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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Tell me about sweeps!

17 replies

Bluebutterfly90 · 01/01/2020 21:53

Hi MN, I'm 40+6 and due an appointment tomorrow in which they've offered me a sweep.
Please tell me your experiences of having a sweep - did it work? Did it hurt?
I know that everyone is different but I'm curious to know other people's experiences. I was for some reason convinced that my baby would either come early or on time so I never considered that I might need one!
I suppose there's always the chance I could go into labour tonight so I might not need it, but little man seems like he is in no hurry.

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Ilovelala · 01/01/2020 21:55

Everyone will have a different story. I found mine seriously painful and would not have one again if offered but my best friend hardly felt a thing and had her baby the same day.Its It's worth a try if your open minded and you can always say stop if it is too much for you

BarleyG · 01/01/2020 22:27

I had two sweeps with my first and they were totally painless. Mind you, they didn’t work

Sparkle733 · 01/01/2020 22:31

I had 2 failed sweeps. I wouldn't say I found them painful but they are uncomfortable.

Bol87 · 01/01/2020 22:39

I had one sweep, was uncomfortable but over pretty quickly. Nothing unbearable. It broke my waters but didn’t get labour going.. (it had already started but than stopped, hence the sweep to see if it would help)

bloated1977 · 01/01/2020 22:42

I had a sweep and 1hr 47mins later by DS was born..

Original poster

Bluebutterfly90 · 01/01/2020 23:02

Thanks for the replies, I know sweeps are different for everyone but it wasn't something I even knew about before I got pregnant so I'm curious about people's experiences.

I keep waiting for labour to start and I just have no signs whatsoever. Lots of people told me it starts with backache so I've been waiting for that, but nothing so far.
I have a funny feeling I'm going to end up needing to be induced, it would be just my luck!

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Alderaan · 01/01/2020 23:38

I had one with my first. It was more painful than I'd expected it to be, so I'd recommend taking paracetamol beforehand. I went into labour the next day after a long walk.

Justtrying · 01/01/2020 23:40

I had 2 sweeps both painful and caused bleeding. DD stayed put for another 3 days. Then a 4 hour labour.

Lemonnhoney · 01/01/2020 23:48

I never found them painful, slightly uncomfortable at the worst.

With my first DC i had 2 sweeps and they didnt do anything.

With my second, i had it at about 12pm and my contractions started about 7pm and had my DD 9 am next morning.

The midwife said it was 'favourable' and they can see if you are dialated at all/ if your cervix has softened.

There is no harm in it i think!

Good luck!

Kolo · 01/01/2020 23:53

I had 2 at home which didn't hurt, just uncomfortable. They didn't work and I went into hospital just before 42 weeks for a check up. I'd declined an induction on that visit, but the dr did a sweep. She said that a thorough sweep to get things moving would be pretty uncomfortable and it was really, really painful! That did nothing too, and I eventually had an induction at 42+3 and had no signs of being in labour.

So I'm not personally convinced they do anything. Seems pretty hit and miss. I didn't have one for my second pregnancy.

Soundbyte · 02/01/2020 08:37

I had a sweep with my third, it was uncomfortable as opposed to painful as mentioned by other PP. I had some contractions on and off then for the rest of the day (had sweep around 11am) then went into labour early evening and my DD was born just before 10pm.

I had one again in my last pregnancy, it was a bit painful this time, the midwife doing it was quite an abrupt person and was a bit rough doing it. After this one I had quite a bit of thick blood afterwards and was scared something bad had happened, but was told it was normal. Once the sweep was over though it didn’t hurt anymore, it’s a very quick process. Again I had my baby the same day about 6 hours after the sweep.

Good luck! :)

Beach11 · 02/01/2020 08:40

I had several with both dc and didn’t do a thing. Found them uncomfortable.
Everyone is different.
Good luck

AgnesNaismith · 02/01/2020 08:43

I found them to be intrusive and question the proof that a sweep can actually induce labour.

whiskeyandice · 02/01/2020 08:44

I had about five sweeps with my last overdue baby. Depends who you get. One midwife literally "tickled my cervix" (her words). And then the next one I felt like her hand was going to come out of my mouth. Having said that, it's very brief and and the one where she was rummaging in my guts is the one that worked.

Engard · 02/01/2020 10:40

My didn't hurt but didn't work either 🤷🏻‍♀️

Popskipiekin · 02/01/2020 10:44

I had one - not painful or that uncomfortable, just a strange rummaging. Midwife said it probably wouldn’t work. Baby born within 24 hours. Perhaps he was just ready to come then anyway.

Original poster

Bluebutterfly90 · 02/01/2020 15:30

So I had my sweep.
It was kind of uncomfortable but not that much worse than a smear test for me, so I guess I got lucky, and my midwife was very confident about being able to do it without causing me pain and told me she'd stop if it hurt.
I have another one booked for Monday and my induction also booked just in case baby decides he isn't going anywhere.

So now I'm just waiting to see if anything is going to happen. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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