Obstetric nurse checks the anatomy of the cervix

Generally, in the late stages of pregnancy or before delivery, doctors often perform endocervical examinations on patients to assess the condition of the pelvis and the progress of the delivery process. The process is that the pregnant woman lies flat on the examination bed, spreads her legs, and exposes her private parts. The doctor will disinfect the private parts three times with iodine disinfectant, place two fingers into the female vagina, and observe the condition of the cervix according to the feel of the doctor's fingers, such as the hardness and softness of the cervix, the degree of dilation of the cervical opening, whether the cervical canal is effaceable, the position of the fetal head, and the position of the cervix. Patients will not feel obvious pain during internal examination, but some pregnant women who are very anxious may feel uncomfortable.

The patient herself does not know whether the cervical opening has become larger. This requires a gynecologist to determine through internal examination. However, before the cervix dilates, symptoms that indicate impending labor may appear, which is called threatened labor. The main symptoms of threatened labor are irregular uterine contractions, vaginal bleeding, also known as spotting, and a feeling of the fetus descending. Once these symptoms appear, it indicates that labor is about to occur and requires close observation or going to the hospital for relevant examinations.

If the pregnant woman's uterine contractions gradually become periodic, with 3 uterine contractions in 10 minutes, and vaginal bleeding gradually increases, and some pregnant women will experience a feeling of heaviness and pain in the anus, then she needs to go to the hospital for examination in time. The doctor will perform an internal examination to determine whether there is cervical shortening, effacement, and dilation of the cervical opening.

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.