Effacement
WikiDoc Resources for Effacement |
Articles |
---|
Most recent articles on Effacement |
Media |
Evidence Based Medicine |
Clinical Trials |
Ongoing Trials on Effacement at Clinical Trials.gov Clinical Trials on Effacement at Google
|
Guidelines / Policies / Govt |
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Effacement
|
Books |
News |
Commentary |
Definitions |
Patient Resources / Community |
Patient resources on Effacement Discussion groups on Effacement Patient Handouts on Effacement Directions to Hospitals Treating Effacement Risk calculators and risk factors for Effacement
|
Healthcare Provider Resources |
Causes & Risk Factors for Effacement |
Continuing Medical Education (CME) |
International |
|
Business |
Experimental / Informatics |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Effacement is the shortening, or thinning, of the cervix before or during early labour. Prior to effacement, the cervix is like a long bottleneck, usually about four centimeters in length. Throughout pregnancy, the cervix is tightly closed and protected by a plug of mucus. When the cervix effaces, the mucus plug is loosened and passes out of the vagina. The mucus may be tinged with blood and the passage of the mucus plug is called bloody show (or simply "show").
As effacement takes place, the cervix then shortens, or effaces, pulling up into the uterus and becoming part of the lower uterine wall. Effacement may be measured in percentages, from zero percent (not effaced at all) to 100 percent, which indicates a paper-thin cervix. Effacement is followed by cervical dilation.