Should I turn down a sweep?

[waterlily7]

I’m due to have an early induction and have been reading stories on the Positive Birth Company website to get an idea of what to expect.

I read this in one of the stories - is refusing a sweep before the pessary the best course of action then?

I was induced with a 24-hr pessary a week earlier than my due date. The midwife asked if I was happy for her to do a sweep before she put it in and I’m proud to say I confidently declined this offer as I wanted as long as possible to allow the pessary to work without the risk of my waters breaking (this is something I never would’ve done without this course!)

thepositivebirthcompany.co.uk/blog/birth-story-sian-and-baby-jamie

I feel like I’m going into this with very little knowledge so would be good to know!

I have also been watching the hypnobirthing from the positive birth story and I have decided I will be refusing an induction. My midwife said I can also refuse a sweep, she said it's still an intervention but not as bad as an induction.
Obviously mine and babys health comes first so if there are issues then i will take midwife/drs advice, but she told me If i go past due date I can be monitored with ctg and scans to make sure we are both ok.
What I took from the positive birth company was if you have a sweep or induction your body will still need to be ready for them to work, hence they may not do anything! So in my mind why have something if your body is not ready anyway?
All depends if your having an early induction for health reasons?

Will you definitely be offered a sweep immediately before? I wasn't, though they checked my cervix before inserting the pessary because if you are already a few cms dilated they can use other methods such as breaking the waters (lots of people think this is a good thing). I started contracting about 8 hours after the pessary was inserted followed by a 3 and half hour labour. Induction isn't always long and drawn out.

All depends if your having an early induction for health reasons?

Yes I am unfortunately - I have gestational diabetes.

Will you definitely be offered a sweep immediately before?

No one has mentioned it, but I just want to be prepared and know what to do if it is offered.

That quote sounds like rubbish tbh. The whole point of induction is to get your cervix open enough to break your waters, so not wanting to do something that might cause your waters to break is illogical. Also, the 24 hour pessary is given if your cervix is totally closed - if it was opened enough to do a sweep then you'd be having a 6 hour pessary.

I intended to refuse a routine sweep once I went over, but once you're starting down the induction route you might as well go for it tbh. They seem to like doing them once you start dilating anyway. They did mine whilst examining me (so it wasn't an extra 'hands in' occurrence) and it wasn't any more painful than an examination for me.

When I was induced the midwife did a stealth sweep without asking or warning me first, this was before the 2nd pessary and I hadn't been able to have a successful sweep prior to this do didn't realise this was what it was. It did seem to work but advanced warning would have been appreciated as it was not exactly pleasant. My advice, if they don't mention it - ask exactly what they are going to do.x

I am a bit confused by the quote and it seems a bit head on cuckoo land 'I'm proud to say I confidently declined', she's one of many women who go through induction daily.
I had a sweep when I went overdue and it didn't do a thing so there's no guarantee it will work. I didn't have a pessary (so can't comment) and just went on the drip
Good luck in whatever you decide