Cervical Recoiling???

A cervix closing back down😱


Now it seems like this hasn’t been written a lot in textbooks, but has been known to midwives for a long time that a cervix doesn’t always just go one direction. You can also close up. It’s been written about by Sarah Wickham, Ina May Gaskin, Betty-Anne Daviss, and Kim Johnson. A cervix once at a 7 can later be at 2! Whatttttt!?


We have heard about it though in other ways:

...my body slowed down, i had to have pitocin to speed things up, my contractions stopped.....


Yesterday when I was watching my egg bound chicken with an egg halfway hanging out, and then putting her in a sit bath for half an hour, coming back and realizing her egg had went back inside, got me thinking about the human cervix.


Although a cervix closing this extreme doesn’t normally happen, labor slowing down is a  normal response. You body is doing this to keep you and your baby safe! It’s an animal instinct. Why or What causes this to happen? ….

-Well, you might feel unsafe, even if you don't know it, your brain does.

-Maybe there’s strangers in the room.

-Your instincts want dark and private.

-You may have a fear that’s holding you back. (even past trauma?)


Normally, a lot of times in a hospital situation, they want to interfere and speed things up when they see your body doing this. When really they should be doing the opposite. So a lot of times when the body slows down like this in a hospital setting, it’s labeled as “failure to progress,” but really it’s “failure to wait.”


So yes, your labor can slow down until your brain feels like it’s safe. That is normal! When your birth team wants to step in and speed things up, lets slow down and do less...

How can we do less & help dilation?


  • turning off the lights


  • having extra people in the room leave, this could even be a family member that’s interrupting the environment, or perhaps someone you hired to help you and they don’t really know that they’re interrupting the environment and that can be tricky.


  • CHANGE LOCATION. Yes, sometimes it could be the place that you’re in. And what can we do about that? Well, maybe you could go home for a little bit if you’re in the hospital environment. Maybe you have a fear of being at home and you’d rathergo to a hospital environment.


You can also

  • limit cervical checks
  • wait on questions
  • no talking and sounds.
  • Less is often what you need, not more.

---------Less interfering, less watching-------


Sometimes changing what’s going on….

  • maybe it’s changing positions
  • changing who’s in the room (even inviting someone new that you feel safest with)
  • and maybe sometimes even just waiting for that sun to go down.

When the sun goes down, it’s a darker environment. Oxytocin increases at night, and oxytocin is in charge of creating contractions. Why most animals give birth at night!


  • Movement, free movement! No not just being restrained to a bed.


If you can’t change the exact location, you can change:

-the smells in the room by doing essential oils.

-You can change the sounds in the room by putting on peaceful music, nature sounds.

-who’s in the room? Get them to leave

-the lighting…you can put up LED candles or a string of Christmas lights and turn off the big overhead lights.

-And even the tone! if anyone comes in and they need to talk, just whispering.