Another question for mylot mommies... membrane sweep?

The doc stripped my membranes with baby number one, and I had him two days later. Whether or not it is what caused me to go into labor, there really is no way of telling, but it seemed to be helpful. It was a little uncomfortable, but for me, anytime my doc checked me it was uncomfortable as he had ginormous hands! (: I don't know of any possible side effects, besides if they are not careful, they may accidently rupture your water bag, but I'm sure that doesn't happen very often. If you and the hubby are in agreement, I say give it a try. I know I was so uncomfortable, which is why my doc. did it for me.. I told him he had to induce me the next week if I had not had the baby, because I couldn't handle the stress of it anymore. I wasn't sleeping more than 2 hours at a time, and about 4 hours at night, as I was so uncomfortable. He stripped my membranes, and we didn't have to induce. (:

I never had that done, but I had an internal exam and the contractions happened right after that. He might have done that and I didn't know, because it was very uncomfortable!

my doc stripped my membranes both times and it didn't get me started at all. It was a bit uncomfortable, but nothing painful when he did it. good luck to you and I hope it all works out great for you.

Good luck with your home birth! I wanted very badly to do that also but "Daddy" was too chicken. Membrane sweeping almost always works within 24 hours. It isn't painful or anything. I'm sure your midwife explained what it was so I won't take the time to go into all the details. It's a very gentle procedure. Actually the whole point of it is to be gentle so as NOT to break your water and cause potential complications. It's hard to explain what it feels like because it doesn't really feel like much of anything, it's that gentle. I don't know that there are any actual possible complications from doing this at term. You baby is ready and your body is ready, this is just a way to get it started on your time table. Of all the usual induction methods, I would think this is the safest and easiest. The amniotic sac stays intact so there's no risk of infection. Your contractions start at the same intensity as if you hadn't had the procedure so you have the ability to ease into it. It's more reliable than pitocin and without all the risks and side effects pitocin can cause. The only problem I can come up with is that if the baby is still really high, he might not be able to put enough pressure on your cervix to help the contractions with dilation. This isn't really dangerous but can cause a longer labor. As long as your water doesn't break too early and you can handle the length a long labor isn't necessarily a bad thing though. Honestly, I'd give it another week just to make sure but there's nothing wrong with doing it on your due date. The only reason I say this is because my doctor did this with #3 7 days before my due date without explaining ahead of time that it really could work that fast and I had to rush to get all those last minute details ready. I had it done on a Monday afternoon and labor started Tuesday afternoon. If you're sure you're all ready though, then great, go for it! (My labor with that baby was only 7 1/2 hours, I was chatting with my hubby right up until the last 1/2 hour and I pushed once, no tearing...had it done with #6 also, labor was 19 hours but was mid-sentence when he decided he was coming out, the doctor literally pulled the blanket back and picked him up!)