How long do you have to stay in hospital after induction?

[barbareebaa]

Hello!

Am 40+9 and am booked in for an induction on saturday (going in at 8pm)
Am quite nervous about it, being a slight control freak and really hate hospitals!
Anyway this question,I guess,is a 2 parter..

1. How long do they keep you in after induction if the birth is straightforward?

1. For what reason(s) might they want to keep you in - are there reasons specific to being induced??

Hopefully I'll suddenly and spontanaeously (yikes - sp) go into labour this afternoon but I have my doubts!!

Thanks in advance,

Barbs

[Hassled]

I was induced with DC3, and was home 4 hours after his birth . As long as everything goes smoothly, there's no reason to keep you in just because it was an induction rather than spontaneous (admittedly this was 10 years ago - all might have changed).

As long as there is a paediatrician around to do the pre-discharge baby check then you should be fine to go quickly, if that's what you want - like you, I can't bear hospitals and took my baby and legged it asap with DCs 3& 4. Good luck!

[RobynLou]

you shouldn't have to in any longer than if you'd gone into labour spontaneously i was induced due to high bp and had to stay until it was going down (but then dd got jaundice so we had to stay longer...) but there was no reaon i had to stay related to the induction.
i had a good experince of being induced actually - 1st dose gel 7.30am, 2nd 1.30 pm dd born at 7.30pm. only ha to be montiored at the times they gave me the gel.
good luck!

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

Bear in mind that the induction itself can take some time before labour proper starts. In my hospital they start women off with the gel then leave them in pain for days because there is no space on labour ward to enable them to follow through with oxytocin.

[coppertop]

I've had 3 inductions. After two of them I was allowed home the following day. The other one I stayed in longer because my ds needed to be given antibiotics and then had a stay in the SCBU (not directly related to induction.

Generally they are happy to let you go as long as you have started weeing again, especially if you had a catheter put in after an epidural (catheter isn't always given).

Otherwise you are treated in the same way as anyone else who hasn't had a c/s. If you and the baby are okay then you can go.

Good luck.

[crokky]

I've been induced twice and both times just stayed 1 night after it.

Actually the issue with induction is the amount of time you spend on the antenatal ward before being transferred to delivery. Having had the gel, I was left labouring in pain on my own with no pain relief on antenatal. Watch out for this and if you are in pain, scream loudly and make sure your DH is vocal on your behalf if this is the case. Also you may spend a lot of time on antenatal if your induction takes a while to work. This won't be painful, but it will be boring and lonely.

[barbareebaa]

Crokky This is something that is making me a bit anxious tbh - dh will be sent home and I will end up by myself and in pain.
Oh well. Hopefully it won't be like that but I must admit it does worry me a bit.

[Hassled]

I had this problem - was given the gel, left for ages and nothing happened, at which stage they were so busy they didn't have time to get me going on the Oxytocin. And watching other women with their newborns makes it harder. They started me off at 7am on a Sunday, and DC3 was born at 7pm on the Monday - most of the intervening time was spent doing nothing.

There really isn't much you can do about it though - if they're busy, they're busy. Just be prepared that this might happen, take lots of reading material - and of course once you have your baby you won't care about any of this stuff

[TheShipsCat]

I had the same experience as hassled and crokky - admitted 8pm on 25th, dd1 born morning of the 28th - but I was home by 6pm that day. Best of luck! Is it your first?

[CountessDracula]

I was induced for a week

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

It has never happened to me. But I have always wondered whether you could sue for battery. After all they are causing you to be in pain knowing (sometimes) they will not be able to get you a bed to see it through. Obviously you consent at the time but you're consenting with the belief that it;ll go somewhere.

[thumbwitch]

I went in for induction on a Sunday night and didn't give birth until 2am Tuesday - had 3 pessaries and labour didn't really kick in until after the 3rd one, at about 5pm on the Monday afternoon. Yes, DH went home on the Sunday night but that was ok - nothing was happening. He came back next morning and was there until the following morning after DS was born and I was moved back down to Maternity. They were reluctant to give me oxytocin but if DS hadn't been born when he was, that would have been the next stage, about 2 hours later.

I wanted out of the hospital by 5pm on the Tuesday but as I hadnt established bf'ing by then, they wouldn't let me go. I stayed in another 2 nights, in a private room, which was a godsend and allowed me to get bf'ing help and sort it out, then went home on the Thursday afternoon.

[WilyWombat]

I was kept in for a week , my blood pressure was through the roof and I had a toddler at home - my community midwife threatened them with violence if they released me too soon .

tbh I enjoyed it, dinner delivered, a big stack of books and my mp3, plus lots of visitors who bought me presents

[Catilla]

Just to reassure you - not all inductions are so bad. Do you know if your cervix is at all favourable yet?
I went in in the evening for an induction, they monitored me for a bit, gave me the gel, monitored for another 30 mins, then left me to sleep. All this was in a private room with DH there too (sleeping on a mattress). They came in around 6.30am by which time my frequent BH had got a bit more frequent & uncomfortable (ie. my body was slowly getting going), found me 2ish cm, and broke my waters. From there, no time for the breakfast I'd ordered, contractions came thick & fast. After breaking the waters they said i was just about 3cm so officially in labour, and was soon transferred to a delivery room. No wards at all. DS born around 2pm.

To be honest I hardly had time to think about the fact I was in a hospital once they actually started with the monitoring/gel etc (we had to wait a bit before they actually did that), I was too focused on what I was feeling. And I am a control freak too!

My inductino didn't get to the stage of oxytocin drip or any interventions like epidural - anyway we went home the lunchtime after DS was born, and apparently the only reason for waiting was that the paediatrician was only available in the mornings!

Good luck to you!

[DesperateHousewifeToo]

Was induced with ds after my wayers broke and did not go into labour.

Monday early am- waters broke.

Faffing in hospital being monitored all monday.

Home monday night to sleep in my own bed.

Tuesday am. Back into hospital. Gel and drip (oxytocin?) eventually in pm. Had epidural.

Ds born wednesday 6am.

Sitting on my sofa at home by 6pm.

In sainsburys doing weekly shop thursday am .

[barbareebaa]

gah!!

So better get lots of picnic type stuff for dh if there's going to be a long wait to get going!!

Thanks for all your responses - feeling reassured that, if all goes well, we won't have to stay in any longer than normal after the baby is born!

theshipscat Yep - it's my first - can you tell?

[witchandchips]

yes it is time spent on the labour ward waiting for something to happen that is the worst. Take loads of novels and don't forget that you can go outside the hospital while you wait for the gel to work.

[DesperateHousewifeToo]

Forgot to say...

GOOD LUCK

[Nemowith3and1tobe]

been induced with all 3 dc
ds I stayed in 2 nights but think that was because he was my first and I was having trouble BF.
dd1 I stayed in one night
dd2 I stayed for 5hrs after her birth then went home.