What happens at a cervical length scan after previous premature births?

[Lew96]

Having a cervical length scan this week to check the length as had 2 prem babies previously, i was just wondering what actually happens do they check baby too or is that unlikely?

In my experience the consultant would measure my cervix and do a quick check of babies, but no scan photos or anything like that.

Oh right no didn't think there would be any photos but would be nice to see a peak in of baby!

Yeah on mine they did check the babies I was having twins and was really high risk so that also might have been why but it was pretty much like a normal scan. I ended up with an emergency stitch when mine shortened but On a positive note whilst they were still a little prem no where near as much as previous pregnancies and now they are lovely yet slightly grumpy 13 year olds!

Oh i thought a stitch was to stop pre term labour? How early were they? Well thats good! Hahah sums up a teenager really

I had stitch at 22w as my cervix got very short very quickly they were born at 34w. I had had a previous neonatal loss at 24w which was why I was having scans. From memory I had them every 4 weeks initially and then more often as the length did decrease

Oh right, that's good they managed to stay till 34! Im so sorry for your loss!
My consultant said ill be having one from 16 weeks and then only 2 more if everything looks alright... im just abit nervous about it all! Dont know why!

My experience was that my consultant didn’t want to do too many cervical checks unless it had shortened because it had to be done internally and obviously this can carry some risk of introducing infection to the cervix…

I had a premature loss due to incompetent cervix. Then had a pre pregnancy stitch placed which held twins until 34 weeks. I think I probably had 3 checks on the cervix during pregnancy and none after 27 weeks.

I think mine started at 14w the something like 18 which had shortened lots then 20 and 22 then had the stitch. Nothing after that though for same reasons as pomegranate said

There’s different types of stitch. A preventative stitch is usually placed 12-16 weeks. An emergency stitch tends to be a bit later, once the cervix seems to be shortening. Stitches are usually placed at the opening and this is fine for most people but sometimes stitches need to be placed higher up. I had a loss at 21w, then in my next pregnancy a stitch was placed at 13w. I had to really fight for this as I’d ‘only’ had one loss so it didn’t confirm incompetent cervix. However the stitch started failing at 21w and I had a second stitch put in - that failed at 24w but thankfully my little one is now a happy 9 year old.

With all the trauma of bereavement, NICU and IVF, we couldn’t face trying again.

Edited to add: there’s also the pre-pregnancy stitch mentioned by previous poster. I would have this if I’d wanted another pregnancy given my stitches failed.

Oh right i didnt know there was different stitches that could be done, i dont feel like they give you enough information just like tell you they might and send you on your way... i feel so much better going into it with abit more information so thank you everyone for the replies

I had a cervical length scan at 16 weeks due to being at risk of preterm labour. My cervix was in the normal range 37mm) and then I had a follow up scan at 22 weeks which showed my cervix had shortened to 26mm, so still in “normal” range, but it shouldn’t have been shortening at that stage. They started me on progesterone and I had another scan 2 weeks later which showed it hadn’t shortened anymore. I’m 35 weeks now and I’m on 2x progesterone pessaries every day until 36 weeks. At the scan, they did a quick abdominal ultrasound to check baby’s positioning and the cervix, and then did a transvaginal ultrasound. Hope your scans go okay!

I had them every few weeks from 16 weeks due to a second trimester loss. They always scanned baby too and gave me a photo. I found them very reassuring. I hope they help you too.

Just thought id update had my scan yesterday she scanned baby just before, told me the sex! My cervix measurement was 39.9mm even when she put pressure on my stomach it never changed which was good, so have another scan in 3 weeks time! Thank you for everyone who replied giving their experiences i really appreciate it, made me feel so much calmer going into it knowing what to expect

How many weeks were you when they gave you a stitch

22/23