Stretch And Sweep What Is It? How Reliable Is it?

Question

ive never heard of this before, what is it? what do they do how long does it take and more importantly does it work?

im 40 weeks + 5 days sweep is tomorrow x

Answer 1

Hi,

A stretch and sweep is a proceedure a midwife or doctor can perform on an overdue pregnant woman by her request.

The midwife will insert her fingers into your vagina and up towards your cervix where she will effectively "sweep" the membranes around that area. This can trigger labour, if you have had a show or your waters break within 48 hours then your sweep has been successful but not every sweep will work.

They will only do this if you ask them and only if you are overdue as it won't work if you are not, the more overdue you are the more likely it is to work.

I hope this has answered your question and i bit of personal advice here, unless you are absolutely, positively DESPERATE to get your baby out i wouldn't have one doen as mine was excrutiatingly painful.

Answer 2

Stretch And Sweep Success Rate

Answer 3

It's also called "sweeping the membranes" and involves the midwife agitating (fiddling with!) the cervix and any part of the membrances surrounding the baby that she can feel while doing a vaginal examination. It's quick, but can be uncomfortable or a bit painful. It can stimulate release of the hormone prostaglandin which is involved in triggering labour, but will probably only work if you're almost good to go already. Given that anything up to 42 weeks is normal, you could have a while to wait yet, or this might just set things off - worth a try!

Good luck :-)

Answer 4

Stretch And Sweep Nhs

Answer 5

If you are that far along a stretch and sweep is probably going to get things kicking especially if you have already dilated 1-2cm. It just means they are going to insert 2 fingers (gross I know!!) and litterally stretch the opening of the cervix and hopefully dislodge the mucus plug and get your cervix into action! It sometimes is a little uncomfortable but not overly painful and you should be fine once its over. You will probably lose your plug within 24-48 hours after its done, if you haven't already lost it. Its nothing to worry over so don't get stressed about it.

Good luck and I hope your baby makes its appearance soon!
Very jealous of you right now, I'm still trying to convince hubby to have another one and wish I was pregnant!!

Answer 6

It's where the midwife stretches your cervix and sweeps to try and get the mucus plug moving. It's quite uncomfortable but if you're relaxed and the midwife is good it's over quite quickly. It can be quite effective, more so if you are already starting to dilate. It is quite invasive but those are the indignities of pregnancy and labor!

One thing I would say is think carefully before the epidural, it can cause back problems in later life. If you're not totally convinced you'll need it don't have it. Yes the labor is painful but once it's all over it's soon forgotten. I've had all 4 of mine on gas and air and one of them was 12lb 5!

Answer 7

Hi, the others have pretty much answered your question but just wanted to say, continue with caution......
This was done with one of my pregnancies and the midwife didnt tell she was going to do it, I was 2 days over due date that was all. She did a sweep - it was excruciatingly painful, made me cry. I couldnt wait to get out the room and back to hubby. Had pain all day and night after that and yes, I went into labour sometime during the following night but I would never ever have it again. Please dont take it lightly. I felt like I'd been violated. I still remember the pain now, years later. I believe the baby arrives when its ready - that's nature!
Take care

Answer 8

It's really just what it says they strech your cervix and sweep a finger around your membrain to hopefully set you off in labour, you can bleed from this! It desn't take very long atall however it doesn't allways work, someone I know had this 3 lots of jelly thats ment to set you into labour and finally had to have her waters broke she wa 2weeks 4 days over due
Good luck

Answer 9

Its a sweep of the cervix - and yes, it usually starts labour!

Just an internal basically. Good luck.

Answer 10

Yes, it does work - it burst my waters. Didn't hurt, just felt uncomfortable. And very wet! They just stretch the cervix, and try break the watersac. I had this done because my son was due on 5th Oct and didn't arrive until the 19th! Good luck.