Cervical dilation regression?

Midwives, what are your thoughts on cervical dilation regression? After graduation I did a fellowship at a homebirth/birth center practice and saw on occasion that with a dysfunctional labor pattern, a cervix could go from being more dilated, effaced, lower station to less dilated, effaced, or higher station. I felt it myself with my own back checks and the midwives I worked with at the time explained it as Ina May’s sphincter law. They believed the cervix was not a one-way street and although it was a sign of a dysfunctional labor pattern and indication for transport to the hospital, cervixes could absolutely un-dilate for lack of a better word. I think it makes sense that if we can do spinning babies to facilitate better position and make progress in dilation, babies in labor can also rotate and get in a worse position and do the opposite.

That said, I’ve been in a hospital practice for a couple of years now and never hear the midwives talk about this when a cervix isn’t as far dilated as it was before. The assumption is always that the person checking the cervix didn’t do an accurate exam (often a home birth midwife coming in for transfer). But I’ve also had this happen when my colleagues check a cervix after I’ve left my shift and it makes me feel anxious and incompetent although they’ve never said anything (I just read the chart). I wish I had the courage to discuss with them what I did above here but instead I just gaslight myself into thinking I don’t have accurate cervical exam skills. I’d love your thoughts.