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Pregnancy

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

Original poster

Painful Vaginal examinations

11 replies

Heidi3333 · 10/05/2023 10:33

Hi ladies
I’ve just recently came out of hospital after a failed round of induction. Im just over 38 weeks pregnant and was inducted due to an unstable lie.
while there I had around 8 vaginal examinations - 3 to put in the pessaries/tablets and the rest to check my progress.
Ive had smears and STI checks in the past with no problem really, just a bit of discomfort but the exams I had in hospital were brutal and painful. It got to the point that I started to dread them and when I was told they could continue with the induction process but it would be challenging I decided to opt for a C section, for lots of reasons, but one of them being I couldn’t face any more examinations.
I only accepted my last examination if I had local anaesthetic and the one before that I was left with a vaginal tear and bleeding!
Had anyone else experienced this?
Thanks x

OP posts:
Nell80 · 10/05/2023 11:15

Not exactly the same experience but I got pregnant from IVF which involves a lot of internal scans, examinations, things going through cervix etc and other than egg collection none of it was painful. However, cervical exams from about 34 weeks have been excruciating for me. Just about jumped up the wall with the first one it was such a shock. Midwife said it's because the area has lots of extra blood supply during pregnancy x

Mummyme87 · 10/05/2023 11:33

Sorry to hear you’ve been through this. I’m a midwife, and lots of women struggle with VEs. The prostaglandin pessaries cause the vagina to dry and can make it very sore, also the pessary needs to go behind the cervix, whereas a speculum etc only looks at the cervix, so quite different. Youre not alone in this being one of the reasons to stop with an induction. Good luck for your CS x

ChickpeaPie · 10/05/2023 11:38

You may have some bleeding but never a tear after a vaginal examination, that’s not normal and I’m sorry that happened to you. Was it all the same midwife? Some women do really struggle with examinations so you’re not alone, but I’m concerned about the tear

Original poster
Heidi3333 · 10/05/2023 11:51

Thanks for the replies ladies.
It's good to know I'm not alone!
I haven't seen a tear but assume I have one as after one examination I bled bright red blood and have been nippy down below since. I mentioned it to the
midwife who did the examination (she was by far the most brutal) but she didn't seem concerned!

OP posts:
PointyMcguire · 10/05/2023 16:19

Definitely not alone. I had a 4 day induction at the start of the year and ended up needing gas & air for some of the internal examinations it got so bad. Never had a problem with smears or any else so can only assume it was the pessaries making it so uncomfortable.

Springbaby2023 · 10/05/2023 16:24

I found the one vaginal examination I had during Labour with DS1 the most painful part of the whole birth process. It was beyond excruciating.

Just had DS2 and they were a lot easier to cope with - although still painful they weren’t as excruciating, not sure what the difference is.

I think it probably just depends on the person and the situation.

SkyBlue20 · 10/05/2023 19:42

Yes!! I ended up refusing any more internal exams during my induction as they brought me to tears. After the second they said I could have gas and air so I did for the third…but they forgot to turn it on 🙄 It was at that point I said no more. Meant the rest of my induction was awful as my contractions weren’t regular so they didn’t believe how far gone I was until I agreed to one final examination, at which point they realised baby was in situ and it was time to start pushing. So bravo you for choosing the section - I’m pregnant again now and am not sure I’d accept an induction simply due to the examinations and my last experience. They can be AGONISING! (Like you, no problems with smears etc in the past!)

Mummybearto3bg · 10/05/2023 20:22

Exactly the same experience today. One midwife is so brutal I couldn't carry on. I'm going to opt for a c section too. These examinations are demoralising and so excruciating that I can not understand how they are performed without pain relief.

Original poster
Heidi3333 · 10/05/2023 21:30

Interesting to hear I'm not the only one who finds these examinations really painful. I don't consider myself to have a particularly low pain threshold so was wondering...
It's the way they ram their fingers up your cervix as well...
This is definitely my last baby and I really hope I don't need any more when I go in for my section on Friday 😲.

OP posts:
SkyBlue20 · 11/05/2023 04:06

Fingers crossed you don’t need any more, OP, but if you do, ask for gas and air! Ridiculous it isn’t offered from the off. Good luck with your section, not long until you meet your little one 🤍🥰

NameforMN · 11/05/2023 04:40

Yet another example of women having gynaecological procedures carried out without pain relief.

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