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All About the Cervix
The Opening to the Womb
By Teri Brown
According to Dr. Nardone, the size of the cervical opening prior to or during pregnancy does not determine if a woman progresses in labor or not. "It is the quality of the contractions, the size of the baby and the baby's presentation and station that allow the cervix to dilate," she says. "There are rare cases whereby a woman has a stenotic cervix, which means it is tightly shut and does not dilate at all. This can be due to scarring that could be the result of some type of infection, surgery, radiation treatment or genetic anatomic abnormality. Again, this is a rare finding."
According to Dr. Oleg Bess, an OB/GYN from Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., the mucous plug is a collection of mucous just inside the cervix. "When the cervix begins to dilate, some of this mucous may come out," says Dr. Bess. "The mucous plug is an early indicator of labor."
"The entire uterus prolapses after a vaginal delivery," says Dr. Bess. "Sometimes it is so low that the cervix can be felt near the outside of the vagina."
As you can see, the cervix plays a crucial role in a normal delivery. The more you know about this organ during pregnancy, the better you are able to understand what your doctor is talking about.
Cervix: The organ located between the vagina and the womb.
Os: The opening of the cervix into the body of the uterus. There is the external os, which is the opening on the vaginal side of the cervix, and the internal os, which is the opening on the uterus side of the cervix.
Mucous plug: A collection of mucous that seals the os. It is there to protect the baby from germs.
Incompetent cervix: A cervix that does not remain closed during the course of the pregnancy. The cervix is only supposed to open with the onset of labor.
Cervical cerclage: The procedure that increases tissue resistance in an incompetent uterine cervix usually in the form of stitches in the cervix.
Effacement: The thinning and softening of the cervix that allows the cervix to open.
Dilate: The stretching and widening of the cervix.
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All About the Cervix by Anonymous on 06/12/2009 04:05PM
sometimes its uncomftable in sex different positions this is if your cervix is short etc does anyone else feel this