Who's Afraid of the Cervix?

Inside the Cervix...

Before I became pregnant there were many things I did not know.

Many of the things I was didn’t know about were inside me.  Isn’t that always the way? I’ve lived in Italy, Vietnam and Thailand and travelled widely, but the secrets waiting to be discovered were not in ancient ruins or modern temples. They were locked in the uterine vault that would later create another human, inside me.

Take my cervix. In my culture, the cervix is an invisible player. No one talks about it. No one values it. The speculum, a duck shaped medical instrument used to gain access to and a decent view of the cervix, is not discussed in popular culture.

Except perhaps by Annie Sprinkle.

Not so my Indian friends, who chat about the cervix and how they’re hoping for a good dilation over the baby shower gulab jamon. But in my anglo environment, no one is aware that the cervix may be impotent, that it opens and closes, or how it works, except women who are mothers, and a tiny minority who apparently use it to engage in BDSM. Not really something I even want to think about, as I am endowed with a very potent but very sensitive cervix.

Since my first pap smear, I have been aware of my cervix. I asked to see it with a mirror during my first smear, so I know it looks like a pink donut. Well, a healthy one looks like a big pink donut, and changes in appearance and texture during the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy.

After the whole labour ordeal, I have a new awareness of the cervix’s potential and limitations. I enjoyed three days in hospital being plied with tablets inserted by medical staff into the back of my cervix. They were up to their elbows inside me and my naughty cervix remained closed despite the best in modern medicine (prostaglandin pessaries by the dozen) and ancient traditions (uploading semen onto the cervix regularly as well as digesting papaya, pineapple and raspberry leaf tea).

I indulged in large amounts of gas to alleviate the pain this process caused. Other women experience no such pain. Those are the women who “feel a little discomfort and pressure” then birth a baby an hour later to not much fuss. Often in the car or on the side of the road. They were born with hardy tough cervixes. Obedient cervixes.

Some facts about the cervix I didn’t know include:

• It can go from 0 to 10cm dilation in seconds - and vice versa
• It typically takes hours, days or weeks to dilate for birth, but all women are different
• The dilation is accompanied by effacement which is a thinning out of the donut
• Touching the cervix is generally uncomfortable and opening or closing the cervix can be extremely painful. A stretch and sweep is performed on overdue pregnant women, where the midwife actually tries to insert something long and sharp into the cervix for the stretch, and to sweep the membranes of the baby's amniotic sac...no comment required.
• According to doctor friends, when a women births a baby vaginally, the cervix pops out of the body, then is sucked back up and into place within minutes.
• If you have cancer of the cervix it gets really messy. It’s a great idea to prevent cancer spread by having regular pap smears, as early detection and treatment will usually prevent cancer spread.
• The cervix is called the neck of the uterus, and is usually 1mm open, which is my gynaecologists joke about their job being like wallpapering a dining room through the letterbox
• Women may have trouble conceiving if their cervix is at an unusual angle

My cervix was correctly noted in my medical notes as being UNCOOPERATIVE. Not unlike the rest of me. In the end, my own birth story concluded with a Csection as the front door was closed for business.

I encourage you to celebrate this silent player and essential component of the continuation of the human race by having a good look at your own or a friend’s cervix, and checking out these beautiful photos of a cervix here at The Beautiful Cervix Project.