The Cervix hunt

[Mary C]

I had read here that the best way to find the cervix is to go straight in slowly (feel the posterior rim) and explain everything to the pt (warm hands help).. then proceed anteriorly until you feel the other side. I am having so much trouble it all feels lumpy and bumpy and I can feel one side of the cervix, but not the other. I've only done 3 SVE but I'm really worried I'm never going to get it.

Any words of advice or encouragement? Any good stories?

[zyna15]

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!

[midwife228]

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!!

[stustressed]

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:eek:

[Mary C, MSN, RN, APRN, CNM]

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:eek:

I think that you're thinking of the urethra-- the cervix isn't something you visualize, but you feel during sterile vag exams.

And PS... I can feel them now!!!