I would really appreciate if any of you ladies would like to share your experiences of vaginal checks while in labour. Any second or or more-times mommies?

Just because any visit to my gynaecologist would previously end up in minor bleeding and feeling very sore and uncomfortable, I’m getting more and more stressed about cervix checks to be performed at the hospital.. For some weird reason I’m more terrified of those than the contractions or the final stage of birth.

It also doesn’t help that most of the books that I read on hypnobirthing along with trained midwives do say it’s not that important to check all the time and an experienced professional can tell when it’s time to push without performing checks every n-amount of hours and cause distress to the mother. On the other hand, my obstetrician (who is no doubt one of the best practitioners in UK and in whom I have trust to deliver my baby in the best and safest way) says they Have to check every 2-4hrs depending on the labour speed.

So I’m in so much doubt what to include on the birth plan..

My ideal would be to avoid stress and more pain (if it can be safely avoided) and try to have a positive experience, at least before the final stage.

Anyone with positive stories? Any advice? How many times were you checked and was it painful/ distressful or nothing compared to contractions?