What does station and effaced mean?

Question

Sorry for such a stupid question im a second time mom and never heard of these "terms" used before. Yesterday i went to my 38week appointment the doctor said i was 1.5cm dilated (i know what this means) 70% effaced and at a -1 station. What do those two mean? Does it mean im close to delivery or i still got alot of time left?

Answer

The -1 is how low baby's head is and effaced is how much of your cervix is gone I think

I think that explains the station thing

Answer

Station is the position of baby in relation to your pelvis. -5 station means the baby is up high "like feet in ribs to give a visual) and 5 station means babe is crowning.

Effacement is the thickness of your cervix, so think of your cervix length from inside your vagina to inside your uterus.. Usually it's  4cm long or 0% effaced (however everyone's are different length. I have a short cervix, so my 0% effacement is when it's around 2.75cm long) but going off a woman who's cervix is 4cm the doctor can feel the thickness of the cervix to see if it shortened any. If it's shortened to around 2cm you're 50% effaced, and so on. My cervical length right now according to ultrasound is about 0.6cm (very very short), so they call me 75-80% effaced. There's only 0.6cm of cervix now standing between the baby and the birth canal.

Dilation is the opening of your cervix. I'm 3cm dilated, so my cervix opening is about the diameter of a slice of banana. 1cm dilated would mean your cervix opening is about the size of an m&m. 5cm-7cm dilated is considered active labor and means your cervix opening is about the size of the diameter of the top of a can of soda.

Answer

About dilation and effacement

What does station and effaced mean?

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