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So, sure you can check for dilation but how do you even know what that would feel like or how to measure if you are not a GYN? Please...

Ask your nurse...he/she can easily tell you how to "check". At my childbirth cla__s Tuesday, the nurse showed the entire cla__s exactly what they do, exactly how they hold their fingers and how many approx. cm each finger position is equal to. Most pract_tioners will answer any question that you have...they'd rather you be informed than presuming and guessing on the situation. Even though people give "advice" on this board, it is up to the reader to research the credability of that advice before taking it...

There are books on this. yes, you can touch you cervix but checking yourself is opening a door for b-strap and other infections in to do harm to you and YOUR BABY( your number one priorty). I really think it would be smarter and easier just to go to your OB/GYN. but if your feel you need to and know what you are looking for go for it. i guess at 141 lbs and 5'4' 37weeks and to lazy for reaching and i still can reach at 20 and i read all of this and called my OB/GYN for my info. thanks for letting me put my two cents in.oh, jenny you do care or you would not have taped such a heart felt ma__sage each and every time.

I'm glad to see some people that are educated about their bodies are getting in on this. If only everyone here could read. I never professed to having checked for FURTHER dilation. To answer the questions, my fingers are about 4 inches long, and I know the difference between open and closed. Don't worry, I use a glove.

omg! I cannot believe most of you. You can check your own cercix. And I recommend you check out http://www.midwiferytoday.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5955 they tell you how right there. They are certified midwives and think that women should be empowered and know there body. For all you ppl acting so rude and childish without having done any research you should check this out yourself maybe you could learn something. Tee good luck. And register on the website you can ask any question you have and a midwife gloria or April will be happy to answer any of your questions they are great. Good luck to you.

how long do you have to wait after i dilated 2cm

Wow. I think some people are letting their "lack of s_x during pregnancy" emotions show. Why don't you 'google' the information, and find out how many women CAN actually feel their OWN cervix? Don't act like you know EVERYTHING until you've done research to back it up. Just because you rant and rave that "...OH GOD, THAT IDEA IS SIMPLY RIDICULOUS. WHO WOULD VENTURE TO ASK SUCH AN OBSURD IDEA!?" Please, don't be such a self-ritous know-it-all wannabe. Lighten up, go take a warm bath and relax, you're gonna send yourself into early labor getting that upset over some poor girl who has natural and VALID questions about pregnancy. By the way, seriously...you made yourself look like an idiot!

Jenny, come on now don't be so rude. This board is for new mothers or soon to be mothers again that want to be educated or get advise or be lead to where they can get the answers they are loooking for. Please don't be so ignorant to act like these women are stupid because they have a question. Enough of that. I am copying and pasting info I have gotten from a midwfe on the midwifery forum.

Now here is the info. The way I learned to estimate (a valuable word here) dilation and how I instruct mamas and dads to estimate if that is what they wish to do, is by first measuring your index and middle fingers seperately and together side by side. Take the centimeter tape and measure across the tips of your fingers so you know how wide they are together. Then start measuring little lids, like the lid of a h2o bottle is 2cm across, a lid from a gallon juice jug is 4cm's, a plastic salsa container lid is 10cm's. And then just start measuring everything by feel not sight. Take the tape measure and measure your 2 fingers when they are spread a little and when there are spread as far as you can spread them. Pretty soon you'll get to where you can measure any opening by feel then apply that feel to the opening of the cervix. Effacement is different. It is the measurement of the the thickness of the cervical opening. Again it is an estimation and 2 people will get 2 different %'s. When a cervix is completely effaced it feels like a very thin rubberband, when it is partially effaced it feels as thick as the rim on a pottery mug. Not effaced will feel like thick lips.

And for anyone wanting to know how to check your cervix I hope this helps. I also got this from the wonderful midwives on the midwifery forum. "I think it's a good and empowering thing for a woman to check her own cervix for dilation. This is not rocket science, and you hardly need a medical degree or years of training to do it. Your v____a is a lot like your nose- other people may do harm if they put fingers or instruments up there but you have a greater sensitivity and will not do yourself any harm. Best way to do it when hugely pregnant is to sit on the toilet with one foot on the floor and one up on the seat of the toilet. Put two fingers in and go back towards your bum. The cervix in a pregnant woman feels like your lips puckered up into a kiss. On a non-pregnant woman it feels like the end of your nose. When it is dilating, one finger slips into the middle of the cervix easily (just like you could slide your finger into your mouth easily if you are puckered up for a kiss). As the dilation progresses the inside of that hole becomes more like a taught elastic band and by 5 cms dilated (5 fingerwidths) it is a perfect rubbery circle like one of those Mason jar rings that you use for canning, and about that thick. What's in the centre of that opening space is the membranes (bag of waters) that are covering the baby's head and feel like a latex balloon filled with water. If you push on them a bit you'll feel the baby's head like a hard ball (as in baseball). If the waters have released you'll feel the babe's head directly. It is time for women to take back ownership of their bodies." Gloria Lemay

Ok ladies. I hope you find this as useful as I have. If you have any questions and I haven't checked back in this board and you need help finding an answer to something send me an email I will do my best to help you out anyway I can. Maybe even lead you to where u need to be to get the info you want. Don't be discouraged by some ppl. Remember what they say about opinions. And trust me everyone has one. If you have a question always ask no matter what other people may think of the question. Remember this ppl are online and u will probably never meet them so who cares what they think anyways. The only dumb question is the one not asked. Good luck to all of you women. I am 36 wks preg myself with my 3rd child. Anyways my email is Tinker214@aol.com. Best wishes to all. Even you Jenny. I hope you have learned something.

Genny, That really depends every person is different. I have been dilated at 2 cm for a week now. Is this your first preg? You can be dilated at 2 for weeks then all of the sudden be dialated to 4 just depends on your body. And sometimes the number of births you have had. Noone can really answer that ? . However a great question to ask. Good luck.

I think you provided a lot of useful info. Thanks for being so cla__sy when posting in this forum. =)

Oops. That was my post, I was addressing Jenny.

lol! Thank you, Maddie.

jenny, if anyone is stupid, its you... its not hard to check for dilation. its a matter of knowing the correlation between the size of your 2 fingers and a centimeter ruler. i do this all the time.. i am 39 weeks pregnant. i checked myself yesterday and i came out with maybe 3cm, i figured. i had a clinic appointment today, and thats exactly what my doctor said! so i say that its not stupid to check yourself for dilation, if you know how to do it. all you have to do is read up on how to measure your fingertips... so before you go calling people stupid and moron, like a juvenile, i suggest you look elsewhere in any other forum with actual MIDWIVES who easily say that you CAN check yourself and they even give you insight on how to do it.