What is the purpose of vaginal exams during labor ?

Your health care professional will check your progress during labor. She will put on  sterile gloves and insert her fingers into your vagina. The health care professional does this for the following reasons :

• check how much your cervix has effaced ( thinned ) and dilated ( opened ). How dilated or stretched your cervix is during labor can help detect the speed of labor.
• check the position of the baby. That is to check if the baby is coming out head first or bottom first (breech). She will also check how far the baby is down the birth canal
• the health care professional will gently push the head of the baby with one finger. If the  head pushes back, then the baby is floating. However if the head cant be pushed back and is low in the pelvis, then the baby is engaged in the birth canal
• the doctor will also check which way the baby is facing in the birth canal. He will check if the baby is facing upwards towards your navel or down towards your backbone. This check can only be after your water breaks. When  a baby is facing upwards towards the mothers navel, it sometimes have a slower, hard time moving down the birth canal.