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Going Into Labor Can Be A Scary Things: Here Is What Soon-To-Be Mothers Can Expect During Examination

Going into labor: When soon-to-be mothers are about to give birth they often wonder what their hospital or birth center’s patient care procedures are. Basically what the examination will be like throughout labor.

And, they also try to picture what it’s going to be like in labor. I was terrified at the thought of how labor was going to turn out, mostly how this little being was coming out!

Going into labor is actually unique for every women, but the procedures for it is fairly standard and the events experienced is likely to also be fairly standard.

One such standard procedure is to have a nurse or doctor do an internal examination while in labor to determine if the cervix has changed in any way, shape or form. Or in other words, they need to know if you are or have dilated.

Going Into Labor: The Process

If you’re curious about the labor process – how it’s assessed and what you can possibly anticipate from the experience

Is The Exam Going To Be Uncomfortable?

The majority of moms, at the end of their pregnancy, need to undergo a cervical exam (or pelvic exam). Labor cervical exams are typically done with the woman laying down on the bed, on her back with her knees bent and legs permitted to relax.

Easier said than done of course.

I screamed bloody murder when my OB tried to do a exam on me during labor and she walked out saying, “get the epidural!”.

While prenatal exams tend to include stirrup use, a laboring woman can generally put her feet on the bed, close to her bottom.

When an internal examination is being done, it’s important to take slow, deep breaths so the vaginal muscles are relaxed. The more relaxed a woman is, the easier it is for her doctor to get to the cervix. The cervix is high up in the vagina, especially during early labor.

The exam could be either extremely painful or just uncomfortable – this depends on the woman.

However, going into labor for soon-to-be mothers, expect to know what’s going on and they look forward to this exam to attain that data… unpleasant or not.

4 Common Words Said During A Cervical Exam

While in labor, your doctor will do an exam and give you an update, using some very big and scary words.

What are some common terms you’ll hear your doctor say?

Cervical Ripening

During the early stages of labor, possibly even in a late prenatal visit, your doctor may say your cervix is ripening, which means it’s softened and potentially a little dilated. Ripeness just means your body is getting himself ready for the labor process.

Dilation

This is the width of the cervix when it’s open. Dilation will start before the labor process does and is measured in centimeters. In the majority of deliveries, the cervix has to dilate to 10 centimeters before a woman can start pushing and the baby is delivered. Why 10 centimeters? That’s usually because a full-term baby’s head is roughly 10 centimeters across.

Effacement

This is the shortening of the cervix. It’s similar to dilation, beginning before or during the early labor. Before this process can occur, the cervix is a bottleneck, typically around four centimeters. When it begin, the cervix will shorten, drawing up into the uterus to become a part of the lower uterine wall. Effacement is measured in percentages… all the way up to 100 percent (paper-thin cervix).

Station

This is the description of the baby’s head and where it’s located in the pelvis. This is important information because doctors need to know how far the baby is in the birth canal.

This is done by feeling where the baby is laying to in relation to the ischial spines, which protrude slightly in the birth canal and is felt within the vagina.

Station is done in a measurement range of minus five to plus five. When a baby is at minus five station, it means the baby is located above the pelvis. At zero station, the baby is engaged in the pelvis and the head is laying at the level of the ischial spines.

At a plus five, the baby head can be seen at the vagina opening (called crowning).

Some practitioners employ a minus three to plus three scale.

What Happens To The Cervix In The Latent Phase

At the beginning of your wonderful pain of labor, a cervical exam is going to be a little more uncomfortable than they are when the labor progresses.

That’s because the practitioner will need to reach high up in the vagina to determine where the cervix is.

In the latent phase, the baby’s head hasn’t yet gotten down into the pelvis. A baby’s head will cause the cervix to drop closer to the opening of the vagina.

As the labor continues, the cervix moves to the front and is far more accessible, which should make for more comfortable exams.

During this phase, the cervix will dilate from one to four centimeters (think silver dollar size). By the time this phase ends, the effacement is 100 percent.

What Happens To The Cervix In The Active Phase

In the active phase, the cervix has a typical dilation of four to five centimeters. And, for each hour of labor, the cervix will dilate even more, and it continues until it finally hits 10 centimeters.

In this time, there is a small amount of bleeding from the cervix, known as the bloody show. At this point, the mother may feel some pelvic pressure and an urge the push as the baby gets into her pelvis.

If a woman isn’t completely dilated, she shouldn’t push because it can cause the cervix to rip open.

What Happens To The Cervix In The Transition Phase

The active labor phase also includes the transition phase, which starts when the cervix has dilated to around seven to eight centimeters and occurs until it’s fully dilated at 10 centimeter. When full dilation has been reached, the action to bear down and push a baby out begins.

Before long, the baby a woman has wanted to meet will be born. Of course, this is the best and most worthwhile part.

Read more on my personal story here.