Their hospital stay may be longer than with a spontaneous labour. Pharmacological methods of induction can cause hyperstimulation – this is when the uterus contracts too frequently or contractions last too long, which can lead to changes in fetal heart rate and result in fetal compromiseĪn induced labour may be more painful than a spontaneous labour There may be a need for an assisted vaginal birth (using forceps or ventouse), with the associated increased risk of obstetric anal sphincter injury (for example, third- or fourth-degree perineal tears) There may be limitations on the use of a birthing pool The overall prelabor rupture of membranes rate was not significantly higher in the membrane sweep group (12 compared with 7) (P.19) however, patients with a cervix more than 1 cm dilated at.
Their choice of place of birth will be limited, as they may be recommended interventions (for example, oxytocin infusion, continuous fetal heart rate monitoring and epidurals) that are not available for home birth or in midwife-led birth units It’s important that you weigh up any procedure for yourself, to come to a decision that is best for you- to help with this you could use the decision-making acronym B.R.A.I.N – What are the Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, What does your Intuition say? And what happens if we do Nothing?įor more information on this subject, check out examinations to assess the cervix are needed before and during induction, to determine the best method of induction and to monitor progress
The concerning thing about stretch and sweep is that it’s been known that health care providers have done the procedure while ‘having a little look’ at the cervix – this is NOT consent and is a violation of your human rights, as well as being illegal. With any vaginal examination comes an infection risk, and sometimes health care providers can accidentally break the waters, causing another route for infection and leading to an offer of further induction. There is a risk of bleeding, discomfort and irregular contractions (irritation of the uterus, making it more difficult to rest and sleep if you do then go into labour). It’s sometimes said that stretch and sweeps have ‘no side effects’ but unfortunately this isn’t true. Based on articles published between 20, 12 electronic databases were searched.
So the evidence isn’t great quality on this, but you MAY be more likely to have a spontaneous onset of labour, and less likely to need a formal induction of labour. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of membrane sweeping in promoting spontaneous labour and reducing a formal induction of labour for postmaturity. Questions remain as to whether there is an optimal number of membrane sweeps and timings and gestation of these to facilitate induction of labour.” (Finucane et al 2020) When compared to expectant management, it potentially reduces the incidence of formal induction of labour. “Membrane sweeping may be effective in achieving a spontaneous onset of labour, but the evidence for this was of low certainty. The evidence that does exist, says that 8 women / pregnant people would need to have the procedure for 1 to go into labour without needing more induction interventions. So you could have gone into labour with or without the sweep. This is mainly because of the nature of the procedure as you have to be slightly dilated, the process of labour could have started anyway. There is a lack of evidence for stretch and sweep actually working. It’s also able to be done at home or at your doctors surgery, and needs no monitoring afterwards. What are the risks and benefits of the sweep Risks. So mentally, it can feel like a very positive thing to try. Also referred to as a stretch and sweep or membrane stripping.
For some, a stretch and sweep feels like a positive step towards labour when you’re fed-up of being pregnant and perhaps feeling the pressure to be induced further by health care providers.
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