Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

The cervix dilates as a woman prepares to labor and give birth. The cervix dilates to open the way for the baby's head to go from the uterus to the vagina, and finally in your arms. The cervix should expand from 1 to 10 cm, when you can give birth. In most cases, your doctor, nurse or midwife will check for cervical dilation, but you may also want to check the dilation of the cervix yourself. By touching your cervix and looking for other signs like labor moods and sounds, you can see how much stretched your cervix is.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Prepare for manual examination of the cervix

1. 

   Talk to a medical professional. Having a safe pregnancy is important for having a healthy baby. With proper maternity care by a doctor, nurse or midwife, your pregnancy will go well, and it will also be safer to check the dilation of the cervix.
   • Note that, starting from the ninth month, your doctor will start looking for signs that labor is approaching. They will feel their belly and examine the inside to check the cervix.Your doctor will determine if the baby has "gone down", meaning that the cervix has begun to dilate and become softer.
   • Ask them any questions, including whether the baby has gone down. You should also ask if it is safe to check for cervical dilation on your own. If the pregnancy is safe, you can proceed.

2. 

   
   
   Hand washing. Dirty hands will spread bacteria and germs, causing infection. Examination of the cervix requires inserting a hand or finger into the vagina. Hand washing is especially important for the health of you and your baby before cervical dilation test.
   • Use any soap and warm water to wash your hands. Wet your hands under running water and use soap, rubbing foamy hands. Scrub your hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds, making sure to rub all surfaces of your hands. Wash off soap and dry your hands completely.
   • Use a hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol if you do not have soap. Pour into the palm of the hand enough for two hands. As with soap, rub your hands together to wet any surface, including your nails. Continue rubbing until your hands are dry.

3. 

   
   
   Ask for help. If you are a little nervous or scared about examining yourself, ask your husband or loved one for help. Allow them maximum help, for as long as you feel comfortable with. They can help by holding a mirror, holding hands, or reassuring you.

4. 

   Prepare to be in a comfortable position. Before examining your cervix, you need to prepare a comfortable body position. Try to sit on the toilet bowl or lie on the bed with your legs wide open, as long as you feel most comfortable.
   • Take off your clothes below before you begin, so you won't have to take it off once you're ready.
   • Sit or squat on the toilet with one foot on the floor, the other on the toilet seat. You can also squat on the floor or lie on the bed if you feel more comfortable.
   • Remember, there is nothing to be ashamed of, as what you are doing is normal and natural.
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Part 2 of 3: Examination of the cervix at home

1. 

   
   
   Insert two fingers into your vagina. Before the test, you should initially feel how far you need to expand. Instead of inserting your whole hand into your vagina, which causes discomfort, just use your index and middle fingers to begin examining the cervix.
   • Be sure to thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water before inserting your fingers in your vagina.
   • Determine the entrance to the vagina with your fingertips. The back of the hand will face the spine and the palms will face up. Tilt your finger toward the anus to feel the cervix easiest. If you feel any pain or discomfort, remove your finger.

2. 

   Push your finger into the cervix. When you feel a pregnant woman's cervix, it feels like the lips are full of wrinkles. After inserting your fingers into your vagina, keep pushing your hands until you feel your cervix, which feels like wrinkled lips.
   • You should know that some women have a high cervix, while others have a low cervix. You may have to push your finger deep into the vagina or reach it fairly quickly. Basically, the cervix is ​​the "end" of the vagina no matter where it is located in the body.
   • Touch gently to find the cervix. Pressing or poking with the finger can cause bleeding.
   • A finger can slide easily to the midpoint of the cervix if it is dilated. At the center of the cervix you can feel the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby's head. You will feel like you can touch water-filled rubber balls.

3. 

   Continue using your fingers to feel the cervical dilatation. When the stretch is 10cm, that's usually when the baby is ready to be born. If one finger is easily inserted into the cervix, use another finger to determine the expansion.
   • Remember: if you can slide one finger to the midpoint of the cervix, the elongation is about 1 cm. Similarly, if you can insert five fingers into the cervix, the elongation is 5 cm. When labor occurs, the cervix changes from tension to elastic. Once the bowel has stretched by 5 cm, you will feel like you can feel the rubber ring on the food can.
   • Continue to gently insert your fingers into your vagina until you've used all of your hand or when you feel any discomfort. Pull out your hand to see how many fingers you've used. This will give you an idea of ​​how much stretched the cervix is.

4. 

   Go to hospital. If your cervix is ​​more than 3 cm dilated, you are usually in labor. You should go to your chosen hospital or be home prepared if you plan to deliver at home.
   • Spasm monitoring also helps you know whether to go to hospital or not. The contractions will be more intense and frequent. Contractions usually occur 5 minutes at a time, lasting about 45-60 seconds.
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Part 3 of 3: Find more signs of dilated cervix

1. 

   Listen to the sounds of your cervix dilating. There are many signs that the cervix is ​​dilated without the need to insert your fingers in the vagina. This is especially helpful if you are in extreme pain or discomfort. Most women will make certain sounds when they are in labor. Listening to these sounds will help you guess how much your cervix is ​​dilated. The following sounds are usually accompanied by periods of labor and dilation of the cervix:
   • Elongation 0-4 cm, you do not make a lot of noise and can talk relatively easily during contractions.
   • Stretching 4-5 cm, you can hardly or hardly talk. The noise can be very mild.
   • Between 5-7 cm, you make a louder and uneven noise. You are nearly or barely able to talk during contractions.
   • Between 7-10 cm, you make a very loud noise and cannot talk during contraction.
   • If you are a fairly quiet person in labor, you can also check for dilation. Ask someone to ask you a question at the beginning of a contraction. The more difficult the answer proves the more dilated the cervix.

2. 

   Pay attention to your emotions. Having a baby is an emotional experience for a woman. Observing the emotions you experience can predict cervical dilation. The following emotions may appear during labor:
   • Happy and happy with 1-4 cm stretch
   • Smile and laugh between contractions at 4-6 cm stretch
   • Annoyed by other people's jokes and chatted short at about 7 cm stretch until delivery.

3. 

   Smell to assess elongation. Many people smell an odor when women have a cervical dilation of 6-8 cm. The smell is quite heavy and not obvious. If you smell this well in the room of a woman in labor, the cervix may have dilated by 6-8 cm.

4. 

   Find blood and mucus. Some women secrete mucus at 39 weeks of gestation, which is pink or brown in color with blood. Bloody mucus can continue to release during early labor. However, when the elongation reaches 6-8 cm, a lot of blood and mucus may appear. The appearance of these substances indicates cervical dilation may have reached 6-8 cm.

5. 

   Consider purple lines. This purple line is located in the gluteus, you can use it to determine cervical dilation, when this line reaches the top of the gluteus, the cervix is ​​maximized. You may have to ask someone else to look at the purple line.
   • In the early stages of labor, the purple line is located near the anus. As labor progresses, it crawls up between the buttocks. When the cervix is ​​maximized, this line stretches to the top of the gluteus.

6. 

   Consider how your body feels. Many women notice physical signs of dilation without checking the vagina. They generally feel like they have a cold when the stretch is close to 10 cm and / or is during labor. Feeling for these signs and symptoms can help you determine cervical dilation. In most cases, looking at a combination of these markers will tell you the dilation of the cervix.
   • Feeling like you want to vomit, flushed face and warm to touch indicate that the stretch has reached 5 cm. The body can also tremble uncontrollably. If you just vomit it is likely emotional, hormonal, or tired.
   • If your face is flushed red without any other sign, elongation is 6-7 cm.
   • Know that when your body is shaking uncontrollably without any other sign it is likely due to fatigue or fever.
   • If you bend your toes or stand on your toes, stretch your cervix about 6-8 cm.
   • Goosebumps in the buttocks and upper thighs are a clear indication of cervical dilation of about 9-10 cm.
   • Unintentional bowel movements are also a sign that the cervix is ​​completely dilated. You can feel the baby's head at the perineum.

7. 

   Feel the pressure in your back. As the fetus descends into the birth canal, you will feel pressure at different points along your back. The wider the dilated cervix, the deeper the pressure goes down the back. Usually pressure travels from the rim of the pelvis to the coccyx. advertisement

Advice

• Gently and slowly. No sudden movements!
• Wash your hands after examining the cervix.

Warning

• Stop examining your cervix if you experience pain, discomfort, or spasms from trying to put your hands in your vagina. In this case, you should leave the examination of the cervix to a specialist.