The Stretch And Sweep.. My Experience

I had my first Son Ethan at 40+2 weeks pregnant, I was 3cms dilated and fully effaced on his due date and a (very) long walk the following day helped get him on his way. With my second Son Logan, I went to 41+1 weeks pregnant. At 41 weeks I was offered the stretch and sweep (also known as having your membranes stripped). 

Being that Ethan had pretty much been on his way out around his due date, I'd never heard of the stretch and sweep before, so I decided to do what most people do these days when they're not quite sure what something is, and I had a google of it, the results of which sort of worried me. The majority of what I read was expectant Mums saying how painful it was and how it hadn't worked for them.

As disappointed as this was to read, any pregnant woman who has ever been overdue will know just how desperate you can start to feel as the days continue to tick by without any sign of baby arriving and so feeling ready to try anything - I agreed to have the stretch and sweep done. 

It was a Monday morning, I was exactly 41 weeks pregnant and as I sat outside the midwife's office I was trying to keep myself from anxiously tensing up. I'd brought Adam and Ethan along with me and though they would wait outside, it was a comfort them being there. When I was called in, the midwife, one I was meeting for the very first time, explained a little about what she would be doing, she also booked me an induction date at the hospital for the Saturday, just in case nothing happened following the stretch and sweep.

I felt disappointed at being given an induction date, for a number of reasons really - I so wanted to go in to labour naturally again and I certainly didn't want to wait nearly another week to meet my little boy who I'd always been so sure would arrive before his due date! 

Having the stretch and sweep done at the time was honestly not as painful as I had expected it to be, just a little uncomfortable. But when you think about what you're about to go through (labour!) then it's really not even worth batting an eyelid about. Personally, I think that the trick is to relax as much as you possibly can and to not tense up.

A few hours later, I'd begun to feel quite crampy and had started to experience some intense pains below, which were made worse when I was up and walking about. I also found myself feeling very tired and so I decided to go to bed and have a lay down for an hour or so.

Going off of what I'd read online, I felt sure that the cramping would start to die off.. but it never did and that same evening I finally and rather excitingly began to start feeling contractions! The following day at 10.48 in the morning my Son Logan was born!  

And so now as I hold my newborn Son here in my arms, I am happy to report that my experience with the stretch and sweep was undoubtedly that of a positive one!

 

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