Also she would have to be mighty lucky, as it took me forever to 'get' the full picture before I became even slightly confident in examinations, so how she would know, and manage over her 'bump' lord only knows!!

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Surely the infection control issue is completely different for the woman doing her own VE than for the midwife (depending on environment). Is she in labour and was ROM (AROM or SROM?) since labour onset? If so, level of infection risk is quite different from with PROM? In home situation I would have not be too worried about infection risk from self-VE with clean, but not sterile, hands after in-labour ROM, on grounds that: woman's hands are likley colonised with bugs to which she and baby will have immunity, interval to birth will be relatively short.

That's totally different from a health care professional introducing their bugs to the woman's vagina.

In a hospital environment, I would advise washing hands thoroughly before self-VE if woman was insistent, but would also try to reassure and find out why she was so keen on the self-VE.

In the end, it's her body and you can no more prevent her touching her own than you can prevent her twiddling with her own hair.

Just my take on it.

Well no, as long as she doesn't try and sue, if she subsequently gets an infection!!
Then by all means she can do what she wants to it, as you say its her body after all!!!
Perhaps she has a desire to touch her body due to the hormones she is producing, cue the work of Soo Downe who suggests stimulation of vagina and breasts is a great natural stimulant!! (who knows)

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I really wish women were given more information about other signs of progress in labour. All woman want to know is the dilatation. I really try to get woman to understand effacement and the process of labour as a whole process.

I hate it when you tell a woman she is 5 cm, which you as a professional think is great, and for the woman she is upset by this. You try to encourge her by explaining all the other signs, but to that woman dilatation is all they hear.

This is what i have found, anyway. What do other people think. Is it like this were they work?

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Yes, they don't want to hear and seem dispondant when you say anything less than 8cm I think (for some reason this can be a turning point to their demeanor, mindset etc.) they sort of groan at you, it is as you say unfortunate that this is the case, sometimes its a case of 10-thats the magic number.

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Have you seen any midwives who use the purple line as an indicator?

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Or seen a woman stimulate her labour on (so-to-speak) as I have a couple of times now, whilst immersed in water, thought nothing of it the mw were shocked lol, both women refused all intervention scan etc.. One got out to deliver in a position I didn't think possible haha, but the midwife on this occasion used the purple line, but was desperate to examine her, they have to sit on their hands and hold themselves back don't they?
Think she was more twitched due to the lack of screening etc

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ermm tracy am i being nieve what do you mean. If its not postable you could pm me

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The purple line is quite a reliable way of assessing dilatation, but not all women have visible purple lines. Also, I tend to not be too excited about full dilatation, after all, the baby still needs to descend and there is no telling how long that might take.

Nipple and clitoral stimulation is good too, best to leave the woman alone or with her partner so that you don't interfere with the process.

I have not seen the purple line at all as yet, are there any photographs anywhere?

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