If you’re in the TWW (the Two Week Wait), you might be searching for any early hints which could give you an answer without waiting to miss your period. Show
 Well, we’re here with good news: your cervix might be able to tell you that you’re pregnant before a home test. This may be the first time that you’ve ever given this little muscle any thought, but read on to find out about the changes to your cervix in early pregnancy. In this article 📝
What is your cervix and why is it important?Your cervix is a ring of muscle between the top of your vagina and your uterus. It has a small opening to let sperm in, but it keeps things like water out of your uterus to protect you from infections. It also has the pretty crucial job of holding your baby inside the uterus until they’re ready to come into the world. You probably already know that the cervix changes during labor. It dilates (opens) and effaces (thins and shortens) so that your baby can make their grand entrance. But what you may not know is that it also changes a lot during a normal monthly cycle. If you get to know those changes by feeling your cervix in the months before you conceive, you might be able to tell when something is a little different, and that might be the first sign that you’re going to have a baby. Clever, right? Now, of course, checking your cervix is definitely not a conclusive pregnancy test and the only way to know for certain is to wait until your period is late and then test. But there’s never any harm in knowing your body better and understanding what’s normal for you. How does your cervix feel in early pregnancy?What does the cervix feel like in early pregnancy? In a regular, non-pregnant cycle, your cervix should usually feel slightly hard and open at the beginning of the month (during your period). When we say “hard” in this context, we mean that it feels something like the tip of your nose. As you get closer to ovulation, it should feel increasingly soft, and pretty similar to your vaginal wall. This softening happens because of extra estrogen and increased blood flow to your uterus around the time you ovulate. Your cervix then gradually hardens again in the week after the egg is released. If you do get pregnant, your hormone levels will rise and your body will start sending lots more blood to your uterus to allow it to start making things comfy for your baby. It also has to form the placenta and make the mucus plug which will block your cervix until you go into labor. So that means that if you’re pregnant, your cervix probably won’t harden again after you ovulate. Instead, there’ll be a couple of extra weeks when it feels as soft as it usually does in the middle of your cycle. The catch is that you have to be quick to notice this early sign of pregnancy. Once the mucus plug is ready, the cervix will probably stay hard and closed for most of your pregnancy. What about the position of the cervix in early pregnancy?Another good indication that you might be pregnant is if your cervix feels “high” in your vagina. Usually, at the beginning of your cycle, your cervix is low down and open. It pulls up towards your uterus and closes as your body gets ready to ovulate (which can make it a little harder to find, by the way). It then lowers again after ovulation 一 unless a fertilized egg implants in your uterine wall. What causes the cervix to open in early pregnancy?If your cervix feels open instead of closed in early pregnancy, you may be among the 1% of women who goes through early cervical dilation (which many practitioners still unfortunately call an “incompetent cervix”). This happens more often to women who have hypermobility or who’ve had previous surgery or an injury to this area. Early cervical dilation is a problem for your baby who still needs time to grow before they make their debut, but it’s important to remember that it’s not your fault and it’s completely treatable. If your cervix is open in early pregnancy, doctors will usually make a small stitch called a cerclage to hold your cervix closed until your baby reaches full term. Your cervix before your period vs. before you’re pregnantSo, to recap: Check your cervix roughly between days 21 and 28 of your cycle (one week before your period is due and the time when you’re actually late). If you find that your cervix feels low, hard and (possibly) open, it might be that fertilization hasn’t happened this time around, and your period is on its way. If you feel your cervix and it feels soft, higher up (and probably) closed, there might just be a BFP in your near future. Good luck!
Checking your cervix is part of testing your fertility. Typical cervical changes such as softening and opening are associated with impending ovulation but there are no early changes of the cervix in pregnancy.
Obie is your reproductive health coach, helping you reach your goal with expert personalized guidance. Not an iOS user? Sign up to be the first to know about Obie for Android. Can checking my cervix tell me if I am pregnant?You cannot determine simply from checking the cervix alone whether you are pregnant or not. Changes that are associated with the cervix after pregnancy has occurred usually do not happen until many weeks or even months after you miss your period. Before you miss your period and before you have a positive pregnancy test, it's quite impossible to diagnose implantation or an early pregnancy by palpating the cervix. The position of the cervix during pregnancy does change but not at the same time in all women. After ovulation, your cervix will drop lower in your vagina and feel firm, like the tip of your nose. During pregnancy, the pregnant cervix will rise a bit and become softer, but the timing of this happening will vary from woman to woman and making it impossible to diagnose pregnancy from examining the cervix. For some, this will happen shortly before their period is due, but for others, this will not happen until quite a while after their pregnancy has been confirmed. See photos of cervix changes throughout the month More reliable ways to find out if you are pregnant are to take our online pregnancy test, take a home pregnancy test, or visit your doctor for a blood test. Read More:
Photo: @partyforthree via Instagram “This might be a stupid question, but what’s a cervix?” asks a dad-to-be at a prenatal class. If you’re learning about the mechanics of childbirth in detail for the first time, this part of a woman’s anatomy is going to come up a lot. The cervix is the narrow neck of the uterus—picture the opening at the bottom of a balloon—which keeps the uterus closed until it’s go time. “During early pregnancy, the cervix is really firm and closed, pointing to the back of the vagina,” explains Nicola Strydom, a registered midwife in Calgary. “A mucus plug forms inside the cervix to protect the baby from bacteria.” It’s not abnormal for the cervix to bleed a little during pregnancy, especially after sex, due to all the tiny blood vessels. Between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy, the cervix tends to shift forward, pointing toward the front of the vagina. It gets softer and starts to widen and open (also known as dilating), and thin (or efface). If this isn’t your first baby, the cervix is already softer and a little more open than a first-time mom’s. About one percent of pregnant women have a cervical problem, known as an incompetent cervix or cervical insufficiency. (Yep—those are the technical medical terms.) This means the cervix is weak and starts to open, shorten or form a funnel shape partway through pregnancy, which may contribute to an increased risk of preterm birth. The problem could just be how your body is made, but according to the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), you’re at higher risk if you’ve had a prior pregnancy in which your water broke earlier than 32 weeks, or if you have had some kind of cervical trauma, such as a cervical tear, cervical cancer or repeated D&Cs. Between 14 and 20 weeks, a woman with cervical insufficiency may have vague symptoms like backaches, pelvic pressure, mild abdominal cramps, light vaginal bleeding or a change in vaginal discharge, but some women have no signs at all. “It’s a problem that is quite silent,” says Marie-France Delisle, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Vancouver and co-author of the SOGC clinical guidelines on cervical insufficiency. During an internal exam, your doctor may find that the cervix is slightly open and the amniotic membranes are bulging. A short cervix may be detected during the regular abdominal ultrasound at 18 to 20 weeks, requiring a follow-up with a transvaginal ultrasound. Treatment varies, says Delisle, from going on modified bed rest (you can only get up for meals or bathroom breaks) to a daily vaginal suppository of progesterone to keep the cervix from shortening further. Some doctors may prescribe a device placed in the vagina, called a pessary, to help support the cervix. Another option is cerclage, a day surgery in which one continuous suture is used to close the cervix. A preventive cerclage could be done at 12 to 14 weeks (if you have a history of cervical insufficiency) or up to 24 weeks (if it’s found later). The suture is removed around week 37. Jennifer Gray, of Grande Prairie, Alta., and mom of Parker, 3, and one-year-old twins Nathan and Garrett, dealt with cervical complications during both pregnancies. She wasn’t able to have a cerclage in either case. Her doctors prescribed bed rest and, in the case of the twins, a pessary. While these measures work for many women, they didn’t work for Gray—Parker was born at 29 weeks and the twins at 25 weeks. Parker is doing fine but the twins face prematurity-related health issues. “My body was failing me and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it,” Gray says. “It was terrifying.” For most women, though, the cervix works just fine. During labour—or even in the weeks leading up to your due date—your cervix slowly begins to dilate. When the opening gets to 10 centimetres, it’s time to push, and you finally get to meet your little one. What is a cervical sweep? Between 39 and 41 weeks of pregnancy, your doctor or midwife may offer to do a membrane sweep—putting a gloved finger into the cervical opening to separate the amniotic membrane from the cervical tissue. (Not gonna lie: It will likely hurt, though how much varies woman to woman.) A sweep is considered a low-risk, drug-free way to help encourage labour because it stimulates the uterus to start producing prostaglandins, which can soften the cervix. A version of this article appeared in our January 2017 issue, titled “At your cervix,” pg. 51. Read more: |
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