Stripping Membranes to Induce Labor

Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me: Stripping the Membranes

April 9, 2009

There are many tricks a pregnant woman may use to try to commence labor: sex, spicy foods, exercise, and castor oil are just a few popular ones. During my last two doctor's appointments when my OB/GYN checked for centimeters dilated, she literally stirred things up. And by that, I mean she stripped my membranes. Presumably the action can fire up contractions and quickly send a woman into labor. In my case, it just hurt like hell and caused me to spot a bit and have contractions without the benefit of going into full blown labor. For some lucky mamas, it works like a charm.
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Childbirth Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me

7 Comments

3 years 20 weeks

my doctor stripped my membranes yesterday at 1130 am. I asked him if it would hurt and he said yes. i just said it cant compare to childbirthh ( this is my first baby) when he did it, it was a lil painful and uncomfortable but it seems to have gotten the ball rolling along. I passed my mucus plug at 12 am , and some more at 12pm, im feeling crampy and having some contractions, but ive been in pre labor for the past 3 days now. i say its your choice if you want it done or not. but 4 me it seems worth it.

3 years 35 weeks

same thing happened to me this past wednesday, had a different midwife than usual cuz mine was booked.... she said she'd check me and strip my membranes 1 minute before it happened. no time to think, no discussion, no nothing. she did it, and WOW i haven't cramped like that since i first got my period it hurt HORRIBLY and i still hurt thinking about it. maybe it'll actually do something next wed when i see my OWN midwife, if she does it.

FrankiLee 4 years 5 weeks

Ugh, I had it done twice. Not fun! Didn't work the first time, but the next week it worked like a charm.

Mel475 4 years 6 weeks

I had it done with both pregnancies. It didn't help with the first one but they tried to induce me about 3 weeks early due to high blood pressure. When it didn't work (neither did a night in the hospital with pitocin), they just put me on bedrest. The second time was within days of my due date and it seemed to help get things moving. Both times were just a little uncomfortable, neither were extremely painful.

Jules1976 4 years 6 weeks

An OB did this to me at the hospital. I was in full-blown labor, on time, but my cervix wasn't dialating well. My doc was off shift for a few hours, so I didn't know the OB that stripped my membranes. He didn't even tell me what he was going to do. I screamed in pain and came off the bed! And it didn't help with the dialating problem at all.

POPSUGAR Moms 4 years 6 weeks

I had this done three times while overdue with my son. It didn't work, but I've heard it does for other mothers. I didn't find it so much painful as unsettling.

greenapples1987 4 years 6 weeks

OUCH!! NO WAY WOULD I EVER AGREE TO THAT!

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