Buckle up for a thorough discussion about cervical exams, kweens! Here's what you'll hear about in this episode:

• What is a cervical exam and how are they performed
• What's being assessed in a cervical exam (i.e. dilation, effacement, station, cervical ripeness and position, etc.)
• How to do a respectful cervical exam
• Tips for how to make exams more comfortable for the person receiving them
• Cervical exams during pregnancy – why they're done and whether they're actually necessary
• The role that cervical exams play in inductions of labor and why it's important to know your Bishop's Score before starting an induction
• Definition of a membrane sweep (aka – stretch and sweep)
• The lowdown on cervical exams during labor, including the risks and benefits
• The normal frequencies of cervical exams in labor in a hospital vs. birth center/home birth
• Discussion about the recent change in definition of the start of active labor from 4cm to 6cm
  • https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Obstetric-Care-Consensus-Series/Safe-Prevention-of-the-Primary-Cesarean-Delivery
  • https://evidencebasedbirth.com/friedmans-curve-and-failure-to-progress-a-leading-cause-of-unplanned-c-sections/
  • https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(13)01690-6/abstract
• Some myths about cervical exams and dilation in labor
• The resources mentioned about the uterine infection chorioamnionitis
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3008318/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22432485
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22617572
• The pros and cons of the birthing person knowing the numbers associated with their cervical exams in labor
• Discussion about how labor progress and cervical dilation are not always linear

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