Pros and cons of Stretch & Sweep?

It will only work if your body is already preparing to labour, otherwise it could be uncomfortable or even painful. It is considered a form of induction, and carries risks such as increasing chances of infection and potentially breaking your waters by accident. Personally, I don’t see the point as if my body is about to start labour anyway, it would have done it pretty soon without the stretch and sweep and if not, it won’t work anyway…

I had one at 40+1, I was apparently already 2cm dilated and my waters broke that same evening. I did end up with a back to back labour, emergency section and baby whisked to NICU with an infection (which I believe is down to the fact my waters had broken over 28 hours before I was finally rushed to theatre) soo… 🤷🏻‍♀️ Not sure I’d recommend it personally. I think it’s different if you’re well overdue and in the early stages of labour anyway but I wouldn’t bother having another unless that were the case. Otherwise I’d have just left my body to do what it was supposed to! X

@Andreea this isn’t true!! Im having one on Friday and im not dilated whatsoever yet, on Friday I’ll be 37 weeks & 5 days, they’ve booked me in for induction Monday if the sweep doesn’t work x

Thanks all, I was already 99.9% I wouldn't take it as I'm very much hoping for a natural, unmedicated birth again but just wanted to see what people had to say about them!

@Demi she is correct. A TRUE stretch and sweep cannot be done if the cervix isn’t open, as part of the process is to sweep across the membranes infront on babies head. They will absolutely still do as much of a stretch as possible regardless x

@Rachel I’m so confused now, because I’m down for one on Friday and when I went for my appointment today they said my cervix wasn’t open.. x

2 replies

I guess they’re hoping it will open more by then. Ask for more information about it from them if there’s anything you aren’t clear on or feel confused about. They legally need your informed consent to do this procedure so they will need to make sure you understand the process and why it is being offered and what the risks are!

Likewise with any other induction procedures. Remember that everything they advise is always an offer and you’re perfectly within your rights to decline anything offered, and wait a bit longer and ask for more information, stats and risks if you’re not sure about anything.

@Demi it could change by then! Like I said, they will try as much as is comfortable for you to stretch the cervix to be able to reach the membranes. X

@Andreea I’ve had a look & had it explained my heads just baffled😂😂xx

@Andreea thinking the same! 🤣xx

@Demi they tried to do one with me last Thursday but it was impossible to reach through as the cervix was closed, they do need the cervix to be slightly open for it to work because they have to get through to the membranes near babies head to do the sweep, but saying that it did trigger my cervix slightly afterwards and caused discomfort and pinkish discharge and when I went to my appointment yesterday she successfully managed to do the sweep and my cervix had opened slightly since last Thursday, I’ve also got another one tomorrow before getting my induction date set. They’ve probs booked you in for Friday hoping it’ll begin to open which can happen, like it did with myself🥲 x

@alyshia why does this sound like an absolute nightmare 😂 I’ve been offered one sweep and if that doesn’t work then they’ve gave me my induction date for Monday , hopefully something starts it off 🤣xx

@Demi it is I won’t lie🤣 I only got offered one to be booked in for tomorrow last week and then an induction a few days after but he wanted to see if they could do one there and then to give it a better shot of triggering labour before an induction, but when I went for a ctg yesterday the midwife offered to do one just as I was struggling a lot and she said it may help speed things up when it came to my appointment tomorrow, and also said it may help speed things up on the day of my induction so I’m really hoping something helps, it’s all so confusing tho 🤣xx

I had a sweep with with my middle child, it worked. Then I had another sweep with my youngest and it didn't. It wasn't painful just a lot of pressure but lasted seconds. I'm opting in for it again in this pregnancy. Having few seconds of little uncomfortable feeling is better than having to walk extra 2 weeks waiting to be induced.