When I found out that I had abnormal cells on my cervix (ladies if you don’t know where that is I urge you to google it now…nevermind, I’ll do it for you, just click here) my main concern was how it would affect my ability to get pregnant, maintain a pregnancy, and have a safe, non-surgical delivery. (I’m not pregnant now but I am 30 and it turns out the biological clock is for real and for the last few years babies have been on the brain :))
All the research I did about the LEEP procedure, my recommended treatment to remove the abnormal tissue, turned up warnings that I would probably be left with a scarred cervix which could lead to increased likelihood of miscarriage, preterm labor, and delayed dilation during delivery. The last concern is the most common, and while not ideal there are ways to break up the scar tissue at that point. Any of these issues are just possibilities, I have read many accounts of women having no issues whatsoever with scar tissue in their pregnancy and delivery.
Kath has been devouring all things pregnancy (of course!) and recently came across a Pregtastic podcast on cervical scar tissue and delivery. Two things I heard during the 30 minute podcast kind of shocked me.
First, it’s not just the procedures to remove abnormal cells from the cervix (LEEP, Cone, and Cryotherpy) that can cause this kind of scar tissue. IUD’s, abortion, and miscarriages (if there is surgical removal of tissue), basically anytime the cervix is manually dilated, can also leave the cervix scarred.
Second, doctors and patients aren’t talking about this! It’s very common these days for women to have either had their cervix manually dilated for one of the above reasons before or during their “child-bearing years” and so to me it seems like one of the first questions a doctor should ask in a prenatal exam. Why? Because when scar tissue prevents the cervix from dilating correctly things can take a very long time to progress-or not progress-and intervention by way of pitocin and Cesarean section are much more likely. If you have any reason to believe that your cervix has scar tissue and you see pregnancy in your future I highly recommend that you listen to this podcast.
Pregtastic Cervical Scar Tissue: The Silent Cause of Increased C-Sections
I am generally pretty good at not worrying about something until I am given cause to worry but I do believe that being informed it key. When I become pregnant I will be armed with the information that there may be scar tissue that needs to be dealt with and you better believe that I will tell each and every health care provider that I come in contact with about my LEEP. If you are in a similar situation I urge you to do the same, don’t expect that your doctor, nurse, or midwife will be able to tell or will think to ask.
Good for you for looking out for yourself!
Hi Joanne! I’ve missed seeing your little gravitar pop up in the comments! Good to ‘see’ you!
I’ve been lurking, just overwhelmed with dental school and other stuff right now and haven’t been posting much 🙂
This is an interesting post! I just gave birth to our first child and had a struggle with infertility.. I wonder if things like “dying the tubes” or dilation checks during pregnancy lead to cervical scarring?
Faith, this is what I spoke of that lead to my miscarriages. I had a procedure, that was not fun. To remove the scar tissue and then I had to have a balloon catheter in my womb for a week (of hell) to hold it open preventing more scar tissue. It sucks and no, no one talks about it!
I’m a lurker from KERF and have been following your story since you had the procedure. I just wanted give you my experience so you know that things can be okay. I was diagnosed with (what use to be classified in stages 1-5 – showing my age, lol -) class 5 dysplasia when I was 26. Before then, I had never used any source of birth control. I went with the cervical freezing to take care of the issue. The procedure was not terribly painful, mostly just uncomfortable. A few months later, what I assume was the dead tissue discarded itself. My then husband and I separated for eight months shortly thereafter, we reconciled and during the first month I became pregnant. I had a normal pregnancy and a normal delivery, I also wanted to note that I weight 113 when I became pregnant, but still was able to deliver vaginally. It is very important to educate yourselves on any issue concerning your body and to ask questions, and to remember that everyone and every situation is different.
I also wanted to add that that was 19 years ago, I had another child eight years later and have had no abnormal paps since that first one.
Thanks Judi, I really appreciate anyone willing to share their story. I totally agree that everyone’s experience is really different and it’s helpful for me to hear the whole range of experience and possibility.
Great post! I had an abnormal pap which led to the diagnosis of dysplasia in my early twenties. I also had a colposcopy and LEEP done. When I was pregnant with my daughter (and later son) a few years later, I made sure to inform all of my doctors and midwives about the LEEP. By informing them, I made sure they were aware of and attentive to any potential issues that could arise during my pregnancies and labor. I’m happy to report that I had two fabulous, healthy pregnancies and non-induced, natural labors for both of my children. I consider myself very lucky that my past LEEP did not impact my ability to carry and birth my children and I know that part of my success was a direct result of how proactive I was with my healthcare providers.
I brought this up with dr. M yesterday. He said he’s never seen it with an iud and he definitely knew what it was! He also said 45% of the women at jeff. Ob don’t get epidurals and 22% go all natural. He was in support! Good news for Cville.
Cool, thanks for asking! I tried to find some national statistics on epidural use but couldn’t find any hard numbers but I agree that 45% is probably on the lower end. What accounts for the 23% that don’t get epidurals and don’t go all natural? Pitocin without epidural? I know there are some other pain relievers but you don’t hear about them as much, do you know anything about them?
Hi Faith, thank you for sharing your story… What an experience. It must not have been easy to share and re-live it! I hope everything goes well for you health-wise.
Hi Faith,
I was diagnosed with cervical dysplasia at 26. I don’t remember the doctor giving me an actual level, but she drew me a diagram and I was at the spot on her diagram just before cancer develops. Scared me to death. She referred me to a GYN and he did a colpo in the office. That came back bad, as well, and they scheduled me for a cone biopsy. I’m not sure how different it was from your procedure, but it was done in the hospital under general, not local, anesthesia. I had to have paps every three months for a year, and they all came back normal. We also decided to try for a baby within that year, and the doctor told us to go for it. I was pregnant within 2 months and I delivered my baby vaginally, with no complications. So hang in there…cervical dysplasia doesn’t necessarily mean you will have trouble later on. 🙂 My son is now two, and every pap I’ve had since the biopsy has been normal.
Erin, Thank you for sharing your positive outcome! It’s really helpful to hear about other women’s experiences.
hey! i was just wondering if you knew anything about the inflammation associated with hpv and cervical dysplasias? i’m trying to unravel my own medical mystery, and my latest pap came back with TONS of inflammation, which seems weird to me since i eat a very anti-inflammatory diet, no dairy or wheat, and little sugar of any kind. also, i have elevated liver enzymes (alt and ast) so i was wondering if there might be some autoimmune link between the two? i know you aren’t a medical professional, but you’ve got personal experience, which i think speaks volumes more than physicians sometimes. 🙂 thanks!
Hi Lindsey, thanks for asking but I don’t know that I have any more information for you. I took turmeric and ginger for a while after my ‘diagnosis’ for their anti-inflammatory properties but have sort of fallen off of that wagon recently. Two things that you might want to take a closer look at are low (or high) grade food sensitivities and inflammation and stress and inflammation. The trickiest part of maintaining health is the cyclical nature of stress-inflammation-disease-stress…When I was in the throws of facing the LEEP procedure I was feeling a ridiculous amount of stress and anxiety. I logically knew that the stress was feeding the condition big time but it was challenging to avoid. For me, acupuncture helped a lot. Talking about it helped too. Learning stress management is crucial for on-going health but it’s not as easy as it sounds! 🙂 As far as diet/food sensitivities, if you’ve never been tested you may give it a try. Often times sensitivities show up in such subtle ways that they are really tricky to pinpoint without blood tests.
All my best to you!
Thank you! I think I might just need to listen more to my GI tract regarding food sensitivities. I have a few that I know of (and abide by) that aren’t clinically there, like gluten/wheat. Thanks 🙂