Internal examination

Why does the midwife have to carry out internal examination when I am already in so much pain?

The midwife or doctor needs to know exactly how your labour is progressing. For this reason internal examination will need to be carried out to establish the dilation of the cervix, the position of the baby and how the baby is descending into your pelvis. This information allows your labour to be carefully managed. For example, if your contractions have slowed and an internal examination shows that your cervix has stopped dilating, then this may be a cue for the doctor to use medication to get the labour going again.

Your doctor or midwife will be as careful as possible, but you will have to accept some degree of discomfort during the examination. She will also be scrupulous with hygiene, which becomes more problematic if your waters have broken.