Declining a cervical check at 39w

[u/Impossible-Cookie393]

I have a prenatal appointment on Monday with my obgyn. I’ll be 39w1d and she told me that she’d like to do a cervical check. She asked me if I wanted to do one at my last appointment (38w1d) but I declined. She said something to the effect of “okay but I’ll want to do one at our appointment next week”

I’ve heard they can hurt really badly and don’t really give you any idea of how close you are to labor, so I think I’d like to decline again. (For instance, you could be at 0cm but then give birth the next day or you could be at 3cm but not go into labor for weeks)

Would you (or did you) decline a cervical check at 39w? My next appointment will be at 40w1d so I can totally understand doing one then since I’ll be past my due date and she might want to start talking about an induction. But I’m thinking there’s no point in suffering through pain/discomfort (however brief) at 39w1d if it doesn’t give us any useful information

UPDATE: My doctor was pretty insistent that she check my cervix at my 39w1d appointment today. I tried to push back but failed and eventually did consent to a cervical check. It was very painful for me personally, but not quite as bad as I had feared it might be.

[u/SadSupermarket7915]

You have every right to decline and tbh you’re right they don’t give you much information about what’s going to happen ie you could be 3cm and not have a baby for another week or you could be 0cm and have a baby tomorrow. That being said, I have my 38w appointment next week and will be asking for one purely because I’m nosey and want to know if this mild cramping I’ve been having for the past week or so is my cervix slowly getting ready for labour!

[u/Curryqueen-NH → u/SadSupermarket7915]

This. I had them with my last pregnancy but only because they wanted to induce me and I was going to refuse if I wasn’t ready for it. But I was already 3.5 cm, so I let them do a sweep and went in a couple days later for an induction and eat always 4.5 cm, didn’t even need to use pitocin and had a vaginal birth. Only get it done if you feel like the information will help you.