The Cervix hunt

My uterus is (was) tilted too . . . . .after 4 kids now I'm not sure.


steph

Beware of the inner and outer os..... One time I thought the lady was 4-5 got her epidural and checked her after...she was only 1! Oops. She did progress and had the baby a few hours later. Love the bedpan trick! Works every time!

You can also try to have your pt put both her fists under her bottom. That way, the pelvis is rocked and it is easier to find the cervix, even if it is posterior! And patience! Practice makes perfect!

It does take lots and lots of exams to feel like you really "get it". And then there are still those posterior cervixes!! I, too, have short fingers and often use the bedpan or fists-under-the-hips trick. Please believe me, docs have the same problem - I am convinced that some of them just make up a cervical exam to tell the patient when they have not been able to reach the cervix themselves. You know, when you're searching everywhere for that elusive posterior cervix and then the doc puts their fingers in for 2 seconds and says "oh, you're 1 cm, 50%, -3"! Sure!!

I heard (by a male manager on a med-surg floor) to have the woman cough while looking...he says that it WINKS at you everytime