• Welcome back! The Xenforo Cloud migration is now complete. Thank you for your patience! NOTE: please make sure to report any issues to our Technical Support forum and we'll review ASAP.

A question about your cervix ??

johnoblueshoe

Expecting number 5
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
Messages
1,927
Reaction score
0
I get the whole dialation of cervix bit that it has to get to 10cm so you can labour your baby but what i cant get my head round is all these other MW terms...so was hoping someone could explain them to me what they all mean and how and when they happen....i know its in the last stages of pregnancy but what order etc....:wacko: ( ripening / softening / effacement / thinning / dilation ....

please dont think im thick as i know you have to thin out and dilate but if your checking your own cervix how will this thinning feel does it mean your cervix becomes lower to reach ??
 
I have no idea either hun, all i know is that in labour, the 1st stage is contractions
which dilate your cervix, the 2nd stage, where you've reached 10cms and start
to push your baby out, and the 3rd stage, where the placenta is delivered.
I have no idea about thinning ect of the cervix, ive never tried to touch mine,
i just leave well alone as things happen when they happen, regardless of me
knowing about it or not. x
 
I think some of the terms are interchangeable.
My pregnancy book describes the cervix like a very thick doughnut... it not only has to get bigger in the center hole (dilation) but it also get thinner and flatter too like a pancake with a hole in the center (effacement, thinning)

I don't know if ripening and softening of the cervix are the same as effacement/thinning or are part of it.
I believe its supposed to get thinner before it starts dilating but I don't know if thats required, if it can happen super fast or what... (it gets soft in perparation to thin out, then gets thinner, then start dilating etc)
 
I don't agree that ignorance is bliss - it's very empowering to learn about your own body and sometimes that actually helps with understanding why we have to let nature take its course.

Johnoblueshoe, you've asked a good question cos' i wasnt clear myself. Thinning and effacement are the same thing - your cervix is like a long tube right now (mine was measured as 4 cm at last scan). When it thins or effaces, it becomes flatter and flatter.

Dilation refers to the hole in the centre of your tube-like cervix - it starts to open up wider and wider as you approach labour.

Hope this doesn't further confuse!
 
This image will help explain what I meant by the cervix being long and tube-like and then thinning out: https://library.med.utah.edu/kw/human_reprod/mml/hrphysioL01.gif
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
1,650,189
Messages
27,141,076
Members
255,672
Latest member
mummynugs
Back
Top
monitoring_string = "c48fb0faa520c8dfff8c4deab485d3d2"