I'm confused about what the "soft" part means. Can someone help me out? I'm 37 1/2 weeks and have been dilated 1cm for a week now. When I dilated to the 1cm my doctor said my cervix was "long" and today he says it's "soft"....I'm so confused to the terminology.
2007-08-31 04:29:18 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
Fyi, I did ask him to explain it to me but he used all these medical terms and it kind of got a bit confusing.
2007-08-31 04:40:40 · update #1
Soft means effaced. You need to be 100% effaced to give birth, and dilated to 10. I was 100% effaced and dialted to 2 for 7 days before going into labor.
The long part is hard for me to explain unless you have ever felt your cervix. It gets longer when you are pregnant, sorta like a hotdog, but not quite as long.
2007-08-31 04:34:09 · answer #1 · answered by Melissa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes soft is another term for effacement. The cervix has length to it, like the neck of a bottle. A long cervix is like the neck on a beer bottle. An "effaced" cervix is one that has lost some length and become more like the neck of a mayonnaise jar. A full-length cervix is between 3 and 5 centimeters long. Where does it go when it effaces? The cervix gets pulled up to become part of the lower uterus until all the cervix is gone; at that point the uterus really just has an opening at the bottom to let the baby out, and there's no longer any "bottle neck."
2007-08-31 11:50:27 · answer #2 · answered by guerafla05 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As you know, the cervix is the opening to the uterus. It somewhat resembles a mini-doughnut with a small opening in the middle. In pregnancy, it is approximately 2-3 cm long, meaning the thickness of that doughnut is 2-3 cm. In early labor, the cervix will slowly thin out to become completely flat and 'effaced', such that the uterus will transform itself from being 'balloon'-shaped to a more circular shape with an opening at the end. In order to thin out, the cervix is considered 'soft', which means it is ready to thin out. After the cervix is completely effaced, then the opening will gradually become bigger, dilating to 10cm, so that the baby's head can come out.
2007-08-31 11:46:39 · answer #3 · answered by loulie 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The way that I understood it when I was pregnant was that the cervix has to get "soft" before you can start effacing (sp). Basically you should be going into labor really soon. Congrats!
2007-08-31 11:36:01 · answer #4 · answered by Skylie B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that maybe he meant that you are becoming effaced. They usually give a percentage though, you should ask him next time you go. It's important to have an idea as to what the doctor means. Don't be afraid to have him or her explain things to you where you can completely understand what they say-afterall that's what they get paid for! Lol. Good luck!!
2007-08-31 11:38:17 · answer #5 · answered by Edith 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋