Incompetent Cervix

What can be done to fix an incompetent cervix?

Incompetent Cervix

During pregnancy, the cervix is supposed to be tightly closed until right before delivery when it will begin to dilate. A growing baby not only puts pressure on your back, abdomen and other muscles, the weight also puts pressure on your cervix. Sometimes the pressure will cause the cerivx to dilate prematurely. This condition is known as incompetent cervix or weakened cervix. An incompetent cervix occurs in approximately 1 out of 100 pregnancies. Because doctors do not generally check for an incompetent cervix during an exam, it is usually not diagnosed until a miscarriage has occured. However, this is not always the case. Some women will know ahead of time that their cervix is weakened. A doctor can diagnose the condition with a pelvic exam or ultrasound exam if there is reason to believe that an incompetent cervix might be an issue.

An incompetent cervix can be caused by damage during a previous birth or a previous surgery on the cervix. A previous D&C from a miscarriage or abortion may also lead to an incompetent cervix in some cases. Some women are born with a defect in their cervix that can cause the condition as well. Women that have been exposed to DES (Diethylstilbestrol) are more likely to suffer from an incompetent cervix as well.

Women that suffer from an incompetent cervix have a higher chance of miscarriage and preterm delivery. To treat an incompetent cervix doctors will perform a cerclage. A cerclage is a procedure in which the doctor will sew the cervix closed with sutures to reinforce the cervix and prevent it from dilating to early. Most doctors will perform the cerclage when the mother is in her 14-16 week of pregnancy and remove the stitch once she has reached the 36-38 week. If the cervix has already dilated to 4 cm or the amniotic fluids have ruptured, a cerclage can not performed. Although rare, there are a few complications that are involved with a cerlcage. Having a cerclage can put a woman at higher risk for uterine and bladder rupture, premature labor or early rupture of membranes.

Comments: Incompetent Cervix

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Mcbaby - 56 days ago.
Hi ladies i had my preventative cerclage removed today at 36 weeks 1 day and all i felt was the discomfort of inserting the instrument for removal no bleeding just little cramping. Now the waiting begins

ti-tell2000 - 57 days ago.
Congrats DueOct09, what an awesome birthday present!

elliel - 57 days ago.
THUY - so sorry aobut your loss. It's so hard to understand why these things happen and it makes it so hard when they can't even find a reason. HOpefully all the recent posts will help you see there is a lot of hope of having a healthy pregnancy even with IC. Everything I've read about the stitches is that preventative ones earlier in the pregnancy are safe and more effective than the emergancy ones later in pregnancy - so it really is worth pushing your drs to explain why they aren't doing a preventative one. Having said that I begged my dr for a preventative one as I was convinced I would have IC but because it hadn't actually been proven he wasn't prepared to do it.....so I ended up with an emergancy one at 23.5 weeks - but it was o.k. in the end. Not sure if that helps? Also worth discussing progesterone with them...a lot of us had suppliments through our pregnancy and I'm convinced it helped me.

elliel - 57 days ago.
charli - sorry to hear about your infection - typical! But glad they caught it and congratulations on another son. DUEONoct - how wonderful - over 7lbs! That's so good. Enjoy your little man. It's so fun joining the 'normal' forums once you have your LO with you

adriana03 - 57 days ago.
Congrtas due Oct.. Wow all these 7-8 lbs babies that at first we thought we couldnt even make it past a certain week. Now I really want mine, not really I can wait for at least another 6 weeks!!!:)

kayandrysmom - 57 days ago.
Congrats on all the new babys!!

due oct 2009 - 57 days ago.
Ladies on sept 23rd my birthday i gave birth to a 7 pound 1 oz little boy we got to go home the next day i was 37 weeks and 3 days. Thank you all for your support thought my pregnancy!!!

charlihadley - 58 days ago.
well, i got my cerclage placed tuesday, and i ended up realizing today that i had an infection, so now i am/on anti biotics, AWESOME. lol...at least hope antibiotics clear up infection and cant hurt my baby...ohh and i/also found out right after my cerclage, that im/having a BABY BOY! ...they did an ultrasound a couple hrs after surgery, and it was as clear as day....two balls and the penis..im so gappy...i already have a 20 month old son, so glad to have our last child be a boy also!.. yay

halina - 58 days ago.
thanks for all of uz and hope that uz all get to hold ur baby and enjoy evry bit of it..and hopfully i will get time to attatch sum photoes of my little angel.

ti-tell2000 - 59 days ago.
Congrats Halina and kjslover!! Yay!!

adriana03 - 59 days ago.
congrats halina and kjslover

elliel - 59 days ago.
halina & KJS - congratulations.....wonderful wonderful news. So amazing to hear about all this special little babies defying the odds and with the determination of their mothers getting here safely!

kjslover - 59 days ago.
I'm sorry, I didn't give many details earlier on my post..I was already at the hospital. Our little angel was born at 1:24pm today weighing 8lbs 9oz and 20in long! It's been an exhausting day even though I had a quick labor. Water broke at 4:15am but never had any strong contractions on my own so was given Pitocin at at 9:15am and was fully dilated by noon although had to wait until 1:00pm for Dr to arrive to start pushing. We named her Paige Noelle and we are absolutely in love! Will post birth story and pics soon.

thuy - 59 days ago.
Hello ladies, I am hoping I can get some advice on this forum. I am currently 12weeks pregnant. I've had a previous late term m/c - at 19 weeks my water broke suddenly and we lost our little girl. The drs never did find any reason why. I am monitored closely now but just wondering what your thoughts are on getting a cerclage anyway as preventative or if I should wait to see if my cervix will change or not before getting it. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Also, when my water broke early, the dr said my cervix was closed so they can't confirm that it was due to IC.

kayandrysmom - 59 days ago.
Congrats Halina!!!

halina - 59 days ago.
hi girls..just wanted to paas in here and tell uz the good news i had my baby 3 weeks ago i was 34.6weeks my water broke in a sudden and they had to remove the cerclage and 4 hours later contractions started and i had my little boy after four hours..he had to stay in the nursury intisive care for 2 weeks and just left the hospital 3 days ago..now am so so happy and releafed that my boy is with me and hope for all of uz to pass this difficult time and get to hold ur baby in ur aarms.take care all of uz..

kayandrysmom - 60 days ago.
My dr always said if your water breaks head right to the hospital....i would just go!! You are obviously gonna have a baby today if your water broke!

adriana03 - 60 days ago.
wow kjslover. congrats your gonna have a baby soon!!! if your doc hasnt called you by tonight. go to the hospital yourself cuz you cant last for more then 24 hrs with it broken. GOOD LUCKKKK! :)

kjslover - 60 days ago.
Water broke tis morning 4:15am 39w6d. Been having mild contractions but nothing really going on and haven't heard from Dr yet...so bored!

kayandrysmom - 61 days ago.
jbtd-I am so sorry for your loss. I had a similar experience although a happy ending so im hoping i can give you some hope. I, as ellie said, had a perfect 1st pregnancy. went 12 days past my due date and had a healthy baby girl march 24 2005. I have never had any procedures on my cervix. I got pregnant again just last year with my little miracle girl. I found out she was a girl at 20 weeks...at 21 weeks i jsut had this gut feeling that something was not right. I went to the ER and my cervix was short and funneling. I was so scared i didnt know what to do or think. My drs did not do a cerclage as they thought the risk was too high and due to my perfect history everyone was just so confused of why this was happening to me. So from that day i started my STRICT bedrest which lasted 13 LONG weeks. I could only get up to use the bathroom and go to the dr. At that time i had a 3.5 year old, i couldnt go trick or treating with her last year...had to have DH do all of the christmas shopping and i missed out on my whole favorite season bc i was confined to a bed. But this year is different, because i have my healthy beautiful 8 month old daughter to celebrate with. I was on bedrest with NO cerclage from 21-34 weeks. At 34 weeks i went back to semi normal activity and at 36 weeks full activity. She was born just 2 DAYS before she was due!! I never thought it would happen after hearing that my cervix was short and watching it funnel on US week after week but i made it. It was very hard to lay in bed...but worth every second of it. Although bc of the trama of that pregnancy i will prob never have another baby i am happy i got her here safe. That being said...you 100% can have another healthy baby. If your drs watch you closely and you are willing to do bedrest it will happen for you. I wish you the best.

charlihadley - 61 days ago.
i am 14 weeks and 3 days today, and going in for my cervical cerclage. register at 5 am, then i should be taken back to the surgery room around 8 am..hopefully i get to go home soon after. i am so thankful to be getting this cerclage, since i nearly lost my son at 23 weeks :(. i will be praying for everyone of you, especially the ones who have lost a child to this dreaded cause. love you all!

elliel - 61 days ago.
jbtd - I'm so sorry for your loss. You must be so devastated. Incompetent cervix is such a horrific condition as it is silent and sometimes happens for seemingly no reason. ONe of my friends from here (kaysmom) had a normal first pregnancy then IC with the next. I did have a lot of D&C's for iscarriages so I'm sure that is what caused my IC even though my drs kept telling me it wouldn't. Anyway - what you need to hear now is that IC doesn't mean you can't have a healthy baby. Lots and lots of us have had full term healthy babies even with IC. You will need to talk to a specialist as soon as you feel able and I suspect what they will advise is you get a preventative stitch early on in your pregnancy (usually about 12-13 weeks and highly effective), you will also get progesterone for most of your pregnancy and probably you will have to go on bedrest - for some of us it was strict bedrest which is hell but worth it in the end....but for others it was moderate so you can have some sort of normal life through your pregnancy.

due oct 2009 - 61 days ago.
adriana- thanks for the help

adriana03 - 61 days ago.
due oct 2009> i would suggest going into the 39 or week 40 forum thats all they talk about lol... like sex, walking, castor oil, eating pineapple, bouncing on a ball and who knows what else. i even read that a lady was jumping on and off her couch....lol...

due oct 2009 - 61 days ago.
i am having contractractions anyone know how to get them stronger and closer together? I have been contracting since last night i am in pain. Help