mw wont do sweep unless baby is engaged?!

[nickynora]

So I had my last midwife check today before they tru and get my labour going next week.

I have a sweep booked for monday and wednesday, and induction booked for thursday!

Today the midwife said that they won't do a sweep unless baby is engaged - which she is not

She didn't say why and I didn't think to ask.

Does anyone know the reason ffor this and is it normal practice esp when consultant has requested it?

Thanks x

 

[xsadiex]

Maybe it won't work if head isn't engaged as there will be no pressure? Not sure though!
I live in Worthing too

 

[Mrsmac02]

Midwife said the exact same thing to my friend last week. She said the mw said it was 'dangerous', goodness knows why it would be dangerous right enough!!

Anyway, her waters broke two days later and she had her little boy on Monday morning so never ever got to find out

 

[Katteh]

It's because if you have a sweep and your waters go when baby isn't engaged then there's a risk of cord prolapse, where the cord comes through your cervix and baby's blood supply is cut off x

 

[nickynora]

Ok that makes some sense but when I spoke to the consltant her plan for thursday was to break my waters to induce labour (as she said it should be farily easy to do as second baby so cervix probably wont be a tightly closed this time)

Would that not carry the same riskss if baby is not engaged?

Confused

 

[Katteh]

If the consultant does it they can at least check that the cord hasn't prolapsed and if it did they can act accordingly, whereas if it happened at home it can be fatal for baby. I should probably add that it's rare, but I remember being told about it when pregnant with my first!x

 

[nickynora]

Yeah I guess that makes sense.


Oh well, will just have to see what happens on monday, though I can't see her being engaged though I suppose she might suprise me over the weekend.

Part of me hopes she does as she is running out of room - my fundal height is only 34, but according to growth scan she's averaging 3/4 weeks ahead already no wonder it hurts when she moves

 

[Evansangel]

I'm pretty sure I read that second babies sometimes don't engage until labour as they can pop in and out.


I did a quick google and found this...https://www.askamum.co.uk/Birth/Search-Results/Giving-birth/Giving-birth-for-a-second-time/
It says that second babies sometimes dont even engage until after labour has begun!

 

[CaptainMummy]

When I was a few days overdue with my dd, I went in for a sweep. She had been engaged the week before. I got my clothes off ready to go... and MW said "oh heads not engaged, cant do it... sorry!"

I was a bit gutted to say the least! (Ended up being induced)

 

[Guppy051708]

Cord prolapse risk when the baby isn't engaged.
One risk of a sweep (though doesn't happen often) is the water bag breaking-def not something you want with a free floating baby bc of the risk of cord prolapse.
Also, im not sure a sweep would be too effective if the baby isn't engaged yet, but im sure like all things it could work for some ppl.

You are right though, with 2+ babies they dont always engage until labor. I had 2-3 sweeps with DS1 and he was fully engaged and i still went 41+5 and the sweeps never worked. I didn't have any sweeps with DS2 and he was floating around and yet i went 38+3. Reguardless if second+ babies dont engage until labor, it still carries a risk to sweep and have cord prolapse.

If you are trying to get your LO engaged you might try bouncing on a birth ball or taking a long walk. Squating may also help.

 

[nickynora]

I'm pretty sure I read that second babies sometimes don't engage until labour as they can pop in and out.


I did a quick google and found this...https://www.askamum.co.uk/Birth/Search-Results/Giving-birth/Giving-birth-for-a-second-time/
It says that second babies sometimes dont even engage until after labour has begun!

If this is the case (which thinking about it I had heard before) then I can't figure out why the consultant would ask for 2 sweeps to be done if noone will do them

Argh now beginning to think its a waste of time

 

[Katteh]

Probably because they don't know if baby will be engaged or not and it can change frequently! This is my second and baby has been fully engaged for the past week or so x

 

[nickynora]

Cord prolapse risk when the baby isn't engaged.
One risk of a sweep (though doesn't happen often) is the water bag breaking-def not something you want with a free floating baby bc of the risk of cord prolapse.
Also, im not sure a sweep would be too effective if the baby isn't engaged yet, but im sure like all things it could work for some ppl.

You are right though, with 2+ babies they dont always engage until labor. I had 2-3 sweeps with DS1 and he was fully engaged and i still went 41+5 and the sweeps never worked. I didn't have any sweeps with DS2 and he was floating around and yet i went 38+3. Reguardless if second+ babies dont engage until labor, it still carries a risk to sweep and have cord prolapse.

If you are trying to get your LO engaged you might try bouncing on a birth ball or taking a long walk. Squating may also help.

Jus confuses me as to why the consultant would ask to have them done if there's little chance of anyone actually doing them - esp as her plan is to try inducing labour by breaking my waters anyway?

I do lots of walking, I walk an hr everyday doing school run so thats clearly not helped yet lol, and unfortunately I don't have a birthing ball

Just confused by it all really as I never had this with my first. I know the chances of a sweep doing anything are slim to say the least (I had 3 with my first but none worked), its just frustrating as I have to go out of my way to get to the clinic to have them done, not to mention my oh has to catch train to work so I can uee the car to get there, then there's child care for my lb

Oh well not a lot I can do if they wont do it.

 

[Guppy051708]

I think it probably has more to do with a little hope and little bit of what Katteh said, some veteran moms WILL engage before labor. And the consultant probably figures that is the lowest intervention possible, so suggested it. There is no way to know if a woman will have an engaged baby or not unless they check. Not to mention, some medical professionals dont even realize that not all babies engage before labor. I know it's such an easy thing to learn but some just arn't thinking that far in advance.

Sometimes babies just dont engage early. You are doing everything right, but once youve done everything, i know its hard, but try to relax and remind yourself that if the baby doesn't engage and you can't get a sweep, they dont always work anyways. And if the baby does engage and you get your sweep, then fabulous! Hopefully it works.

 

[nickynora]

I suppose it was wishful thinking on my part

Oh well x

 

[Guppy051708]

you still have a bit of time. I hope baby engages and you can get your sweep

Have you thought about trying EPO? While it wont induce labor or act like a sweep, it can really help at softening the cervix so if you were to get induced it might make the process faster. Or best case scenario you just go into labor before the eviction date

 

[nickynora]

Eviction date is next week, I'm being induced regardless by looks of things!

I was just thinking every little helps lol esp if it makes the induction easier.

Like I said I never had any of this last time around as I didn't have GD and my labour started spontaneously (eventually).