Pregnancy, September 2004
Is This Normal?
Answers to Five Common Pregnancy Questions You’re Too Embarrassed to Ask
by Teri Cettina
We’ve all had them: questions we’re reluctant to ask even our closest friends—much less our obstetrician or midwife—in case we’re the only woman with such weird pregnancy ponderings.
Whether you’ve got questions about strange bodily odors, sex during pregnancy, or fears about embarrassing yourself during labor—don’t be afraid to bite the bullet ask your health care provider. “Those of us who deliver babies are not easily fazed. We look at and talk about women’s vaginas all day long. You can’t really shock us,” counsels Debra Gussman, M.D., a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist and faculty member at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey.
However, for the rest of you timid souls, Pregnancy has asked some experts to answer a few common questions that make moms-to-be blush and stutter. Read on!
Q: I’m paranoid that my water is going to break while I’m out in public! If it does, what should I do or say? I’ve heard of women carrying jars of pickles with them so they could drop the jar and blame the leakage on the pickles, but that sounds kind of extreme.
A: If you’re already in the grocery store, the pickle tactic might work. However, in most cases, honesty may be the best policy, says Kathy Herron, C.N.M., a certified nurse-midwife who practices at Circle Women's Health and Phelps Memorial Hospital in White Plains, New York. “Say ‘Wow! My water broke! Guess I’ll go call my midwife (or doctor)!’” Herron advises. “Act excited, not embarrassed, and other people around you will follow suit. But keep a big towel and a change of clothes in your car, just in case.”
Q: I’ve seen the size of a fully dilated cervix (10 cm.). Yikes! If I’m dilating for several weeks before I go into labor, am I just going to look like a wide-mouth jar down there? And isn’t my baby just going to fall out?
A: “You should be so lucky!” says Gussman. “Babies never fall out—that’s why labor is so hard!” Although many women dilate slightly (1-2 cm.) before they go into active labor, that amount is only the size of your pinky fingertip—not enough to cause worry. Also, says Gussman, remember that it is the top of your cervix that is dilating. Your cervix is high up inside your vagina, not down at your vaginal opening.
“Women who dilate ahead of time are actually very lucky,” says Gussman. “That means your baby is dropping downward, you’ll have less pressure on your ribs and be able to breathe, and part of the hard work of labor is already taking place.”
Full article text available upon request.
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