Why do people say they dont want vaginal examinations?

[Mellybelle]

Believe me hun, when its time to start pushing, you'll know!!! No one will need to tell you, your body starts to do it on its own and you have no choice but to join in.

 

[Ashy]

Yeah im pretty sure that if youre going natural and 'go with your body' you wont be pushing at 3cm. when you feel the urge is when you should push if you have to, even if its only a little bit at the peak of a contraction. even though i had an epi with my first labour, when i was PAST 10cm, they started me pushing even though i didnt have to, but after a while i was numb but still felt the urge to push anyway

 

[Blah11]

Are there no positives of an internal?

lol, guess not!

 

[ljo1984]

i found VE's ok when having imogen, not painful or anything so i dont mine having them this time, but when i had DD, i was on pitocin drip and was in agony for hours and was only 4cm when she checked so that really got me down, so i think i'll have one VE when MW arrives then leave it unless i change my mine later, leave the rest to natural signs etc.

 

[lynnikins]

personally i dont mind ve's i had one with EJ caus i wanted to know i knew it was getting close and needed to call DH to come back to the hospital she told me a stretchy 6cm and he was here 35 min later lol so possibly not accurate or i dilated really quick lol i dont find them painful but im unsure currently as to what i'll want this time i'll go with it I think and if i want to know i'll have them check lol i dont find it breaks my "trance" at all

 

[sam#3]

imo no, there are no positives of internals

 

[NaturalMomma]

For me my reasons are;

* They won't tell me how long it will be until I have baby
* They're uncomfortable
* They can introduce bacteria and cause an infection
* They can accidentally break your membranes if they aren't already broken
* Some Doctors and Midwives use it as a way to tell you you're going too slow for them
* It really tells you nothing

 

[chuck]

So does that mean if someone is labour for a long time even if its progressing okay theyl want to do something like a c section? stupid question but i dont know all this lol. i for sure want a natural labour and if avoidable wouldnt like any interventions.. xxx

Too often if you arent progressing along the 1cm per hour textbook nonsense then steps will be taken to 'speed things along' (sounds so innocent)

Artificial rupture of membranes (unpleasant, can cut you and/or baby, can risk cord prolapse, ill not help baby positioning)

Hormone drip - increases the frequency and strength of contractions ( stuck with a drip in your arm and now on a monitor practically immobile with more painful contractions -torture! Risks distressing baby amoung other things)

With any of these steps you increase the risk of needing further interventions/assistance like epidurals/ventouse/forceps and ultimately emergency CS.

So yes you can be labouring well making progress but not enough for hospital policy and end up with a EMCS.

I did.

I was progressing slowly but making progress, but not enough so AROM, nothing happened except baby wouldnt move from being posterior, drip & monito so of course baby wouldnt move I needed an epi now and wow without baby ever being in distress off I went to theatre..

 

[youngwife20]

I was wondering if you didnt want the epi why didnt you say no? as i know they can force c sections but not pain relief?

 

[chuck]

Me?

At the time I wanted the epi..I needed it I had been in labour for 28 hours and told I was failing to progress, had been in an ambulance and all the way that I wasn't progressing etc, also told not to eat so I was shattered and in a lot of pain because of the drip and not being able to move off the bed!

They broke the blimmin thing towards the end and OMFG that was not good! Needed a spinal for my EMCS.

But you can refuse a CS even, that cannot be forced on you unless you are deemed to be unsound of mind.

 

[youngwife20]

Chuck - i get what you mean that must have been traumatic! , i dont think id refuse a c section i would refused an epi and anything else other than gas and air though

 

[chuck]

I cant imagine many women refusing an EMCS by the time you get one being offered wither baby is in distress or you are!

Dont get me wrong as much as I hate epis and didnot have a good experience they do have their place. I just dont get women who opt for them when they arent having interventions.

 

[madasa]

Even if you do have a VE, you can always ask the MW not to tell you the number.... cos tat is all it is! A number, and not a very useful one! I think there are other things to be gained from a VE, but as a routine procedure, yeah, pretty useless

 

[chuck]

They can use a VE as a method to determine the lie of the baby anterior/posterior by feeling the fontanelles....but again its not all that reliable. I remember with Dewi he was back to back but I had loads of VE's and they would hmmm and harrr and say well I think he's lying this way and draw a little picture in my notes.

 

[Linzi]

I posted a positive For me, knowing where I was in my labour spurred me on to keep going, I knew I was going in the right direction and it kind of gave me focus iykwim?

However that's obvs not the case for everyone and I was lucky that I laboured quickly as it then put me on the '1cm per hour' timer... I was 5cms so I knew I only had 5 hours really before they would start trying to get me in to hospital. Fortunately I got from 5cms to her being born in 45 mins so was very lucky. I think the negatives well outweight the positives of VEs tbh

xx

 

[chuck]

Hmmm its difficult really depending on your labour, the VE's in my 1st labour were soul destroying...youre only X cm dilated, you still havent made any progress, only X cm still, theres still a lip left, no still a lip it's no good....etc

THe 2nd I only had 2 VE's, well done you're doing great I'd say 7 maybe 8cm, 10cm excellent going!

I guess it depends on how you are doing and feeling at the time.

Although I never found any VE painful or uncomfortable - except for 1 performed by thye OB who was trying to remove some membranes to have a good feel and was scraping around in there with the hook...nice.

 

[PJ32]

I remember as clear as day the first VE with my first, I nearly shot through the roof, the midwife was evil. I was young and hadn't got the guts to say no, i thought it was part of the course. with my 2nd i was a little wiser, had one when i first got in and refused any more, i had no pain meds and a wonderful labour. needless to say this time round i am hoping for the same lol

 

[Kess]

Even if you do have a VE, you can always ask the MW not to tell you the number.... cos tat is all it is! A number, and not a very useful one! I think there are other things to be gained from a VE, but as a routine procedure, yeah, pretty useless

I had one VE, partly to see if I was far enough along to get in the pool without the risk of things slowing down, and partly because things seemed to be very intense for how little time I'd been in labour, and my MW didn't tell me a number, she just said something along the lines of, "Gosh that's a lot of progress! You can get in the pool if you want." I think I was 5cm ish, I did ask a week or so afterwards but can't remember if it was 5 or 6cm. I suspect even if I'd been 2cm MW would have said something positive though, that's one of the great things about her. I did find the actual process of having the VE disruptive to my being "in the zone" during labour - MW tried to do the VE with me on my hands and knees but it didn't work so I had to flip onto my back.

I think the important thing about VEs is that they need to be a woman's informed choice. They are useless for a lot of women, but as a couple of PP have said they can be useful for some women. People need to know the advantages and disadvantages of them and make a decision after knowing all the facts.

 

[diz]

Believe me hun, when its time to start pushing, you'll know!!! No one will need to tell you, your body starts to do it on its own and you have no choice but to join in.

This didn't happen for me. I think i was fully dilated for a while before i was told "Common Andrea - push this baby out"

I didnt have any drugs or even G&A during my labour. I know a couple of other girls who also didn't get that over whelming urge to push. Im hoping i'll experience that this time round.

 

[summer.]

it's very invasive and i don't imagine it to be very comfortable. personally, it's not for me!