The big day when you will finally meet your little baby, is getting closer and closer
and now all you want to know is: am I dilating and if so, how much am I dilated?
THIS video will help you find out!
Yes, so first, we are gonna share with you the 4 most important cervix dilation symptoms
to give you an idea about how it looks AND feels like when your cervix is dilating.
And then we are also gonna show you two methods which allow you to actually check yourself
if you are dilating.
Yes, in fact, these two methods can even give you a ROUGH idea about how much your cervix
has dilated.
This is Nathalie, a pregnancy and birth consultant and TCM therapist and that’s Mathias, a
researcher and science geek, and we are here to help mommies and their babies naturally
and science-based.
For more useful tips and tools on pregnancy and baby-related topics, subscribe to our
channel and hit the bell, if you like!
Okay, so first on our list of cervix dilation symptoms are lightning crotches.
Lightning crotches are often described as a sharp or shooting pain which a woman may
feel in her pelvis, in her rectum or in her vagina.
Now, very often, that sort of pain is described as cervix dilation pain.
However, what it really is is, that your baby’s head has descended SO deep into your pelvis
that baby puts pressure on ligaments and nerves.
And that causes these “flashes of pain”.
Nevertheless, at that stage of your pregnancy when you feel these lightning crotches, the
pressure on your cervix will be quite strong.
And because of that strong pressure, chances are that your cervix is indeed dilating when you
feel these lightning crotches.
Right!
Next on our list of cervical dilation symptoms is mucus plug discharge.
The mucus plug is a thick jelly-like substance that is blocking the cervix during your pregnancy,
so that no bacteria can enter the uterus.
But once the cervix has thinned out and starts dilating, you are going to lose the mucus
plug.
And so, if you lose your mucus plug, chances are that your cervix has softened and that
it is now beginning to dilate.
Right! Next on our list of cervix dilation symptoms is what is called “bloody show”.
Now, I really don’t know who comes up with such terrible names.
Maybe they have asked Steven King, I don't know.
Because when I hear bloody show, I expect like the amount of blood equivalent to the
amount of blood in some zombie film, right?
However, that’s absolutely not the case.
So what happens is that as your cervix starts to dilate, small capillaries are burst which
obviously causes a bit of bleeding, right?
Therefore, you are most likely gonna see some light bloody discharge.
So why not call it, I don’t know, “hardly bloody discharge”?
Yeah, I like that!
Yeah, it's much better! "Hardly bloody discharge"!
Anyways! Now, very often, this happens together with the mucus plug discharge which may color the
mucus brown or pink.
And that HARDLY bloody discharge, if you like, can be a sign of cervical dilation.
However, we are not talking about vaginal bleeding, okay?
So if your discharge is red or even bright red and if it indeed looks like a bloody show,
then please seek medical advice from your doctor, okay?
You know, just to be on the safe side!
Please stop saying bloody show!
Anyways! The next and the final cervix dilation symptom is cramping.
Many women report that they feel a cramping kind of pain just above their pubic bone.
So, this can be another sign that your cervix is dilating.
Right!
So, as you can see the things that you are most likely going to feel are not so much
because of the cervical dilation itself but rather because of the many things that come
with cervix dilation.
And as you can also see, it is not THAT simple to conclude from cervical dilation symptoms
that your cervix is indeed dilating.
And because of that, we want to show you two methods which can help you find out if your
cervix is indeed dilating.
Plus, they can even give you a rough idea about how much your cervix has dilated already.
Yes, so, the first approach is called “the purple line”.
Now listen: we are very aware that what we are about to tell you sounds like some myth
that grandmas told each other, like 500 years ago, right?
However, this method is actually backed by scientific studies.
We’ll link to those studies in the description below this video.
Yes, so basically, when a woman is dilating, she may develop a purple or brownish line
which extends from her anus upwards to the top of the cleft between her buttocks.
No, this is not a joke.
In fact, it happens in about 75% of all women.
And that line can even tell you approximately how much your cervix is dilated.
Keep in mind though that if you are being induced, then you are most likely not gonna
see the purple line.
However, in that case it doesn’t really matter, right? Because you are at the hospital anyways
where they can check your cervical dilation.
Now, unfortunately, we cannot really show you pictures of the purple line here because
youtube wouldn’t like that so much.
But we have THIS illustration for you which we hope is somewhat useful.
So, again, the purple line extends from the anus to the top of the cleft between your
buttocks.
Therefore, you would see the line close to your anus first and then extending upwards.
So what does the line tell us?
Well, first of all, if you can see the line, then it’s good news, because that means
that your cervix is dilating. Right!
And then, if you want to get a ROUGH idea, how much you have dilated already, then you
need to measure the length of that line.
So maybe, your partner or a friend can help you with that. Right!
Now, many midwives and doulas will tell you that, for example, if your purple line is
1cm long, then you are 1cm dilated.
And if your line is, say, 5cm long, you will be 5cm dilated.
Etc.
Unfortunately, that is NOT the case, because the two numbers are NOT perfectly correlated.
Instead, one clinical study came up with THIS table.
And what this table tells us is, how much the women of that study were dilated when
they developed a purple line of a specific length.
So, for example: when the women of that study were between 3 and 6 cm dilated, then on average,
their purple line was 7.8 cm long.
So, given that this study is really representative, then it would be so that if your own purple
line is about 5cm long, then it is likely, that your cervix is about 1 to 2 cm dilated.
If your line is close to 8 cm long, it is likely that your cervix is between 3 and 6
cm dilated.
And then from there it’s like, the further your cervix dilates, the more the two numbers
will match.
Again, you will only get a rough idea about how much you are dilated, but it is far away
from being accurate.
The reason why we still wanted to share this information with you is because one thing
that the purple line CAN tell us reliably is, if you are dilating at all.
And we think that information alone definitely makes it worth to be mentioned, right?
Exactly! By the way, you can find both, the table that you just saw, and a more detailed explanation
on our website.
Link can be found in the description below this video.
Yes.
Now, since the purple line is only visible in about 75% of all women, we wanted to show
you another approach to help you find out if and how much you are dilating.
We call it the “Fundus Theory”.
Yes, but before we explain the Fundus Theory: If you are liking this video so far, we would
be super grateful if you could leave us a comment in the comment section below.
Or simply subscribe to our channel and or like this video so that we know that you have
found it helpful!
Any feedback is more than appreciated!
Thanks so much!
Okay, so, back to the Fundus Theory.
Yes, so, first of all, unlike the purple line, the Fundus Theory is not science-based, okay?
It is something that I learned from midwives.
Nevertheless, this approach CAN be surprisingly accurate.
Right, so in very simple terms, your fundus is the top of your uterus, which you can feel
better and better as your pregnancy progresses.
So, in the picture that you see right now, you can see where approximately we would expect
to see the fundus in week 12, 18, 24 etc.
What you can also see is that the line at week 40 is lower than at week 36.
Now that is because at week 40, your baby has dropped, i.e. you baby has descended into
your pelvis.
And accordingly, the fundus descends too.
But when you have a contraction, the level of the fundus rises again.
And the reason for that is the muscle of your uterus.
Before labor, that muscle surrounds the uterus.
So it is more or less equally thick on all sides, right?
However, as you are dilating, that muscle bulges at the top of the uterus.
Therefore, the fundus rises.
Right, so here is what you need to do: At the beginning of labor and during a contraction,
check how many fingers fit between your fundus and your bra line!
And keep in mind: the fundus is simply the bump of your little one, okay?
Now, at the beginning of labor, you should still be able to fit all five fingers of your
hand between the fundus and the bra line. Right!
However, what’s going to happen is that as your contractions become more intense,
more regular and last longer, you will be able to fit fewer and fewer fingers because
the level of the fundus will rise even further.
So how is this related to cervix dilation and how do you know how much you have dilated?
Well, you see, the rising fundus goes hand in hand with your cervical dilation.
So, the moment when you can only fit 3 fingers, it is likely that you are about 5cm dilated.
In fact, when Nathalie was in labor, the accuracy of the 3 finger rule was like to a tee.
So, the moment when Nathalie could only fit 3 fingers, her midwife did a vaginal exam.
And she confirmed it: Nathalie was 5cm dilated.
Spot-on.
Yes, and then once you can only fit 1 finger, well, then it is likely that you are fully
dilated.
So you might wanna consider going to the hospital way before that!
Now again, this method is completely unscientific.
And we also don’t know how accurate the Fundus Theory will be in your particular case.
Maybe, for you three fingers are more likely something like 4 or 6 centimeters of cervical
dilation.
However, we know that this method has worked for a lot of women.
And so, we believe that it can certainly be helpful if you want to know if you are dilating.
Plus, it can certainly give you at least a rough idea about where you are in terms of
your cervical dilation. Exactly!
By the way: if you are not dilating fast enough, check out our video about "How to dilate
faster" that you can now see at the top of your screen! Right!
And if your contractions have started already, check out our other video about "How to
dilate faster once contractions have started"!
You can now see it at the top of your video screen!
In any case: we really hope that you found this video helpful.
And we also hope that we could help you get one step closer to meeting your little one.
Thanks so much for watching!
And if you have liked this video, please leave us a like or even a comment!
Any feedback is more than appreciated.
And for more useful tips and tools on pregnancy and baby-related topics, make sure to subscribe
to our channel and to hit the bell!