EBB 5: Evidence on prenatal vaginal exams
Evidence Based Birth®
Rebecca Dekker
4.3 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 January 2018
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The results from the two randomized trials on cervical checks at the end of pregnancy. The potential benefits and potential harms of prenatal cervical checks. How to handle a situation if your doctor traditionally does vaginal exams at the end of pregnancy, but you don't want one for whatever reason
To learn more about the EBB Professional Membership, visit https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In today's podcast, we're going to talk about the evidence on prenatal vaginal exams. |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome to the Evidence Space Birth Podcast. |
| 0:12.0 | Join us each week as I tackle the evidence. Welcome to the Evidence Space Birth Podcast. |
| 0:12.8 | Join us each week as I tackle the evidence |
| 0:15.3 | on another hot topic about childbirth. |
| 0:17.9 | As a reminder, this information is not medical advice. |
| 0:21.3 | See Eviebirth.com slash disclaimer for more details. |
| 0:27.0 | Hi everyone and welcome to today's podcast at Evidence-based Birth. My name is |
| 0:35.4 | Rebecca Decker and I'm a nurse with my PhD and the founder of Evidence Space Birth. |
| 0:39.7 | Today I wanted to look at the evidence for a question that came from an expecting first-time mom who wishes to remain anonymous. |
| 0:48.0 | She wrote me, |
| 0:49.0 | What is the best evidence to give care providers when you want to decline cervical checks at the end of pregnancy. |
| 0:55.0 | The OBGYN practice currently checks weekly starting at 36 weeks. |
| 1:00.0 | I know this doesn't seem like a best policy, but it would be great to have evidence to reference when I decline. |
| 1:07.0 | This is a great question and it's one I get all the time, not just from people who are pregnant but also from doula's child birth |
| 1:14.5 | educators and midwives. Everybody wants to know what's the evidence for |
| 1:18.9 | those weekly cervical chicks also sometimes called pelvic exams or vaginal exams. |
| 1:25.0 | The thing about cervical checks towards the end of pregnancy |
| 1:28.0 | is that they can be quite uncomfortable both physically and emotionally, |
| 1:32.0 | especially for people who may have had a history of past sexual trauma or abuse. |
| 1:37.0 | Cervical exams can be used to detect dilation and effacement. |
| 1:42.0 | Whether or not this is actually useful is doubtful because really all |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Rebecca Dekker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Rebecca Dekker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.