Incompetent Cervix

To give everyone hope here is my story. I had my first son at full term without any problems - he was 9Ibs. My cervix tore during the labour, and as a result I delivered my second child at 24wks due to incompetent cervix. My cervix had dilated silently and was open with membranes bulging at 23wks. An emergency stitch was placed but it failed and she was born a week later weighing 1Ib 7 - she battled for 6 months to survive, and is now a healthy 7yr old.

In 2009 we took the decision to try fro another baby, and found out we were expecting twins at our 10wk scan! We were terrified. An elective stitch (shirodkar) was placed at 12wks and I put myself on modified bed rest. I was plagued with cramps and vaginal pressure, but my cervix remained long and closed until 25wks when it funneled to the stitch. It remained like that until my planned section at 38wks, and I gave birth to two healthy boys weighing a whopping 9 and 8Ibs!!!

My story proves that elective stitches really can and do work, even under the extreme weight and pressure of two large babies. My cervix looked very floppy and soft when the stitch was placed (it should be hard and firm), and the doctors were very concerned. the stitch however often creates an overall tension in the cervix, and clearly in my case it worked! Please don't hesitate to push for an elective stitch - before 14wks if possible, it really does save lives. Good luck to everyone xxx

I completely understand your situation. I just lost my son about a weeks ago at 18 weeks of a incompetent cervix. All of this is new for me, I blame the doctors for everything cause I felt like they could have saved my son. I was having pain and pressure in my pelvic area but the midwife checked my cervix and said everything was fine. I thought she would have put me on bedrest but she didn't. A few days later im in the hospital about to give birth to my son that i know wasn't going to make it cause when i got there i already dialated 4 cm so it was too late. I pray your next pregnancy is successful. Be blessed.

This is my story i was 19 weeks pregnant when i just had gotten back from vacation. that week my husband and i had an appointment for my amnio to see if the babe had any problems, while at the appointment the doctor had done a vaginal ultrasound and thats when he found out i was dialated completely without any pain or nothing. i was rushed to the hospital for bedrest the same day at around 6:00pm abd and around 11:45pm i gave birth to my babe boy who did not survive. We new what was coming because the doctor explained to us that before the 24 weeks when a babe is born there is no chance of surviving. We took pictures with our babe boy and still now we miss him so much. Now i ask why did this happened to us. our first daughter was born normal through the 39 weeks. if we just new this was going to happen we could have had a stich. next time will be more careful.

I too had a similar story just two short weeks ago when we lost our twin girls.. Ashleigh and Brooke. I was 20 weeks when I went to the hospital complaining of a bloody mucus. After the doctor examined me he sent me home. After about 20 minutes of being home I started having sharp pains in my stomach. After about an hour the pains were getting harder so I got my husband to bring me back to the hospital. When they examined me again I had bulging membranes. I was so scared as my first pregnancy was similar and I delivered a 24 week baby who is now nearly 10 years old. The doctors this time admitted me to hospital and put me in the trendellenberg position ( basically upside down) and I was not allowed to move. I was given morphine, demerol, ventoloin, etc for the pain but nothing worked. I then started bleeding heavily. This lasted for almost two weeks. My nerves were nearly gone but I was willing to stay in that positon for eterity if it meant keeping my girls but it was not meant to be. At 22 weeks 5 days my Ashleigh was born and almost 24 hours later my Brooke was born. It was the most traumatic time of our lives. I miss my babies so much as my husband and I had tried for so long. Prior to being admitted to hospital I was being closely monitored too for cervcal length shortening on a weekly basis. The docs are not sure why it happebed and can't guarntee it won;t happen again. We feel so empty and not sure where to go from here.

I'm so sorry to hear of your losses. I am at risk for cervical incompetence because of a cone biopsy I had less than a year ago. I am 13 weeks pregnant. My midwife has told me that my cervix is on the long end of normal and that I shouldn't worry. We'll be getting another ultrasound around 16 or 18 weeks. What I wonder is, how long does it take the cervix to dilate to a dangerous point once it begins todilate? And, are women only at risk if the have a short cervix lenght to begin with?

Just this past Sunday (April 4th 2010) I started to feel light cramping but passed it off as normal pregnancy pains as I had always had them off and on. On Monday as I was going to the washroom I felt something come down my vaginal canal and decided I better go to the hospital. I was rushed into the emergancy room right away and as I waited I felt my baby move for the first time. I was just 19 weeks and it was my first baby. The doctor examined me and told me my membrane had come through the cervix and there was nothing that could be done. The chances of a stitch holding were nil because I as dialated and there was only 1cm of cervix on either side to stitch to and I was having contractions. My husband and I decided that we would leave it in gods hands as the baby was moving and still had a heart beat. I stayed in the hospital in bed from Monday to Thursday. I thought things were looking better as the cramping had subside for most of the Wednesday and the baby was still moving. I woke up on Thursday morning with worse pain and thought I felt the baby touch the top of my uturus so I knew things were getting worse. At the end of the day the doctor did and ultrasound and the baby had dropped throught the cervix and only his head was above. At that point we knew there was no stoping it. The doctor was scheduled to come back in at 10pm to break the water and deliver our little baby. At around 7pm I asked for medication as the contractions were every two min. About half and hour later my water broke and our baby was born at 8:29pm. He lived until 10:30pm. I am thankful to have got to hold him and get pictures. I was also told next time I find out I am pregnant we will have a stich put in at around 12weeks. The whole ordeal has been more devistating then I ever would have imagined. Its hard to think of having another child when all I wanted was him. RIP George

I lost my baby Ayla at 21 weeks 4 weeks ago. My first bub Rani (a prem) arrived at 31 wks. Rani is nearly 2 years and is thriving.

My pregnancy with Ayla was going good, heavier discharge this pregnancy. Had my 19 week scan and all was good and was told that I was too take it easy from 20 wks - we were hoping I was going to make it to 34 wks this time. I had no pain, but slight show of blood on a Saturday which later turned to brown that same day. I dismissed this as had bleed in both of my preganancies at the 11 to 12 mark and as I felt movements from Ayla I was not concerned. Went to work on Monday and just as I was finishing went to the toilet and once again saw some bright spots of red when i wiped. This concerned me so I rung my doctor and was told to come down asap for a check up. Ayla was fine...she was jumping up and down on my cervix. My doctor did an internal and thats when she found Ayla jumping on her fingers and she said we had to rush into surgery so she could put in suture in. My doctor told me I had 50 percent chance I was going to loose Ayla....I was mortified. After the surgery, I was having some serious cramping...I was given ventolin, pethadine and sleeping tablets so I would not move and was on strict bed rest so we could save Ayla....The next 48 hours and the cramps subsided and I felt normal except that i was confined to a bed an could not spend with my family for Christmas. I was happy to doing this if this mean't Ayla was going to make it. On my 6 day in hospital.....They were planning on letting me go in a couple more days as everything was going good, I started to get contractions again. They started out mild but were reqular at about 15 minutes apart. After 14 hours of contractions my pain started to get quite uncomfortable. I kept calling the nurses to let them know what was going on and I kept puffing on my ventolin ( it is meant to relax the cervix and stop contractions) but it didn't work. As the pain become unbearable I asked for pethadine, sleeping pills....what ever they could give me so I could relax and not move and wait for my pains to subside....but nothing would work. After hours of praying to my angels to look after Ayla and to make this stop, I felt the need to push.....I tried to put the pushing out of my head but the urge was to great....I pushed the nurses botton who then wheeled me to the labour suites and called my doctor to deliver Ayla. My doctor had to take out the stitch and then almost straight away Ayla was born (RIP my darling angel) without breathing. I got to hold my beautiful little baby girl. I was told that Ayla did not suffer as the contractions would have stopped oxygen to the placenta and it would have been quick.

I went to see my doctor 4 days later and I passed a 5 cm piece of placenta at home and was told I had an incompentent cervix - (I have a bicornate spaped uterus too which I already knew). Was told that when I come in for my 6 weeks checkup that my doctor would look at my cervix and see if I need a stitch prior to even falling pregnant or one at 12 weeks. I think when I see her next I am goin to say stick one in now! It is not good if you have a miscarriage in your first trimester as you have to go back for surgery to remove stitch but let me tell you......I could not go through with loss again