What is cervical insufficiency or incompetent cervix?
A. Normally, a woman’s cervix should open with the beginning of labor after about nine months of pregnancy. But in some women, pressure from a growing fetus in the uterus causes the cervix to open prematurely, leading to a second trimester pregnancy loss of what would otherwise be a normal full term delivery. This loss typically occurs between the 16th and 24th week of pregnancy — with the vast majority between the 18th and 22nd week of gestation.