How much does a membrane sweep really hurt?

[dreamerkr]

Hey guys, I’m currently 36+1 and I have agreed to membrane sweeps at weeks 38, 39 and 40 as I want a VBAC. My 38 week midwife appointment is at 38+4 which is when I will have the sweep, if I don’t naturally go into labour before that (I’m guessing I won’t). Tbh I’m really scared because I’m not good at all with internal examinations. I’ve only had speculum exams before including one last week (which they tried but were unsuccessful as I was too scared) because of reduced movements. Anyway, are they as bad as speculum exams or worse? How much do they hurt? I feel like maybe I’ve made a mistake in choosing VBAC instead of another ELCS.. the only reason I chose VBAC is because maybe the recovery will be easier with a toddler but now I don’t know anymore. I’m more scared of the internal exams than the labour pain.

It’s just uncomfortable in my opinion not painful, iv had two x

I'm the same as you OP and initially refused all sweeps for this reason- ended up having three. Two were fine and one was awful. It all depends on the midwife doing it so really emphasise your fear and that they are to be GENTLE! I don't think there's much solid evidence that sweeps are helpful so you could just refuse?

You could ask that you have an examination to see if you’re likely to be favourable for a sweep? And only agree to one if so?
An experienced midwife should be able to tell. IME they’ve only ever been uncomfortable not painful, but I think I have always been favourable as have been post-date and trying to avoid induction.

You can withdraw consent. Any intervention has risks as well as benefits.
(I never agreed to a sweep but with my first the Midwife said she was "Just checking " and poked her finger up my cervix . I nearly passed out.)
I tried for a vbac without any induction, labour started at 41+1. It all went very swiftly, about 4 hours from waters going to pushing. I did end up with another emcs but only because my second is hyper mobile and a bit floppy so when the midwife got me into a different position for examination he shifted and wouldn't budge.
Really glad I tried though.

I didn't find it painful just uncomfortable, similar to a smear for me.
By the time they are performing the sweep you will be desperate just to have the baby out anyway. I remember I got to the stage where an arm up the foof didn't phase me anymore. 😂

Edit - also to the other poster who doesn't think sweeps are helpful, they kickstarted labour for me within hours so they can definitely help, but only if your body is trying/ready to begin labour.
Without the sweeps I am convinced I would have had an induction.

Thank you so much guys, I do want the sweeps in case they help me to go into labour as otherwise they told me I’m to be induced at 41 weeks and I don’t really want that. I feel so silly though, for being scared of internal examinations. Even when I know that in a lot of cases they’re so important for the baby. I just tense up and it doesn’t work.

Any ways to ‘induce’ labour at home from 37 weeks? I’m willing to try anything tbh. I’ve heard of pineapple, hot curries, long walks and sex, but is there anything else that could possibly help?

I’m not scared of internal examinations and find speculums to be fine but I had a sweep at 39 weeks and really hated it. I went home and cried! It could have just been the midwife who did it but she was very rough and it left me feeling like a farm animal. My cervix wasn’t very favourable at all but she gave it a go anyway and was very forceful. It felt really unnatural to me. When I attended the hospital in labour (a week later) they offered me another one even though I was in labour! Obviously declined that too.

The only time I would have had another one was if I didn’t go into labour before 41+5 as that was when I was booked for induction.

Colostrum harvesting can help. I went into labour with my first (born 37+4) a day after starting to harvest colostrum. I wasn’t trying to induce labour though!

This time I tried everything in the book except dates & raspberry leaf tea! None of it worked and I went into labour at 40 weeks (although, I did have sex with DH the night before).

Thank you so much. Can you start colostrum harvesting at 37 weeks?

Really hurt me if I’m honest, I had it done twice and refused a third and I’m used to having internals and being prodded and poked (lots of gynae issues and endometriosis). I needed gas & air in hospital for the second one. However, dilation rods were worse.

Just wondering why you have to have early sweeps for a vbac? Are you not allowed to go last a certain number of weeks or something?

Mine were painful but manageable. The pain wasn't the problem with mine, it was that I didn't like the midwife doing it and she had acrylic nails on which I only noticed after the fact. Maybe check her hands.

Something that I've always found comforting about anything to do with birth is that billions of women have done it all before and billions will do it again.

Mine were much less uncomfortable than a speculum exam. I had two because I wanted a VBAC and the second one did the trick.

My Second was very painful but I asked her to be very vigorous tbf. Third one did hurt but not as bad.

You don’t have to agree to anything you don’t want and that includes induction. These things are often presented as instructions when they are all choices you can make. My third was 42+4 and Labour was fine as was baby.

I'm ok with speculums, but found the sweep quite painful. But the midwife did do a really good one. TBH there's no point in having one if they do it gently, cos it won't work.

Mine did work, I delivered 2 days later. I think I was more favourable as I'd been eating dates - there's actually fairly good evidence for eating 6 dates a day makes you have shorter labours.

Are you sure you want a VBAC? If you struggle with internal examinations, a VBAC will involve a lot of them as they will have to assess how far dilated you are in the labour. What was the reason for the first elective caesarean? Did you have a difficult recovery?

I've got one next week at 38 exactly. I have an induction 39+4 so very keen to get things going before then.

I've never found smears particularly bad, so if they are similar to that I can manage, mines an ivf pregnancy and I was conscious and aware (I seem to have a high tolerance to sedation) for egg retrieval, which was painful but tolerable. I did however nearly pass out when my coil was put in, and I've heard people compare it to that which scares me.

If she gets her fingers in and I'm completely closed off ill tell midwife not to bother, as my understanding is that the less ready you are the more painful and its not likely to do anything anyway, if you are a bit dilated I've heard it described as more uncomfortable than painful.

You could try colostrum harvesting. I was advised to start at 36 weeks, i did it for 3 days and got mild contraction pains and I stopped as I didn't want baby before 38 weeks and was worried I was risking bringing on labour. Im starting again today as I'll be 38 on Tuesday, in hope that the colostrum brings on the tightenings and pains again. I'm gonna do that once or twice a day, along with bouncing on my ball, squats, raspberry leaf tea, dates etc.

@dreamerkr unless otherwise advised, it’s usually safe to start colostrum harvesting at 37 weeks. Start trying with your hands first. With my first born I hardly got any (not enough to even store in a syringe) but I did go into labour. With DS I went straight in with a hand pump and got loads of the bloody stuff (he’s 6 weeks old and I’ve got 120 syringes in the freezer!) but it didn’t work to induce labour.

As PP said, if you have a VBAC you will be offered vaginal examinations in labour. You don’t have to accept them, but they can help inform staff of how you’re progressing. I ended up having 3 in 20 minutes when I had DS 6 weeks ago, because I was progressing so quickly! I went from 4cm to birth in 26 minutes. I would say though, vaginal examinations in labour are relatively painless (for me) because the labour pains are so intense that they drain everything else out.

@dreamerkr I've literally just come back from a sweep and it was uncomfortable but definitely bearable. I picked a spot on the ceiling and just fixed my eyes there, doing some deep breathing. I did ask the midwife to go slowly (I am one of this people who really struggle with smear tests, I just close up). It was about a minute of actual prodding and poking, Felt a bit uncomfortable afterwards (nothing has been up there for 9 months!) but definitely not painful. Turns out I was 2cm dilated so I don't know if that makes a difference to how it feels?

Now trying to work out if my backache is early labour, wind, constipation or where I sat funny in the car. Pregnancy is such a laugh...!

I’ve had a couple and they didn’t hurt at all

I had one and it was honestly horrific, there's not a chance I'd get one again, it really affected me and impacted me during my next pregnancy. It really wasn't worth it

Also like a previous poster said you can say no to being induced and ask for monitoring instead

I’d say uncomfortable rather than painful. And you can just ask them to stop if you want to. No harm trying. I definitely think it got labour going with my first.

Just to add. The sweep worked for me with my third

I've had 3 overdue babies and I've lost count of how many sweeps I've had that haven't done anything. Last time I decided I was going to concentrate on getting my oxytocin going and keeping my stress down and he was the least 'late'! No sweeps, lots of naps, baths, cuddles, movie nights with the kids. I did do the dates and the raspberry leaf tea but nothing that felt difficult. I actually think what helped most was going for my 'post dates' scan where the sonographer said, 'hes fine, as long as you're happy' as I was so worried about another induction. He arrived the next day 😊 your headspace makes a big difference to what your body does. You can refuse sweeps and internal exams if you want, they all carry risks as well as potential benefits. In a midwife led setting (ime) they're very optional as they don't tell you an awful lot about what is going to happen next. Good luck with your vbac 😊