does anyone know if the doctors give internal exams before you go into labour ?

Question

i am 38 1/2 wks and have an antinatal appointment tomorrow im wondering if hospitals give internals seeing as ive only got 12 days till my due date. the reason im asking is because i go on a website about pregnancy and they our all talking about being dialated and being effaced and they are only the same weeks pregnant as i am any help would be great x

Answer 1

Yes they will check to see if you are dialated and how soft/hard your cervix is

Answer 2

effacing is the thinning of the cervix that happens normally before or during the early hours of labour, the midwife wont need to examine before labour you unless there is a need - you have had a lot of stomach pains/ you go over your due date/ you are leaking fluid and not sure if its amniotic fluid etc. what they were talking about was probably a "stretch and sweep" where the midwife will try and stir up the membranes a little to get labour going, they insert a finger and wiggle it around if the cervix is open enough. there is no need for this to be done unless you are over due. dont worry about it, and anything you dont want done you have the right to refuse so even if they did tell you to "adopt the position" you dont have to as long as you know why you were asked in the first place.

Answer 3

My MW doesn't do internals because the information they provide is useless. You can be 5 cms dilated for a month or more or you could be a fingertip and go into labor the next day. Try not to stress over it too much...baby will come when s/he is ready. I'm 39.5 weeks so I completely understand what you are going through and would like some sort of encouragement that things are moving along...even though I KWOW it will happen when baby is ready.

Answer 4

hi there you will get an internal for a number of reasons. Firstly if you get to your due date and have not gone into spontaneous labour they will offer you a sweep which is an internal where they rub the top of your cervix to encourage labour. Also you will have an internal when you are in labour ie arrive at the hospital as they need to check how far on you are,
I am a bit of a prude and was dreading it but trust me you will not care

Best of luck its soo worth it

Answer 5

I started asking my doctor to check me at 37 weeks with my last pregnancy. I was having real contractions like crazy and was only at 1cm. But at 39 weeks I went to 2 cm and was induced 1 day before my due date.

Answer 6

i asked the same question a couple of weeks ago. I am 40 weeks tomorrow and i havnt had one yet. I am the same as you i have read alot of women saying that they knew this and wondered how/why?
I think it all depends on where you live, which country for example.
From what i have been told in the uk you wont get checked for this until you are in labour!

good luck and congratulations.

Answer 7

In the Uk they will not routinely do an internal until you actually go into labour. It seems that in the US this is done fairly regularly in the later stages of pregnancy. I live in the UK and had no internals till I went in to be induced.

Answer 8

My doctor never gave me an internal exam. I never knew how effaced or dialated I was until I went into labor.

Answer 9

Generally your physician will check your cervix to see if you are dilating at this time in your pregnancy. At your stage, it is very likley that you may be dilating and not even know it. I guess it would depend on what you are feeling. Are you having and contractions or even any cramping? Are you leaking any fluids? All this should be addressed with you OB/GYN.

Answer 10

They have drastically reduced the number of internals you get during pregnancy now - once upon a time, you were checked virtually every appointment!

Answer 11

No, never had anything like that before i went to hospital in labour unless your late or theres a problem they shouldn't for risk of infections