that whilst we find out what's going on. Will know more at my early scan next week. Right now I have no idea and it may be that I'm clutching at straws for an explanation that does not point to a MC.

There's so much to think about and I want to make sure I am equipped with enough information as possible along the way.

Does anyone have any experiences or encouragement from those early weeks they can share?

Hi everyone, I have some experience with this but not too much so far. I had an abnormal cell result in July 2015 (CIN III), went for a colposcopy and was told that the amount of abnormal cells I had couldn't be removed there and then by a LLETZ like they normally would so went back in September 2015 and had an operation to remove under general anaesthetic but was never told how much tissue they removed.

Found out I was pregnant in Feb 2019 and didn't even give the operation a 2nd thought until my midwife told me at my booking appointment at 9 weeks that I needed an extra scan.

Went for the scan at 15+2 and measured 31mm via abdominal scan, didn't have a transvaginal ultrasound, consultant didn't seem at all phased and told me to come back 3 weeks later which is this Thursday when I will be 18+2 then got my 20 week scan 2 weeks later at 20+1 but with the normal sonographer not the consultant. Will come back on after Thursday and let you know my measurements, as far as I'm aware as long as you are more than 25mm then you are normal and safe!

@FirstTimeMum1984 hi have you had any bleeding through your pregnancy may I ask?

I'm so frustrated as I've not had a scan to measure the cervix and I've asked for one! Everytime I mention this to a midwife they don't seem worried about the pro exude I've had done but I'm the same as you, I don't know rsa toy how much was removed and I'm worried my bleeding throughout this pregnancy is cause for concern if my cervix is sensitive.

I went to the midwife last Thursday and was told I'd be referred to have a scan (on the pregnancy, not my cervix) to make sure the bleed isn't coming from the pregnancy itself and the next day the doctor phoned to say Epu won't see me as I'm passed 12 weeks so I'm to be referred to the consultant but I've not heard anything yet! It's worrying me tbh

The procedure not pro elude*

@kgeal3 hi sweet, I've also been referred to see a consultant on 7th June as I had LLETZ a few years ago. I have had three bleeds so far but midwife was never worried and didn't think it was related to my cervix. Not sure when your appointment is but I will update you once I've had mine xx

Hi @kgeal3 nope I haven't had any bleeding at all, my midwife was really laid back about it too. She told me at booking app @ 9 weeks I would be referred, I chased her at about 11 weeks & she said something along the lines of "I'm sure it's being processed" then went for my 12 week scan & had to go to maternity unit for blood tests so I mentioned it to them and they gave me an appointment there & then for 3 weeks later. In the meantime I got a letter for an appointment with a different consultant so it does just take some time I guess for the appointments to get scheduled. Try not to worry as at my first consultant appointment he also was super laid back & said everything was fine, even though I knew 31mm was a great length for 15 weeks and him asking me to back 3 weeks later instead of waiting for 20 weeks was also a bit of a giveaway sign. From my extreme googling I learnt that most people have cervical length scans at 16, 20 and 24 weeks so to have another at 18 does worry me a bit but also feel in very safe hands. I will warn you though a cervical length scan is very different to your 12 week scan, my consultant is a German man in his 50s/60s and is very to the point and speaks to you about the facts only regarding the risk to your baby. My partner asked him about the sex and he looked truly horrified that he had even asked LOL!!