Information on Incompetent Cervix

Information On the Incompetent Cervix

My doctor was not very helpful on giving me information. What he did say follows:

An incompetent cervix is one that is always dilated or dilates at the wrong time during pregnancy. The condition is usually caused by an illness or an injury that occurred before the pregnancy. If the cervix is initially closed, the dilating begins around 16-17 weeks and progresses until slowly until you either go into labor, have a placental abruption, or prolapsing of the membranes. All of these will be directly caused by the cervix.

His proposed treatment for a subsequent pregnancy:

A daily dose of baby aspirin (for my blood problem), and a cerclage at 14 weeks. A cerclage is a stitch that holds the cervix closed. The risks associated with it are high, but the risks without it are higher. When placed, the stitch could cause infection and/or puncture the fluid sac causing the loss of the pregnancy. After placing the stitch, he says he will treat me as if I am any other normal patient unless contractions start. In that case, he will pull me out of work and place me on complete bedrest.

I don't agree with my doctor's proposed treatment. A "normal" patient receives a prenatal checkup once a month with no ultrasounds. I have heard of too many cases where the cerclage has loosened and fallen out; other cases where dilation occurs without contractions in spite of the stitch, etc. I want a doctor who is going to check the cervix, through ultrasound, on a weekly basis. I want to know that everything is fine and if all is not fine, I want to know what went wrong and when. Since my doctor refuses to do this, I am looking for another. Doctors have tried to boss people around long enough. If you are in this situation, remember that you are entitled to the care that you feel comfortable with.

I have found the following links to provide helpful information:

Hygeia^(TM) This site is administered by an ob/gyn. You can find a lot of information here as well as how to contact people with the same circumstances. It has helped me the most of any site available.

All of the following sites have some helpful information. For best results, click on the link; once you get to the page, type "incompetent cervix" into the FIND feature of your web browser.

www.shareatlanta.org/links.htm
www.icsi.net/medical/chest/med40402.txt
www.patienteducation.com/level3/womensa3.html
www.sids-network.org/goodman.htm
www.ivf.com/gloss.html
www.ivf.com/ch2mb.html
home.earthlink.net/~sidelines/Articles.html

The following link leads to a page that tells you titles of informative books. Again, use the FIND feature of your web browser.

www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/Disability/Journals/News/book-review

Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or your own story.

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