Internal examination

What does an internal examination involve? An internal examination is also called a vaginal examination or vaginal touch. This examination is not standard during pregnancy. A reason for an internal examination during pregnancy is, for example, if you seem to be going into labor too early or if you are overdue and want to be stripped. During labor, we will perform an internal examination to determine if labor has started or to determine if labor is progressing fast enough. We will discuss with you when we would like to do an internal examination, if you are comfortable with it, and tell you how things are going.

To make the internal examination more comfortable for you, we wear gloves and apply lubricant to the fingers that we use to enter your vagina. During the internal examination, we gently touch you and first spread your labia before feeling internally. First, one finger is inserted into the vagina and then the second. We gently feel for your cervix. In preparation for labor, your cervix becomes shorter and softer. This is also called effacement. During the internal examination, we feel if your cervix has softened and if it has become shorter. We can also feel for dilation, how far the baby’s head has descended, if the membranes are still intact, and the position of the baby’s head. This way, we know how far along you are and how labor is progressing.