Cervical Dilation at 7 Weeks: Understanding Risks & Hope for a Healthy Pregnancy

Question
I have a history of high risk pregnancies. 3 children and 6 miscarries.  I have been spotting off and on now for 3 weeks, I went into my doctors offie for an ultrasound this past thursday and they said that my cervix was dialated 3.4 cm.  I am 7 wks pregnant is there any hope of keeping this pregnancy and having a healthy baby? My doc has put me off my feet and on bed rest. A little hard though due to having a 3 year old at home and 2 dogs to walk. PLease give me some helpful info.

Answer
Hi Heidi,

Congratulations on the pregnancy!

WOW 3 cm dilated this early is not good! Did your doctor suggest a cerclage? I had one with the surrogate pregnancy as they found out I was 1 cm dilated at 26 weeks. I would think you would need one right away!  this is when they go in surgically and stitch the cervix closed, it was a very minor thing and I had NO pain afterwards, just some spotting.

Please call your doctor and see if this is a possibility of you getting one. I carried the baby almost full term  thanks to the cerclage (it is usually removed around 37 weeks- I had developed high blood pressure otherwise it would have stayed in longer.)

Good luck- I hope things work out. I know it is impossible to stay at home in bed with ANY kids...
andi