Im confused about a womans anatomy.. down there.?

Question

Lol I feel funny asking this but I am 38 weeks pregnant and just realized how much i DONT know about the stages of pregnancy and stuff. Well, it is my first baby so dont blame me.

Alright so, first question.

When a doctor strips your cervix/membranes what does that mean?

When my mucus plug came out is that a result of him stripping my cervix?

Also, when my water breaks is that because i have fully effaced? (currently 80% right now, 2cm dilated, lost mucus plug yesterday).

Also, when you dilate that is the cervix opening right?

I feel like I am confusing myself but im curious how all of that works. And please dont tell me to go ask my doctor I wanna hear it in womans plain english terms and i will most likely forget next time i see him anyway. So can someone explain the stages of dilation and effacing with mucus plug and water breaking all together? Lol sorry if I have confused you.

Answer 1

   (1) Stripping the membranes is where a health care provider will separate your bag of water from the cervix, it is not intended to break your water, however, it may. It may also cause infection, and may be painful for some.

    The reason that we tell people that we are stripping their membranes is to "get things going" in regards to labor. This little technique is usually done during a vaginal exam at the end of pregnancy, with or without the knowledge or consent of the woman.

    Stripping the membranes, we are told, is supposed to stimulate production of prostiglandins in the cervix and bring on contractions. I have heard doctors tell my clients after stripping their membranes they will have the baby in two days. While this may appear to work for some, at term it's all a guessing game. There is no scientific work to date that can back up the routine procedure of stripping membranes.

    You may want to ask your care provider to avoid this procedure if you are worried about the effects and risks. Or you may want to avoid vaginal exams during the end of pregnancy for the same reasons, because unfortunately the cannot accurately predict when we will give birth.

(2)Also, to strip your membranes, they have to insert their finger THROUGH your cervix, which usually dislodges the mucus plug. (since it plugs the cervix) So what you saw was most likely part of it, the rest could have come out with the Dr.'s hand. Your cervix continues to make mucus though, that's its function, there will probably be alot more stringy snotty mucus for you to find before and during early labor... There's alot of mucus involved!

(3) Just because your cervix is effaced fully, dosen't mean your water will break...the bag of water breaks in 11% of pregnancies, so 89% of births don't have waters broken because of the cervix effacement. A doctor will do that when you go into labor.

(4) effacement is the thining and softening of the cervix. Dialation is how wide it is opening up. effacement usually happens before dialation...and when you're 9 cm, you're ready to deliver.

Answer 2

lol I wondered all the same things before I had my first and even then I think I was a little confused. Okay, when you have your cervix stripped they are basically sweeping the membranes that surround the cervix like a protection coating. It probally was the cause of your mucus plug coming out, he was generally getting everything moving around up there. Your water breaks as a result of the pressure of your baby coming down, so the pressure kinda pops the water sac, like a balloon when you sit on it. When they say you are dialiting it is your cervix opening, that's why they say you can be up to 10 cm dialited, it's your cervix opening up for the baby to come through! Hope I helped a little, sooo confusing!

Answer 3

Okay the breakdown scraping of the membranes means he's going to scrape your cervix to get it basically irritated so you start contracting....contracting, is when your cervics starts to dilate yes when you get to 10 cm you push lol and your water can break anytime between now and moments before your baby is born sometimes it breaks on it's own and sometimes the doctor has to do it for you....I hope this helped you and don't feel dumb sweetie it's your first but after the baby you'll know EVERYTHING!!!!  lol

Answer 4

no you mean sweep the membranes they  do encourage the mucus plug to come away  water breaking is when the sack the baby is in breaks as baby sits in water it acts like a cushion cervix opening is self explanatory its the same as dilation  it bloody hurt and them at 10 cm your baby shud come out  

Answer 5

Why is you doc not letting nature take it's course??  The more you have done (stripping membranes, cervadil, pitosin and so on) the more likely you are to have a c-section.  And dilation IS your cervix opening.  

Here is about stripping the membranes

http://www.childbirth.org/articles/strip...

and you do not have to be fully effaced for your water to break

Answer 6

Google strip cervix and strip cervix membranes.

Yes.

Not necessarily.

Yes.  That is my understanding.

Read What to Expect When You're Expecting (thought you may go into labor any moment....Yay!).

Blessings

Answer 7

When they strip your membranes they are separating the amniotic sac from where it is stuck to the cervix.  It can cause you to go into labor, but doesn't always happen.

Your mucus plug came out it could be from the stripping of the membranes. Its hard to say.

Your water can break before you are fully effaced.  But your getting close! Good luck.