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.
Age 29 – 7 weeks, 5 days pregnant
Some white leukorrhea visible, common in pregnancy
Age 29 – 11 weeks, 5 days pregnant
Age 29 – 16 weeks, 5 days pregnant
Cervical erosion/ectropion visible; fluid may be semen from intercourse
Age 29 – 20 weeks, 6 days pregnant
Age 29 – 26 weeks, 6 days pregnant
Leukorrhea (whitish discharge) covers the cervical os
Age 29 – 30 weeks, 5 days pregnant
Signs of early labor reported; red spotting near the os likely caused by these early dilation contractions; os looks slightly more open than the previous pictures; when she touched her cervix, it felt softer; her practitioner put her on pelvic rest
Age 29 – 34 weeks, 6 days pregnant
Still on pelvic rest; Os is rotating posterior, meaning it is angling more downward and back towards her butt, which is normal for late pregnancy as the uterus expands; os is even more dilated and there is a little red spotting
Age 29 – 6 weeks postpartum
Healthy baby delivered vaginally at 39 weeks; her os has closed back up completely by 6 weeks postpartum
Age 29 – IUD insertion at 6 weeks postpartum
The woman chose to get the Paraguard IUD inserted into her uterus as her new method of birth control; short white strings of the IUD hang out of the right side of the os; os is a slit shape, which is common for women who have given birth vaginally