Should I be induced – advise wanted?

[MoominDPS]

Hi mums,

I wonder if I can pick the brains of anyone who has experience with fast labours and/or induction? When I had my son, I dilated from 2cm to 10cm in around 15 minutes and, start-to-finish, labour was around 3-4 hours. I’m now 34 weeks pregnant with my second and really rather anxious about giving birth in my living room/on the pavement/in Sainsbury’s.

First time around, I also showed meconium when my waters broke and there was a brief period of time where my son’s heart rate went down, so we had a forceps delivery and lots of lovely medical people in the room.

Because of this experience, I now favour the medical route, so a home birth wouldn’t be my preference. I also didn’t have any time for pain relief the first time – not even gas and air (although I chugged down plenty when I was being stitched up afterwards, for good measure) – and I think I’d really rather like some this time, thank you very much.

The last midwife I saw booked me an appointment in two weeks with an obstetrician at the hospital, to discuss my anxiety, and mentioned the possibility of an induction at 40 weeks. Friends have advised me that they probably won’t be THAT keen on agreeing to this, so I might have to make an Oscar-worthy performance of my anxiety to get them to agree to it. So I thought it might be a good idea to get a better idea of whether this would be the best option for me, beforehand.

I’m leaning heavily in favour of induction at the moment, as one of the main reasons people give as a negative for having one is that contractions can come on suddenly and can be more intense. Well, that was my experience of labour anyway, so I guess that’s a redundant consideration? I don’t know much about them apart from that.

If anyone has any thoughts/experience/advise, I would LOVE to hear it. Thank you ?

[MamaSass]

Hi Moomin

I'm a doula and supported a mum recently with her second baby who was in almost exactly the same situation as you so I thought I'd share it. She was so stressed that it would happen when she was at home alone with her two year old she couldn't sleep, relax or enjoy the last weeks of her pregnancy so she decided to go for an induction at 40 weeks. You are 'allowed' its something they call maternal choice and I would suggest asking for a meeting with the supervisor of Midwives at your local hospital.

When she went in for induction as a second timer she was already dilated 2cm having had no contractions so the method of induction was just to break her waters which kicked off labour and she gave birth within an hour. But! It wasn't that straight forward. She arrived on the Saturday for her induction and because labour ward were busy she kept getting bumped down the list and didn't actually go into a birth room for another two days. Stuck on the antenatal ward wasn't much fun at all and was quite exhausting and frustrating.

Like you she was nervous of home birth second time around but she is now certain she would like a home birth for a third. I would also chat with your home birth team just to see if that might be another option for you.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Sass

[MoominDPS]

Thank you, Sass! So difficult to know what to do. But thank you for the tips and the story. Food for thought :)

[NoRoomForALittleOne]

The NICE guidelines about induction for a previous precipitate labour is not to do it. There is a category for maternal request but they won't do that until at least 40 weeks and you'll have to really convince them. It is normally reserved for armed forces spouses who would otherwise give birth with their partner on an operational tour.

I understand where you are coming from though. My last labour was 25 minutes including a shoulder dystocia being resolved. I shall be having a more in depth conversation with the consultant on 29th about my options because every registrar seems to have a different idea about what to do ranging from induction at 38 weeks, through admitting me at 37 weeks to a home birth.

[Tranquilitybaby]

The only thing with induction at 40 weeks is if your body isn't ready to go into labour, it may not happen anyway and each intervention such as ARM and the drip, could result in a section.

[Violettatrump]

The pain of my natural birth can't be compared to the pain of my induced birth. By induced I mean with a drip - the pain was like nothing else. 0 to 100 miles an hour with no endorphins to carry me through. A sweep or a gel pessarie is totally different to being on a drip I must add though.

My MW always said that second births tend to be easier and looking around my friendship group, it's seems to be true.

In your shoes I'd let nature take its course. Or have a gel pessary at the most.

[MoominDPS]

Thanks ladies. I also posted this on babycentre and the overall feeling appears to be negative, so I'm glad I asked. I've always said "I'm not the home birth type" but I am starting to at least consider it now. At least I could use the battery-operated tea lights I bought for the first time around that I never got time to use!

[jemima1988]

I was induced with my ds my only opinion of it was its forced labour the pain comes quicker and longer....
my birth went

7 pm induced - all good
11 pm - waters broken I was 2 cm needed gas and air but still fine
11:30 - I was having contractions every minute to 30 seconds!!!
Thank god for my epidural as this would have continued till 7:30 when my son was born