Age 25 – Pregnancy & Postpartum

This is the cervix of a 25 years old woman pregnant with her first child. She has no history of gynecological surgeries, though she did have annual pap smears between ages 15 and 24, which always had normal results. She took hormonal birth control pills between the ages of 15 and 24.

She had begun practicing Fertility Awareness Method of birth control and her cycle length was about 22 days before she conceived. The descriptions of the photos include her comparisons to her cervix before pregnancy because she was used to touching it.

She had a spontaneous labor and birth at her home at term. During her labor, she listened to her instincts, birthed in the squatting position, and eased her baby out slowly, without tears or damage to her perineum; she reports that the labor and birth were relatively pain free. She exclusively breastfed. At five weeks postpartum, she had a few days of bleeding, though her period did not resume regularly after this; she had three weak ‘periods’ or bleeding episodes two weeks apart; she is unsure if she ovulated this early postpartum or is the hormonal fluctuations caused the irregular bleeding. 

When feeling her cervix postpartum, she noticed a small hard bump near her os.  Though hardly visible, she deduced it was Nabothian cyst, circled in the last photo.  Nabothian cysts are mucous filled and can generally be felt as a small firm bump on the surface of the cervix.  They are generally benign and resolve on their own.  It disappeared few weeks later.