Attempted membrane sweep extremely painful, now terrified for induction and VEs tomorrow

[Mistborn]

Hi all,
So community midwife attempted a membrane sweep this morning. I wasn't expecting it to be pleasant but I was shocked at just how painful it was. She said she could feel my cervix was soft but opted to stop as she wasn't happy with the level of pain I was in so didn't attempt to see if I was dilated at all etc She also said she'd recommend in my notes I get gas and air for any further attempts as I'm booked for induction tomorrow.
I feel like a failure already. FTM and was already anxious for induction but I'm now terrified of inevitable further sweeps or vaginal exams. I guess I'm looking for others experience, has anyone else had painful failed membrane sweeps then VEs that weren't as bad in hospital. I honestly think I'm more nervous for internal checks more than the actual birth at this point :/

You don’t have to accept anything they are offering you. internal exams are completely unnecessary and sweeps are not proven to work.
Why are you booked in for induction?

Sorry about your experience. I had the opposite experience - the one from the midwife in the clinic didn't hurt at all, then I had two excruciating ones in hospital. It was a male midwife who I was told in my birth debrief had been warned about it before (!) and has since left the hospital. All times I wasn't dilated so they couldn't do a proper sweep but it was absolute agony - I was screaming profanities, the poor other people in the induction bay must have been horrified. Shortly after the final one my waters broke and I heard him say to another woman that he'd tried to 'help her along' so I wonder if it was intentionally rough? This is my only experience but I think it must be about the technique of the midwife as my first one was just like a smear, I barely felt it.

In my debrief the consultant midwife said it shouldn't hurt and that any practitioner should stop at the first sign of pain and check if I wanted to carry on. So don't forgot you can say you want to stop or decline altogether if it's too painful.

Do not go into hospital. Go to FB and find homebirth uk run by Samantha Gadsden Doula.

You don't need to be having a homebirth to benefit from the amazing advice and support you get there.

This

Also this

For my second baby, my consultant gave me a sweep when I was 39+6 at my request, to try and avoid induction at 40+2.

It was bloody painful. Absolutely.

I went into spontaneous labour 36 hours later at 40+1. I had one VE when I arrived at hospital and it wasn’t painful, I was in full blown labour (8cm dilated) so it was uncomfortable. I also had some VEs during my first labour and they didn’t hurt at all.

Any VE will be more painful if you are anxious though, so I would recommend talking to future midwives about your concerns and they will help. Good luck!

Why do have to be induced, op? From my understanding you can be fourteen days overdue before induction. I'm happy to be corrected if guidelines have changed.

You can decline VEs however if you've been induced the VEs are more important to see if you're progressing and if they need to increase the drip etc so they become more essential (although AFAIK you can still decline them). Is the induction necessary as this is perhaps leading you to these interventions / VEs you don't want?

I consented to having my waters broken to 'start things off'

What I did not consent to was having a very rough sweep of membranes - I didn't even know what was happening but the pain made me nearly vomit - I asked afterwards someone else what had happened and they just dismissed my concerns with 'oh yeah, they call him 'the vet''

It was just the start of a disastrous labour cycle of interventions that caused both myself and my child damage.

I had my other children at home. I did try to avoid VEs and explained to my main midwife why but was bullied my the one who attended me in labour saying she would have to go home if I didn't consent as she didn't think I was in labour as she didn't think I was in enough pain.

5 minutes later after an unwanted VE she called the other midwife to 'come now as she's fully dilated' However even though I was tense and scared, she was very gentle and the VE was genuinely painless.

Please have someone with you who can advocate for you when you're in pain because it's amazing how vulnerable you can feel during labour, even if you're normally a noisy sort of individual. (Not saying you are, just knowing I am)

Consent is required for all interventions, but some HCPs are not above leveraging the fear for your life and your baby's life to get you to do what is convenience for them.

Also to add, I'm so sorry you're feeling like a failure - you really aren't!
Maternity services have policies and procedures that don't suit all women. You are deemed late if more than 40 weeks but in reality a baby will usually be born between 37 and 42 weeks, remember it's an estimated due date. It makes sense that all women are different and grow babies at different rates.
I read Milli Hill and she had 3 births, the first she was induced as she was "late" but decided to stick it out for the 2nd two babies and they were born spontaneously and healthily at 42 weeks. Some women just take longer.
Policies and procedures are in place for a reason of course but they don't suit everyone. Just because you don't fit in the ideal birth mould doesn't mean you've done anything wrong.

@HippeePrincess that is dangerous disinformation. Sometimes they're needed. Sometimes babies would die without inductions or monitoring. It will have happened to someone on this thread.

I had a very painful sweep - like a contraction. Went into labour 12 hours later. Fingers crossed you will be the same.

Absolutely gas and air. This was me in my first pregnancy. Planned induction due to GD after 3 failed sweeps.

Glad it's already in your notes but ask as soon when you arrive and explain that you are nervous.

Good luck!

How far overdue are you, OP? I refused sweeps/exams/induction and was fully planning on going up to 14 days over my due date. I went into spontaneous labour 12 days overdue. It's your body and you do not have to agree to anything you're not comfortable with.

Did I say anything that indicated that some women and babies don’t “need” monitoring or intervention? No I did not.

I informed the OP she doesn’t need to accept everything that’s offered. And I asked if there was a reason for induction.

Theres no misinformation in my post, dangerous or otherwise. And no one needs to agree to an induction either, if early birth was deemed necessary for a very good reason in any of my pregnancies, then I would have declined induction and chosen an elective C-section as I researched the risks associated with both options and preferred the C-section.

Hi,
I had an induction last year and had a very rough membrane sweep. It was so painful and the doctor who did it held me down with one hand and did it with his other. It was excruciating and I was so worried about everything that was to come. I ended up having my water broken which was fine and a normal delivery. If anything the sweep was the worst part but it definitely helped to start the process. Please try to rest and just take everything as it comes.

You can ask for gas and air and other pain relief during sweeps and examinations! Don’t be afraid to ask.

How many weeks are you? As long as there’s no medical need you don’t have to be induced if you don’t want to. You have the option of regular monitoring or elective section if you decide induction isn’t for you.

With DC1 I had a sweep around the 40 weeks mark and I was shocked at how painful it was and told the midwife to stop. I ended up going very overdue and had a second sweep at 41+5 and I found it far more comfortable. I was prepared and I asked her to be really really gentle. I managed to breathe through it and I found it a much more manageable experience and I went into labour the next day.

I think the pain of a sweep is downplayed a lot of the time and also if baby isn’t ready then baby isn’t ready. I had a very early sweep at 38 weeks with DC2 (ended up with an elective section in the end for various other reasons) and whilst it was less painful the midwife did say that in her experience sweeps only really work if baby is ready to come!

Just one last thought, you do not ever have to consent to anything you don’t wish to do. Too often in pregnancy it is assumed we don’t have any opinions or preferences whereas in actual fact the ball is always in our court. I went very overdue with DC1. Everyone thought I was mad but when I went into labour I felt really ready for it and I’m glad I waited. Another friend delayed her early induction by two days and ended up going into labour after a sweep. Trust your instincts.

I was induced and found internal exams so incredibly painful. I asked for gas and air but because I wasn't in established labour so they refused.

Once they realised how painful it was for me how many contractions I was having within 10 mins they quickly changed their tune and I was given gas and air for internals.

I could deal with the contractions but absolutely couldn't handle internal examinations. I was induced with a pessary but hyper stimulated and so this may be why, and every time they examined me, my cervix was bleeding a lot so I don't know if that had something to do with it.

Two days before I was induced my midwife tried to give me a sweep and I didn't find painful but that was because she couldn't actually reach my cervix to do it!

Just to also add that you absolutely can refuse the induction but I want to share my experience that if I had refused my induction my son could have been incredibly poorly.

I had oligohydramnios (low waters) this is why I was induced. When my son was born he had a rash all over his body and so they suspected sepsis and he went to special care. Had I declined the induction to wait and see, he would have been even more poorly than he was and so I'm glad I had the induction.

This is specific to my situation though so just make your own decisions based on your circumstances and gut feeling. Wishing you the very best

You do not have to have internal examinations if you don’t want to, especially find it intrusive or painful I’ve had several pregnancies and have Dc and have never had an internal examination. I knew I would not be able to manage such an invasive procedure, so I declined. This was only questioned twice through the years and neither time was it actually needed.

At the very least you can ask why it is required and if it’s anything to do with progress or shift changes (the reasons given to me) you can ask yourself in the moment if that’s actually worth it to you.

I have had a few different sweeps across 2 pregnancies and most have been fine but then one in particular I had was just HORRIFIC, and I can assure you they are not all like that and it is not you having a low pain threshold or anything. I think all midwives do them differently, I had one a couple days before that that was totally manageable.
I said to the midwife can you please stop and then start again but slowwwwly. She was adamant that slowing down would make no difference etc but I just knew it would, she was like a bull in a china shop. So she went in again slower and as expected it was much much better but still more painful than the way other had done
It before. As a result I added to my birth plan that all vaginal exams need to be done very slowly and allow me time to breathe through the pain.
I think some midwives rush them thinking it will be nice for you if they just make it quick, but I think it just causes the pain to overwhelm you!
I also found focusing on my breathing through pain of labour just sooooo helpful so I highly recommend brushing up on that in prep if you haven't already!
Good luck!!

I was traumatised by the birth of my second child because of the rough membrane sweeps I had, I went in for an induction and the midwife put in the pessary which was working, when she came back she said "i will just give you a good sweep to speed things up" never told me it would be painful as I had one by my community midwife previously that wasn't, I was screaming so much no sound was coming out! When I had my third child I refused all internal examinations because of the trauma and the midwives when I was in labour had to persuade me to let them check for dilation and i had to have gas and air so they could do it, thankfully that was painless but I am still very traumatised by it and you are allowed to refuse anything they say they can't force you to have anything done so be firm and say no if you aren't comfortable

I threw up from the pain of a sweep at the hospital. I was supposed to be having an ELCS but went into spontaneous labour at 40+2 before they had done it and ended up with an EMCS after no progression.

OP in my experience the worst thing about it all was the sweeps. I rang my friend crying as I didnt want to ve induced as a result (of the pain) and she said the sweep was worse than labour. It was the same for me.