To sweep or not to sweep?

Currently 41+2 and have my next midwife appointment tomorrow. I know she will ask if I want a sweep or not as she asked last week and I kindly said no thank you.

I am now not sure if I will accept one tomorrow as originally didn’t want any intervention but it does seem like the lesser of two evils compared to a medical induction (which is currently booked for Sunday)

Of course there’s the option of accepting neither of these but then I would have to agree to daily monitoring at the hospital from Monday onwards and, although I am ok with this in principle, the less I have to deal with the hospital the better really.

Can’t make up my mind…

Read more on Peanut

The views expressed in community are solely the opinions of participants, and do not reflect those of Peanut.

Learn more about our guidelines.

Add a comment

I agree with what your thoughts are. Better to have a sweep than a medical intervention

I'm considering having a sweep to avoid medical induction as well. It's worth giving it a go I think. Been offered an induction but refused so am currently having monitoring as well.

Yes I would suggest a sweep too. Unfortunately I had two and still ended up being induced but it was helpful to know at the first one how far dilated I was and it was worth the few minutes of being uncomfortable. I did experience cramps after my first but take some paracetamol and get yourself off to bed if you experience that x

Completely agree. I’d take a sweep over induction x

I’d pick the sweep over an induction x

I’d definitely take the option of the sweep. I’m in the same boat of trying to avoid induction but had a sweep yesterday. X

I would suggest a sweep to avoid medical intervention but I would also considering to ask for a medical monitoring before the sweep and decide. Maybe you are partially dilated and you not even know

feel free to message me
If you want a chat 😊

I have a sweep booked for next Thursday, I’ll be 39+5. Midwife recommended due to how uncomfortable I am in hopes it’ll get the ball rolling

I’m also 41 + 4 and trying to avoid an induction. I have had 3 sweeps in the last week, all of which were unsuccessful as my cervix is still far too back. They were uncomfortable, but definitely worth a try I think over an induction. I haven’t booked an induction yet, I’m just hoping that as long as the baby is ok they’ll come in their own time 🙏🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m definitely going to cancel the induction they’ve booked me.
What does your trust recommend after 42 weeks? Will you need regular monitoring?
I have a sneaky feeling that a sweep today would be enough to coax him out 😂 so I might give it a go. I just hope it’s not too painful 😩

was it really uncomfortable?

how else can they check if I’m dilated at all before going ahead with the sweep?
I’ve had so many braxton hicks contractions and period type pains that I feel like I surely must be part way there by now!

I had a meeting with the doctor today. He explained the risks of waiting past 42 weeks, but has suggested a scan tomorrow just to check that everything looks ok with the baby. He recommends getting induced prior to 42 weeks to reduce risks to the baby, but if I choose not to have an induction it’ll be daily monitoring at the hospital to make sure the baby isn’t in distress. Hope the sweep went ok and helps you progress! X

I would personally have a sweep to try to prevent induction.
It’s not intervention as much. It’s just a little sweep around to try to encourage things, so nothing too bad to accept to your body or baby.
Then keep active after. X

it wasn’t pleasant, the consultant was quite rough but they need to be for it to work. It was over and done with in a minute, nothing too bad and no pain after at all x

in our community

Anyone else up feeding their Bebe?

As above. Trying so hard to keep my eyes open

Oh my God, oh my God I hope this is not true!!!! I’m kind of scared

I’ve been throwing up and taking a shit all night!!! I just hope that it’s not what I think it is

Is this normal??

I’m 29 weeks pregnant and having really aching legs and they’re all lumpy and swollen. Above the knee and behind the knee . Should I be worried ? My legs have never looked like this up until a few days ago. ??

Anyone else experiencing this?

Gave birth (vagina) 5 days ago and yesterday morning and this morning getting lot of pain in my right bottom side and lower back

Induction experience

I just wanted to share my experience with being induced as I wasn’t sure what to expect and thought it may help others.

I opted for the foley balloon which was inserted at 8am Saturday morning, I had to stay in hospital due to hypertension and protein urine however usually you can just go home once this has been done. The insertion of the balloon was not painful, was slightly uncomfortable as there was slight pressure. I actually found having the cervix checked prior to be worse (again not painful at this point just uncomfortable) The balloon had little effect and after having it removed I was still only 1cm. Removal also was pain free and hardly even noticeable.

I then had my first dose of the gel and definitely noticed a difference, I started experiencing period like cramps almost immediately however they were light and manageable. After 6 hours I had another cervix check and although my cervix was soft it was still only 1cm and was only open at the front. I had another dose of the gel and felt an increase in pressure and more intense cramping where I now required pain relief (codeine). After another 6 hours I had another cervix check and I had now dilated to 2-3cm however was still quite difficult to get all the way through so a third gel was recommended which I agreed to.

Almost immediately I noticed the difference and was in considerable pain, I had paracetamol and codeine however the contractions had now become intense and a lot closer together (around 3 minutes apart). After a couple of hours I had my last cervix check and was 4cm and taken down to the Labour ward to have my waters broken and an epidural.

I had been in my room for approx 20minutes when my waters broke by themselves and I was now 10cm and actively pushing…. There was no time for the epidural and my beautiful girl arrived into the world within 2 minutes of pushing.

All in all I would say the cramps/contractions were manageable up until the third gel where it became pretty unbearable however it was for a very short time a gas and air helped take the edge off. The worst part about any of it was actually the later cervix checks where after stimulating the cervix my contractions were at their most painful.

If I had to be induced again I would skip the balloon and opt for the gels immediately as thy had a quicker effect and I would have been out a lot sooner if I had done this to begin with.

One more thing, I’ve never believed when people say “you forget the pain once they’re here” but I can honestly say this is true. It’s been 4 days and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Would you bring 9 week old to a family party of 35+ people?

These are also people who will want to pass the baby around and get a turn to hold him. He just got his 2 month shots two days ago