Age 29 – Pregnancy, Postpartum & IUD

This is the cervix of a 29 year old woman during her second pregnancy and early postpartum.  Her first baby was born vaginally. She has never had an STI, abnormal Pap, or gyn procedure done. Before getting pregnant, she had used a variety of birth control options: birth control pills, Depo-Provera injections, Implanon subdermal implant, condoms, and the vaginal ring.  She chose a Paraguard IUD as birth control after her baby was born.  Her cycles average 30 days and she tracked her fertility signals to help her get pregnant.

The photos are labeled with the gestational age (calculated from the date of the last menstrual period, LMP) of the pregnancy.  A full term pregnancy averages 40 weeks (36-42 weeks is a normal range).  She went on pelvic rest for preterm labor two months before the baby was born at 39 weeks.  You can see a little spotting from her contractions and cervical softening during the photos when she was on pelvic rest. She delivered a healthy baby vaginally at 39 weeks gestation.

As her pregnancy progresses, you can see redness around the os, called cervical ectopy or cervical erosion. This is normal during pregnancy as the increased estrogen can cause the cells which normally line the cervical canal to protrude outward and surface of the cervix.