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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Membrane sweep DURING labour?!

14 replies

Treetops89 · 05/08/2023 09:40

I'm expecting my second baby in a couple of months. My first baby was born during COVID so there were lots of restrictions around my partner accompanying me. When I went into labour I had to have a cervical exam to check my dilation to see if my partner could come into the ward with me. The midwife confirmed I was in labour, but I wasn't dilated enough for my partner to be in.

Long story short, we went home for a while and went back to hospital a few hours later. Again, a midwife had to do a cervical exam to check that I was dilated enough to allow my partner to be allowed in (which I was). But at the end of the dilation check the midwife did a membrane sweep- completely unannounced and without asking or explaining why she was doing it. I felt a bit uncomfortable that she'd done that without consent, but at the time I was so desperate to get into Delivery Suite so that I could see my partner and get some pain relief that I didn't say anything.

I know it's not a huge deal in the scheme of things- given how many people poke and prod you during labour. But now that the birth of my new baby is getting closer I can't stop thinking about this.

Consent issues aside, I suppose I'm mostly confused about why she would have done a membrane sweep in the first place when I was already in labour and at least 5cm dilated?

I was 11 days overdue and had already had a membrane sweep at the GP (which was fully explained and consented to). So I thought that membrane sweeps were only used to try and induce labour- do not sure why one would be done whilst I was in labour?

Has anybody else experienced this and been told what the benefits of a sweep during labour are?

OP posts:

NatGee · 05/08/2023 11:20

Have you had a birth debrief? It is not unheard of for midwifes to do what they like while down there even rupturing waters without really seeking consent. I hope you find the answers you're looking for

Original poster

Treetops89 · 05/08/2023 13:27

No I've not had a debrief, I didn't even know it was a thing.

I am going to speak to my community midwife when I see her next week, to see if it's something that is actually common practice (and done for a reason) or just one midwife doing what ever she liked.

I suppose I haven't wanted to raise it with my current midwife before now as I feel a bit silly, it was 2 years ago and not really a big deal in the scheme of things.

OP posts:

Notellinganyone · 05/08/2023 13:32

It makes me sad that people assume they will be poked and prodded as a matter of course. I didn’t have any internal examinations during my labours - they are not compulsory and absolutely nothing should be done without explanation and consent. If it is it is effectively assault. Our bodies are still ours during pregnancy, labour and birth.

truthhurts23 · 05/08/2023 13:39

it doesnt take more than a second to announce that they are about to touch you ,
"im just going to check your.." is all it takes
when i had my daughter a nurse grabbed my boob and was literally squeezing it,
i dont care what she was trying to do , i didnt like it and i asked her what the hell she was doing
it makes me angry how mistreated i was every step of the way

NatGee · 05/08/2023 14:53

@Treetops89 if its bothering you, it's a big deal. If something was done to you you didn't want, like was said above, its tantamount to assault. By all means ask your midwife, debriefs are available on the nhs but on a personal level I'm not sure id go back to the people who caused the harm in the first place to fix it.
It is likely the midwife did it to accelerate the process, although many babies are born en caul so I don't get it either.

Original poster

Treetops89 · 05/08/2023 14:56

Yeah the labour was progressing fine!

OP posts:

Pastapoodles · 05/08/2023 16:34

It might be that you had a bit of cervix still overhanging and they do a sweep like motion to push it back. I had this done but I was asked before. It is a big deal that they didn't ask and don't feel silly for thinking that. It's your body and just because they do it day in day out doesn't mean they can treat you like a slab of meat and not ask your permission in regards to your body.
It will be a different experience this time and you will be able to have your partner there to help advocate if you need it

MollyRover · 05/08/2023 16:43

truthhurts23 · 05/08/2023 13:39

Funny exactly the same thing happened to me when I had my first. In any other situation it would be deemed an assault.

Mynotsoperfectlittlefamily · 05/08/2023 17:00

@MollyRover even in these situations it is considered assault. They cannot perform anything on your body without consent it is disgusting that this midwife did OP and I can understand why you are still bothered by it. Don't forget this time that at all times you are entitled to Informed Choice and Informed Consent, use the BRAIN acronym
Benefits
Risks
Alternatives
Intuition
Nothing
Question everything there is a reason that the UK maternity services account for almost half of the compensation claims against the NHS 😔

MollyRover · 05/08/2023 17:12

@Mynotsoperfectlittlefamily I think I knew that at the time but I was still very much all over the place from the 3 day labour. I f*cking hate nurses.

Mynotsoperfectlittlefamily · 05/08/2023 17:19

@MollyRover it's disgusting how women are treated in maternity these days 😔

Redpanda21 · 05/08/2023 18:17

I had a sweep when I was 4-5cm in labour.

She did ask if she could do it, I don’t think she thought I was in proper labour as I wasn’t really having major pain with the contractions. My goodness my contractions and pain ramped up and gave birth an hour later.

I didn’t like my labour midwife at all, she was very rude and announced the sex despite me clearly telling her I wanted hubby to do so.

WoolyMammoth55 · 05/08/2023 18:21

Hi OP, similar happened to me and it definitely left a mental scar.

The (pointedly?) gutting thing was I had specifically written in my birth preference notes "Please don't give me a sweep without my consent". She read it all when we arrived at the Centre and made a point of saying "you don't have to specify that, I would always get your consent"...

4 hours later and she asked if she could check my dilation, which I consented to, and then she decided I wasn't progressing enough and gave me the sweep WITHOUT my consent. It hurt A LOT - I remember the pain was like a knife, she had blood on her glove when she took her hand away. It then caused my contractions to ramp up massively; I ended up having a precipitous final stage, DS popped out on the first push and I got permanent PF damage.

I had a debrief at which the senior midwife said none of these things can be causally linked, and my midwife was a lovely person and would be so sad if she could hear what I was saying about her (!) and wasn't I grateful to be alive with a healthy baby? So it wasn't a great experience and didn't help alleviate the crushing PND and feeling of being violated by someone who I was trusting to support me...

I have had counselling and used EMDR which helps with PTSD and I can recommend that if you can access them... But I had my 2nd baby via ELCS because I couldn't 'risk' a repeat.

Wish you all the best.

Classicalyunderstated · 05/08/2023 19:19

I had this when I was in labour in the assessment room, I was 5cm and she sweeped me without consent, I thought she was as it was realy painful and was taking longer than when they check, she did it again when I was in the delivery room at 5cm still a few hours later and then turfed out of the delivery room to wander about the hospital, having intense contractions. I'm sure the shock of being given a realy painful sweep twice stalled my labour.

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