What does it mean to have a baby?

Friends who have a comprehensive understanding of the basic knowledge of childbirth know that before a woman gives birth, the doctor and the nurse will check whether the woman's cervix is ​​dilated. There is also a professional term for this, and everyone may not know what it actually means, but everyone knows it. For example, before a pregnant woman gives birth, the doctor will always ask, how many fingers dilated she will be when she gives birth. What does it mean?

What does it mean when a pregnant woman is a few fingers dilated during labor?

The number of fingers open during labor is the dilation of the cervix, and the professional name is cervical dilation. The female cervical canal is a muscular tube about 2 cm long, connecting to the vagina on the outside and the uterus on the inside. When a pregnant woman is about to give birth, her uterus contracts regularly, stretching the uterine muscles and surrounding fibers at the internal os of the cervix. In addition, the amniotic sac of the pregnant woman becomes wedge-shaped in front of the fetal presenting part, causing the internal os of the cervix to expand upward and outward, and the cervical canal gradually shortens until it disappears. The external os of the cervix is ​​usually only the size of a fingertip. As the labor progresses, the external os of the cervix expands to a diameter of 10 cm, allowing the head of a full-term fetus to pass through. This process is called dilation.

The process of cervical dilation is relatively slow. Generally, the cervix will slowly dilate in the second week after the ninth month of pregnancy, which is also the process of cervical formation. Your cervix dilates to 10 cm when the newborn is born. It is slow at the beginning. It takes an average of 8 hours from before delivery to when the cervix dilates 3 cm, and an average of 4 hours from when the cervix dilates 3 cm to 10 cm. Generally, some medicines will not be used for pain until the cervix is ​​dilated to 3 cm. It indicates that the pregnant woman has entered the active stage of labor. The cervix has already dilated to 3 cm, the cervix has become loose, soft, and quite elastic, and each uterine contraction is 2-3 cm. Before and after delivery, the cervix will gradually enlarge due to regular uterine contractions. The first stage of labor is divided into two stages according to the degree of cervical dilation: the critical stage and the active stage.

How to check for dilatation of the cervix

1. After the baby enters the pelvis, the birth canal is ready, and the pregnant woman's vagina will naturally relax and open.

2. The doctor can check the degree of dilation of the cervical opening by observation.

3. The doctor can also use digital rectal examination to explore the condition of the cervical opening. Generally, the anus or vagina is examined. The doctor, wearing sterile gloves, inserts his fingers into the vagina and puts them on the cervical opening to accurately measure the opening of the cervical opening. Anal examination is only done when the pregnant woman is about to give birth, because the cervical opening in the vagina is very close, and there is a relatively thin retroperitoneum in the middle. Anal examination is to detect the opening of the cervical opening through this place. Regardless of whether the cervix is ​​dilated or not before delivery, repeated vaginal exploration will lead to iatrogenic infection, so digital rectal examination is used to distinguish it.