03/15/2026
What's a skill you want your midwife to have but rarely use?
The ability to check your cervix! 🪷
This is a hand skill that can only be gained through years of practice. There is no way to “look” at the cervix of a person in labor. The only option is to feel. That said, there are many other ways to gauge labor progress that ARE visual and auditory (but that's another post!) 🪷
What is some information that can be gained by checking the cervix? Your midwife can tell you how much more cervix needs to let go before there is nothing left to hold your baby back. Sometimes, this helps us know whether to prioritize rest or movement. We can tell you what position your baby might be in and thereby what positions might help facilitate a smoother and less painful labor. We can tell you how high in your pelvis your baby is currently or how much change you have made since the last time your cervix was checked. If your baby is having some heart tone irregularities, perhaps why that's happening- maybe your baby is very deep in your pelvis and about to be born! In cases like this checking the cervix can actually help prevent other unnecessary interventions.🪷
Am I actually even IN active labor and do I really even need monitoring at this time? Sometimes, early labor contractions are really intense and may lead us to believe that we are in active labor and need all hands on deck.This is rarely helpful for the progression of labor. If we are 2-3 centimeters , it is wise to not be at the hospital or birthing center or to not have our midwives at our house.🪷
Is cervical change linear? NO! And can you determine how much cervical change should happen in a specific amount of time? No you cannot! -nor should you! Labor is an unfolding that happens in its own time. 🪷
Some drawbacks of cervical checks that happen too frequently are disruption of labor flow, increase in infection risk, and psychological distress when the person in labor is not given full informed decision-making power.🪷
What CAN'T we tell you by checking your cervix?
When your baby is going to come.
The size of your baby.
The outcome of the next election. Our powers are limited y'all.
🪷
