I wanted to sit down and just give you the real, practical, no-fluff breakdown of membrane sweeping at the end of pregnancy - because this is one of those topics that comes up constantly when you’re 38, 39, 40 weeks and just ready to meet your baby. In this episode, I walk you through exactly what a membrane sweep is (and how it’s tied to a cervical exam), what it actually feels like, and what it’s trying to do - basically, give your body a gentle nudge by releasing prostaglandins to maybe kickstart labor. I’m really clear about this: it’s still a medical intervention, even if it’s on the more “natural” end of the induction spectrum. And consent matters - big time. You can absolutely say yes to an exam and no to a sweep, and those should never be bundled together without your full understanding.

From there, I get into the nuance that people often skip - like the fact that sweeps can increase your chances of going into labor sooner, but they’re far from a magic button. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes it takes multiple sweeps. Sometimes “success” just means you avoided a formal induction days later - not that you went into labor that night. I also talk through the real pros (possibly avoiding medical induction) and the very real cons (discomfort, cramping, frustration, and rare risks like infection or accidentally breaking your water). And ultimately, my whole message is this: this isn’t about whether a membrane sweep is “good” or “bad.” It’s about whether it’s the right choice for you, your body, your baby’s position, and your circumstances. Your body isn’t broken if it doesn’t work - and if it does work, it’s probably because your body was already getting ready. This is just a tool, and you get to decide if and when to use it.

More from this episode:

Listen to Episode #21: What's the Big Deal About Cervical Exams & Should You Say Yes or No?

Helpful Timestamps:

1. 00:00 Membrane Sweeps
2. 04:29 What a Membrane Sweep Is
3. 09:51 What It Feels Like
4. 14:38 Evidence Behind Membrane Sweeps
5. 20:08 Risks and Downsides
6. 23:12 Baby Position Considerations
7. 24:59 Who Should Skip Sweeps
8. 25:43 Making the Decision
9. 27:45 Key Takeaways

About your host:

🩺🤰🏻Lo Mansfield, MSN, RNC-OB, CLC is a registered nurse, mama of 4, and a birth, baby, and motherhood enthusiast. She is both the host of the Lo & Behold podcast and the founder of The Labor Mama.

For more education, support and “me too” from Lo, please visit her website and check out her online courses and digital guides for birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum/newborns. You can also follow @thelabormama and @loandbehold_thepodcast on Instagram and join her email list here.

For more pregnancy, birth, postpartum and motherhood conversation each week, be sure to subscribe to The Lo & Behold podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you prefer to listen!

👉🏼 A request: If this episode meant something to you, would you consider a 5 star rating and leaving us a review? Yes, we read them, and yes, they help keep L & B going! ♥️

Connect with Lo more on: INSTAGRAM | TIK TOK | PINTEREST | FACEBOOK

Disclaimer

Opinions shared by guests of this show are their own, and do not always reflect those of The Labor Mama platform. Additionally, the information you hear on this podcast or that you receive via any linked resources should not be considered medical advice. Please see our full disclaimer here.

Additionally, we may make a small commission from some of the links shared with you. Please know, this comes at no additional cost to you, supports our small biz, and is a way for us to share brands and products with you that we genuinely love.

Produced and Edited by Vaden Podcast Services

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We're gonna talk all things membrane sweeping or membrane stripping for the end of your pregnancy.

What are the pros, the cons, the benefits, the risks, et cetera, because I think those gets passed over pretty often, depending on which bias might be pushing you one way or the other.

Motherhood is all consuming.

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The truth is.

I can be having the best time being a mom one minute, and then the next, I'm questioning all my life choices.

I'm Lo Mansfield, your host of the Lo and Behold podcast, mama of four Littles, former labor and postpartum RN, CLC, and your new best friend in the messy middle space of all the choices you are making in pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.

If there is one thing I know after years of delivering babies at the bedside and then having, and now raising those four of my own, it is that there is no such thing as a best way to do any of this.

And we're leaning into that truth here with the mix of real life and what the textbook says, expert Insights and practical applications.

Each week we're making our way towards stories that we participate in, stories that we are honest about, and stories that are ours.

This is the lo and behold podcast.

What is up, my friends?

It is just me today, no guest, and we are going to teach.

This is gonna be ideally like a quick hitter.

Give me 20 minutes of your time and we're gonna talk all things membrane sweeping or membrane stripping for the end of your pregnancy.

This conversation comes up.

Nonstop at the end of the pregnancy, particularly because you, if you've experienced it or you're about to, or you're in it right now, you want your baby to come, you are ready to go into labor when you are 38 weeks, or you are 38, 9 weeks, and this is when this membrane sweeping or this membrane stripping ation starts.

So we're gonna dive into it and we're just gonna be really literal and really practical with, Hey, what are these?

Hey, what does that look like for you?

What are the pros?

What are the cons?

Kind of lay it all out for you in a really easy, succinct way.

So that you can make this decision when you are at the end of your pregnancy, and so you can make it genuinely understanding.

What are the pros, the cons, the benefits, the risks, et cetera, because I think those get passed over pretty often, you know, depending on which bias might be pushing you one way or the other.

And my goal is to truly just give you all of it so that you can decide what you wanna do.

If you are 40 weeks pregnant and ready to meet that baby and trying to figure out how to make that happen, or if you are going to go ahead and just wait.

So let's just go straight into it.

I wanna tell you that the first thing I actually want you to know is I need you to understand what a cervical exam is, because cervical exams and membrane sweeps or membrane stripping, again, that both of those vocabularies might be used when someone's talking about this.

Those two things, the sweep and the cervical exam, they're done at the same time.

So I've actually done a full episode on cervical exams.

What's going on with them when those are offered?

Kind of like what we're learning from them and what that then tells you or how you could use that information kind of help you in the same way as the sweep conversation help you decide.

Is a cervical exam for me, whether they be prenatally or in labor.

is this something I wanna suggest to you?

Is this something I wanna say no to?

You can change your mind about 'em, all of that.

So that whole conversation is in episode 21.

So if you actually don't really know what that is, I would encourage you to kind of listen to that one as well.

maybe hit pause here.

Go check that one out really quick.

It's a short, quick hitter as well.

And then come back here and jump into the rest of this conversation.

They kind of go together, and you're gonna find that as we talk about this a little bit more, the reason they go together is yes, one, they often happen at the same time, but typically.

Or what I have seen in practice, let's say that not typically, but I have seen this, is that oftentimes sweeps just get done when you have consented to a cervical exam.

So let's say you're at the end of pregnancy and they've started to offer those exams to you and you've decided, yeah, I'd like a cervical exam.

Every once in a while we'll have a. Provider who might do something like, Hey, while I was in there, I went ahead and I did a sweep.

This is a no.

Both of these things are separate things, like I've told you, and both of them require your consent, right?

So you can say yes to a cervical exam and no to a sweep.

Now you cannot say yes to a sweep and not have a cervical exam again, because it's all happening at the same time.

So as a very basic kind of anatomy lesson for this, a membrane sweep is when a provider.

Uses a sterile gloved finger to go in and check your cervix, right?

So they're right there in the same spot, they're going to use that glove finger to kind of sweep around between the membranes of the amniotic sac that your baby is inside of, and the lower portion of the uterus, essentially your cervix, right?

so essentially what we're doing, and nurses can do this, doctors can do this, midwives can do this.

These happen usually in office, right at one of your prenatal appointments.

That's what we're talking about here, they're just sweeping around.

So if you think about, if you.

Peeled an orange and just took like a piece of the peel off and then kinda wiggled your finger between the peel of the orange and then the actual fruit or the flesh inside and how you can kind of sweep around and separate the peel from the fruit inside.

That's kind of what is happening here.

Okay, so that's basic.

That's what a membrane sweep is sweeping around inside of that lower portion of the uterus to try and ideally, or hopefully stir up something called prostaglandins, or release prostaglandins, because these prostaglandins can.

Act on the body and potentially trigger or kind of more naturally, if you will, start inducing your labor cause contractions.

Right?

And there are prostaglandin medications that we can talk about in another episode as well related to induction and augmentation that are also prostaglandins that are acting on the body to cause uterine contractions.

So prostaglandins can act on the body and cause contractions.

It's just will a sweep do this will.

Enough prostaglandins be released, will the body respond in this way to actually kind of cause that induction?

So in general, that's how sweep is done.

The purpose or the hope is that those prostaglandins start kicking, move in, flow in, get into where they need to be and cause labor contractions.

So this is a gentle nudge.

As compared to those medications I'm talking about, or a more medical induction, I think it's important to clarify that because some people will call this a, you know, air quote, natural induction method, but this, in my opinion, this is a medical induction method, but it is a more natural one if we're comparing it to, let's say, a cyto attack pill, Pitocin.

Things like that.

But this is still a medical thing that we are doing in a, in a way, we're intervening to potentially kickstart this process.

So it belongs in the induction conversation, but I think it's appropriate.

It's cool for you to say, but this is a more natural way to induce the body and we will come back to that because I think.

It can factor into your decision making process.

So when and why are sweeps offered?

I know I've kind of been hinting to it.

I've already said a couple of these dates and timelines, but essentially they offered at the end of your pregnancy, typically, I would say more around like 38 weeks, 39 weeks.

Definitely 40, 41 moving forward.

I have heard of them being offered at 37 weeks, but that's rare.

Typically, I think most people are gonna say no, not yet.

In that regard, 'cause that's pretty early.

I know that that's term, but that is early term.

So I don't know that you're really gonna have the offer to you now.

You might have a cervical exam start being offered to you at 37 weeks, and so at some point this is going to trickle into the conversation, but likely maybe a little bit later.

I also mentioned that, the provider when they do a sweep, when you're saying, yeah, please, let's do this, is that you have to be dilated, right?

And so that also has to be true as well.

So typically that's going to be more likely at 38, 39, 40, 41 plus weeks again.

so we can't really be doing these earlier.

There's no reason to.

We certainly don't want to be trying to make any babies come out earlier than they should be.

Anyway, right?

So we're not offering these earlier or doing anything earlier and you also need that dilation.

I will say every once in a while I have seen, and this is like very rare, every once in a while, like I've maybe seen this a couple times where a provider will, I'm again like I'm air quoting, membrane sweep you, even if you were not dilated, and what they're doing is just kind of like.

rubbing on the cervix and kind of stirring things up around like at the base of the cervix, just to see if that can help release some prostaglandins, but they're not actually able to go in there and sweep.

I don't know that there's any effectiveness to that.

I also don't know why you would really want to be considering that.

Because that's a cervix that's very much not ready for labor, but possible maybe someone will throw that in front of you.

Maybe there's a reason to try this before you do something else, even if you weren't dilated.

So just wanted to say, I've heard of that.

I've seen it in practice a couple of times, but typically you do have to be dilated.

So this is an end of pregnancy option.

And then certainly it can actually still be an option during labor as well.

If someone thinks that.

That could help.

then like I mentioned, the offer for this or the suggestion for it, availability of it, however you wanna say that, is again, to in theory induce or start labor in a little bit more of a natural way.

So that kind of harkens back to that idea of, you know, you're 40 weeks, you really want this baby to come out, nothing's happening.

There are people who are saying, yeah, let's try a sweep.

Maybe that's gonna kickstart this process and get me going.

So it's not a, we have to get this baby out right now.

It's typically more of a, do I wanna encourage some things?

Do I wanna encourage my body right now?

Is my body getting close and maybe we can just do this, this thing and that's gonna be the thing that'll, that'll push me into labor.

But we don't immediately need to have this baby be delivering or immediately need to have the labor process start.

So let's talk about what a membrane suite actually feels like.

Kind of more of the, just the practical application of what this means.

So if you've had a cervical exam, it's gonna feel a lot like that, but I think a lot of people will say it's like a cervical exam, but more intense, which I would agree with.

You know, we have to, as a provider, you have to get.

To the cervix, right?

And so depending on where your cervix is in your body, because it moves and changes, and I talk about that in episode 21, if you're thinking, what are you talking about?

But the cervix does move.

And so depending on where the cervix is when they're doing the exam and or this sweep that we're talking about, it can be uncomfortable to get to the cervix.

It can be uncomfortable to then also try to sweep around.

You'll hear vocabulary like.

Sometimes they were really like digging for it or, I mean, even as a nurse I've said I kind of had to grab it and and pull it forward.

That sounds, I know that can sound like, ugh when you're listening to that, but depending on where the cervix is, a sweep can be pretty uncomfortable.

And again, like many would say more uncomfortable in the cervical exam 'cause we're not just going in and checking, then we're doing something additionally.

You also are.

Probably, I would say very likely going to experience cramping both during and then after the sweep as well.

So that would be something that you would notice during the process, or likely you would notice.

And it often just takes a few minutes for that cramping to start, or it's more immediate.

Like some people will experience cramping, you know, during a pap smear or something look up.

Like as soon as we go in there and we start messing with or touching any of those areas or other spaces, you can start to feel some cramping.

So.

Definitely a, a typical thing for you to expect if you go ahead and want to try the sweep along with the serv exam.

think.

There are people who say it was not a big deal at all.

It was totally fine.

And then you have the people who are saying, yeah, that was a lot.

It's was one of my least favorite parts, or, I'm so glad I don't have to do that again.

So this is the whole spectrum, right?

Like any sort of labor, pain, discomfort, and, and I do think a lot of that goes back to where your cervix is when this is happening.

Because when it is more.

Anterior and in the front of your body.

These sweeps just feel a lot easier because it is literally easier for the provider to kind of get to the anatomy that they're trying to get to.

Okay, so what happens after the sweep?

I know I mentioned the cramping.

Typically, that cramping is going to continue.

You're very likely gonna hear your provider tell you.

It's also normal to have some spotting.

You know when they check and do the sweep and then after as well.

So active, bright red, bleeding, bleeding, that's intensifying.

You know, those are signs.

Hey, no, we need to pay attention to this and we need to let our provider know.

But the spotting and that type of bleeding after is a pretty typical post membrane sweep response.

What you might notice in terms of this.

Contraction hope, right?

Or the induction hope or the kick starting labor.

Hope is that you are having irregular contractions.

I know I mentioned cramping.

That cramping can maybe turn over into some irregular contractions and you maybe will experience nothing at all.

And I think it's really important to say that because membrane sweeps are not.

An absolute at all in terms of kick-starting labor or even causing contractions.

So you might notice some cramping, you might notice some contractions.

You might end up in labor.

At some point we're gonna get there, or you might notice nothing at all.

And then the other thing I think that's good to know is when we talk about.

What might happen after that?

There's not this specific timeline for when or if something will kick in as well.

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Okay, let's get you back to the episode.

We're gonna get to some research about this in just a second, but, you know, labor could start within hours.

And I mean, is that not the goal for most of us if we're gonna try a sweep or it could be days or it could be not at all.

So just know that if something immediately isn't occurring, that doesn't necessarily indicate.

Failure really in that day or even in the days in front of you guys.

Okay.

So does it actually work?

And I, this is kind of what I was just hinting to.

This is an evidence-based way to potentially kickstart labor.

But the evidence I think is, is interesting about it.

And again, none of it is absolute.

There's no, like this will work.

So it's important to hold onto that.

Evidence does show us that membrane sweeping can increase chances of going into labor sooner.

And so that's kind of like, I'm gonna say like a full stop.

It's not like we have this really incredible evidence that says 65% of people are gonna go into labor within 24 hours.

But we do see these conclusions or these results that say it can increase chances of going into labor sooner, which most of us would choose that, right?

And so maybe that's the goal.

It got us into labor sooner instead of having to do a more medical induction, right?

And so that that would be a success to a lot of people because they're trying to avoid something else down the road.

It may also reduce the need for that more formal induction process like I was just talking about.

And so it's not necessarily that the sweep again, kickstarted you into labor in 24 hours, but it did start something in a timeframe that kept you from, you know, needing to go in and do a Pitocin type induction or something like that.

I wanna read a like very specific quote for you from some research about.

What these results actually look like because I think, again, we, we sometimes read this research or hear about it or we hear about it online and we just think, oh, like I'm going to go into labor there.

There's some good research that says that, it really.

Isn't clarifying that.

So this one, studies show that membrane sweeps can positively affect labor induction.

So we talked about that, right?

That it can kind of prevent the need for more formal induction.

For example, one study found that in people who were past their due dates, membrane sweeps were successful 86% of the time.

So that sounds really exciting.

Right?

But the first thing that I would say is, first of all, that's past their due dates, right?

And so when we're trying it 38 weeks or 39 weeks, you can't necessarily apply this type of result from this piece of research.

And there's more to it a. Of those who went into labor, 86% required only one or two sweeps, and 14% required more than two.

So this is a part of the conversation that I think a lot of people don't really talk about is that it's not necessarily, like I said.

This immediately is successful, but that it might be successful, it might prevent later induction, and that's how we're qualifying success.

And it's possible you need more than two or even three sweeps.

And so I don't know that people always really think, oh, maybe if I do wanna.

39 weeks, 39 and six weeks and 41 and three, and then it works well in some research in theory, like that would be success, but it isn't always the success that we are thinking of when we think this is gonna work and this is what it's gonna look like.

There's a big Cochrane review that also came out in 2020 about membrane sweeps and how they work.

There was 44 studies inside of it, and it was like what I was just reading, related to this idea of using membrane sweeping for labor induction, and that one also, it did conclude that membrane sweeping it might be effective in causing spontaneous labor, which again.

The goal for a lot of people, right, to not have to induce in a more medical way, especially in though this is, again, important, the seven days following the sweep, and that when compared to expectant management, which is the idea of, sitting back and not doing anything sweeps might reduce the need for more medical induction of labor, which we've already covered.

So I really wanted to read that to you or share that part with you because it talks about it may be effective in causing spontaneous labor.

Especially in the seven days following the sweep.

Okay, so that goes back to this idea.

If you have a membrane sweep on a Friday.

And you go into the labor the next following Wednesday, are you someone who would say, oh, that sweep is successful?

Right?

But in some of the research that is success.

So I'm just trying to clarify for you guys how some of this research actually clarifies the effectiveness of membrane sweeps.

So we're not running around thinking they work 85% of the time or whatever, when really that's not what's between the lines of some of these conclusions.

So ultimately.

Membrane sweeps and their effectiveness not guaranteed.

Right.

You've picked that up.

Sometimes it can take multiple sweeps.

So that's something I talk to a lot about.

Like if a student's asking me like, Hey, what do you think?

You know, all of this is inside the birth course.

We deep dive it even more.

And then also my response would be like, sometimes it might take more than one sweep.

So if you're open to this and you're into this, consider that you might need one now and another in a couple days, and maybe that would be the thing, right?

So I think that's important to think about when you're thinking about this.

Is the multiple sweeps thing, and then like I've said a couple times, just recognizing that success is qualified in maybe different ways than you would be qualifying it if you went ahead and tried this.

The last thing I would say is that typically the response of the body is going to be better with a more favorable cervix, which means, you know, more dilated, more ripe, more ready, maybe more anterior in the body.

All the things that we talk about in episode 21, about what it means for cervix to be ripe and so.

Just setting good expectations.

You know, if you go in and you're one centimeter dilated and you're like, Hey, let's try this.

Well, it's possible that your body's not gonna respond as well to someone who does the sweep, and they're four centimeters dilated, right?

That cervix is more favorable.

And so it's pretty likely that they would have, you know, a better outcome or let's say a more successful outcome than you would with a cervix that is less favorable at the time.

So this is a helpful tool.

It might be a helpful tool.

The timelines might be different than what you think, and it's certainly not a magic button for most people.

And.

I would say certainly not an immediate magic button.

Okay, so let's talk about risks and downsides, right?

Because the pro is this is working, right, and we're going into labor and that's the goal.

And then you don't have to be 40 weeks and pregnant anymore when you don't wanna be right?

But there are risks and downsides.

I would see some of them are really small.

But they're still present.

And they're still real.

And I've seen some in practice play out.

And so it's important to have that part of the conversation too.

Kind of common expected things is, are things we've already covered, right?

Is just that discomfort during the sweep, right?

So that's not necessarily a risk, it's just a con, right?

So if you're like, I'm not interested in going through that, particularly if this doesn't work well then that's a con for you.

The light spotting and just the you know, kind of paying attention to all of that after for some.

An anxiety inducing type of situation, so that's not something that they enjoy as well.

And then that idea of it causing the cramping, kind of like prodromal labor type contractions.

Where you are contracting, it is keeping you awake.

You are feeling frustrated, but they're not really doing anything yet.

And so that can be a, a pretty common experience after a membrane sweep as well as the body's doing something, but it's not doing the thing.

so it can just be really frustrating for you, I think, because you're not necessarily getting rest.

It also didn't work and it just feels like what was, you know, what was the point of all of this less common?

I would say, actually pretty darn rare for all of this, but still important to know, is there's an infection risk, right?

Anytime we go into the cervix and do any of these exams or membrane sweeping, so you have to acknowledge that, and then accidentally breaking the bag of waters, the risk for that is really low.

But I've, I've seen it in practice and so I always want to say, Hey, that that could happen.

They could potentially break your bag of water when they're doing the sweep.

And in most of those circumstances, that's not what we want.

Right.

Because your body is not in labor.

And so that is then very much turning into a, a very likely a very medical induction process.

'cause we just accidentally broke the bag of water on a body that wasn't really ready for it.

So does that happen very often?

No.

But I still remember the face of a doctor walking out of a patient's room once and saying.

I accidentally just broke her bag of water, so she's staying right?

And this was a triage patient, and she was going to sweep her membranes and send her home.

So I've seen it happen.

And I think we have to acknowledge it, even though that's not super common.

Okay.

And then the heavy bleeding possibility.

Typically the sweep alone isn't just going to lead to that, but it's just important to note again that not very often we could run into a situation like that where we've stirred things up and mess with things, and then it leads to kind of more of an impact like that.

That's.

Of course, like we already said, you know, an immediate call to the provider if you are at home and you find that that's going out.

I think the biggest downside is what I spoke to at the beginning of this little section, is just this idea of emotionally, it being frustrating, right?

This let down thinking this might do it, I'm so ready, and then it does nothing and or.

It does that mally frustrating contractions, and that's just not what you want at all.

You're not sleeping, and so it just causes kind of more frustration in a week or in some days where you're just already maybe frustrated and ready in all the things.

So one last holdup for me, and this is something I like to teach about a lot because I love the conversation about fetal positioning so much, is the idea of, I don't know if I would put this into a con or just.

An awareness that I want you to have as well when you're thinking through this is what is the baby's position when we're doing this sweep?

And are we doing a sweep if the baby is not in a good position?

And so I like to teach that you have your provider clarify and or maybe confirm the baby's position.

I'm not talking about head down, I'm talking about, although that would be valuable as well.

I'm actually talking about this idea of are they op or are they oa?

Like where's their head at?

And.

In your body and are they ideally positioned for labor?

My personal preference would be that I would not be doing a membrane sweep on a baby that is, you know, op or kind of in that sunny side up position we talk about where they're not in an ideal spot to begin labor.

Because if that sweep works, I don't really want my body to start laboring and contracting on top of a babe that isn't in the greatest position.

My hope would be that, hey, if I had given it a few more days and continued to do, you know, optimal fetal positioning exercises, my body kept doing the work it's doing, maybe this baby would've rotated and been in a better spot before labor started.

So it's kind of a stretch just in that you're making the assumption if this sweep works.

is it working on a, on a baby that is in the best spot?

But for me it's something to think about.

So if this is not, you know, a hope to, I wanna do this now.

'cause otherwise we're inducing me more medically tomorrow if you have time and bandwidth and space.

To maybe put that off or put this decision off, particularly if you know your baby's in a not great position.

That's something that I think is really valuable for you guys to think about and it's certainly something that I've always thought about as well at the end, who are sweeps not for.

I kind of just mentioned that a tiny bit.

Really, these are.

I'm gonna, I keep using the air quotes, right?

These are safe for most people past like 38, 39 weeks of pregnancy.

This is why it's offered to you, right?

If you wanna try this, it's available to you.

There are a couple medical conditions, right, where we're not gonna be doing this previa.

Like if the placenta is covering your cervix, if you have active herpes lesions, certain times where.

We don't want the baby obviously coming out through the vagina at this moment in time, or maybe not at all with this birth, so we are obviously not going to be doing a cervical exam or a membrane sweep or anything with the intention to kind of stir things up and get things going down there if the cervix is closed.

Again, this is typically not for you, and so that's not gonna be an option for you as well, typically, right.

So ultimately this just comes down to a personalized combo with your provider when you're at that moment in time of, is this available to me?

Right.

And then we get into the, should I actually do it right?

And so that's, that's the question that we're all asking at this point, is.

Is this something that is right for me?

What are the implications of it?

Should I actually say yes to this?

Should I say no?

Why is everybody always ranting about this one way or the other online, right?

so I think it's an important reframe to not think about this as a good or a bad choice, but just.

Think about why you're choosing one thing or the other.

What are the implications for you for the type of birth that you're hoping for?

What's the timing that's on the table right now?

How far along are you?

Is this going to prevent a more medical induction?

I can speak personally, like I've always said, I'm not gonna do a sweep.

I'm not gonna do cervical exams.

In these earlier weeks, and by earlier I mean 38, 39, 40.

But if more, a more medical induction is on the table for me and that's what feels right or is right for me in my pregnancy, well then I'm gonna be sweeping and I'm gonna try once or twice.

'cause I would rather that be the way we start it than having to take on medications or drugs.

Right.

So it becomes this really personalized decision based on What's going on with your body?

If you just want this baby out and your cervix is favorable and you're feeling good about it, that's a reason to say yes to this too.

Right?

And alternatively, if you want as natural of a process as possible, and there's no reason to try and do anything to, you know, make this baby come out right now, that's a reason to say no.

And that's your choice too.

And so I think just this reframe of not like is it a good choice or a bad thing, but more thinking about like, is this the right choice for me based on.

All of these different factors like those I just mentioned, or based on what might be in front of me, you know, if my baby isn't born today or tomorrow, so the answer of, yeah, I want one, it's great.

And the answer of like, no, I'm gonna skip one also.

Great.

Like, I just don't think there's a bad answer to this.

Hey, would you like to have a sweep today?

Or would you like to have a sweep right now?

Unless you're making this choice without.

All the information that we just walked through.

So big takeaway for all of this is that this is, this is a tool, right?

It's not some sort of test to see what's going on.

It's a tool people use.

You're not failing.

If it doesn't work, success looks really different than maybe you thought before.

You just listened to all of this, and the body also is not broken.

If this doesn't work, it doesn't mean you're not going to go into spontaneous labor.

It doesn't mean that your body isn't going to do this for you.

I think typically when membrane sweeps are successful, it's because the body was already.

Ready to go into labor.

And so we say, Hey, this sweep worked, but if we could really peel back all the layers, that body was ready.

And so maybe it was the gentlest nudge, maybe it was gonna go into labor anyway.

But I just personally don't feel like sweeps just kickstart or kick a door open that is otherwise closed.

So this is not a failure or a body that's not gonna do it.

I think when they're successful, it's a body that was.

Already rare to go.

And so that was just a really gentle nudge at the right time.

So try to go into these decisions and these choices.

With that kind of head space, right, of we're not accepting this as failure.

We're not necessarily putting really specific timelines and let's say boundaries on what success looks like, and ultimately just know that this is a decision that you get to make.

The one that makes sense for you, for all these circumstances we've been talking about, and the one that feels right to you, you're the person making this choice.

You are the only person making this choice.

remember that you always get to say yes or no to all of this.

Thank you so much for listening to the Lo and Behold podcast.

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