You will be asked to lie back on the exam table with your feet in the stirrups and knees wide. What’s involved with a cervical exam?ĭuring a prenatal office visit, a provider may ask you to undress from the waist down so they can check your cervix. That often looks like one exam each week beginning around 36 weeks gestation until labor begins.Įven though there are no studies demonstrating clinical benefits to routine cervical exams before labor, many providers still consider them a normal part of prenatal care. Note: We are talking here about full-term pregnancies where there are no additional symptoms like bleeding or signs of premature labor.Īlso called pelvic exams or vaginal exams, cervical exams during pregnancy are offered as a routine part of care for many OBs and hospital-based midwives (some home birth and birth center midwives too). So what’s the deal with cervical exams during pregnancy? Let’s dig into what these exams can really tell us, what your options are, and some tried and true tips for communicating with your care provider about cervical exams during an appointment.
Many of our clients are surprised that their providers want to perform cervical exams each week during the last part of pregnancy, often starting at around 36 weeks (although some providers may initiate these routine exams earlier or later). Cervical exams to check progress during labor are one thing, but let’s talk about cervical exams BEFORE labor.
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