To be a tad annoyed with maternity unit

[sstewart2016]

I phoned the maternity unit at 11am today after contracting since yesterday, they told me to come in for 5 tonight. Still contracting and I haven't been checked on
Just on a bed right next to the nurses station where I can here one nurse saying "bed 3 (me) can't possibly be in Labour she must have ate too much" is this standard this is my first so no idea. Just in so much pain and not really sure what I expected

They knew I was taking it, I came into hospital with my own bottle and said it's fine to take. I can't swallow tablets so thsts why I took my own just been given breakfast so doubt I'm being induced today either. But contractions have trailed off
Feel like Rachel from friends. One woman came in just gone midnight, not groaning and was checked v quickly. She was 7cm so off they all dash to labour wars

Honestly op, just go home. Your labour clearly isn't progressing and the stress and anxiety your starting to feel whilst waiting in the unit will not be helping your anxiety. I have no idea why you are still in the unit.

Ibuprofen is fine in pregnancy at certain stages. They just don't trust women to understand when, so say none at all.

This is totally normal for s first labour. It doesn't happen like on tv, unfortunately!

Sounds like you need to go home and do some long walks and nice baths. You really should avoid an induction.

They don't sound like strong contractions at all of Neurofen is helping-ish.

There's a word for this labour isn't there? I had it with my son, took ages to get going.

But when it did I was at home and all of a sudden they came every minute. By the time I got to hospital it was every 30 seconds and he was born an hour later.

No way could I MN or walk or talk through those.

I would go home as well. Sodd sitting there. If be at home having a bath, chilling out and waiting.

I'll ask to go home when they change over but I think they want to keep me in to induce me as soon as.
One of the midwife was saying she doesn't think I'm going to go naturally and that they want to keep an eye on me with being anemic so birthing pool is out which I wanted 😢

Tell them don't ask and don't let them induce you without a damn good reason. I suspect a few hours at home is all you really need.

I'm not sure a midwife has the powers to know if you will "go naturally" or not.

After DS1 was nearly an unattended birth - in hospital - due to no-one believing I had progressed as fast as I had, I advised every other pregnant woman I knew to arrive at the hospital screaming blue murder and writhing around, as it seemed to be the only way to get anyone to take you seriously!

Both my labours were entirely manageable in terms of pain levels, and both were very fast. The difference was that I had DS2 at home with a midwife who actually believed what I was telling her and wasn't caught by surprise by his sudden arrival.

OP, I know a couple of people who have had very long early labours. Unless they're saying you must stay in for medical reasons I'd be inclined to go home and maybe look at something like acupuncture/massage etc to see if you can get things moving along without an induction.

OP, your body will be responding to your surroundings. Labour isn't an evitable thing that will happen the same wherever you are.

If you're not progessing there I would say that's exactly why you should go home.

When you are somewhere familiar and relaxed, your body may feel ready to go into labour.

OP why are you consenting to induction? Have they given you a solid medical reason?

Or is it just that you are not progressing?

Is it induction by drip they are offering you? If so, has anyone explained that it may make your labour much, much more painful and you will almost certainly need an epidural? There was a huge difference in pain levels between my labour with and without induction.

(They didn't explain this to me. Also I am not saying other methods of induction don't hurt, just the drip is the only one I have experience of).

There is no way I'd let them do that to me again unless the baby needed me to.

If you want labour to progess, please do consider going home, have a bath, take long walks, listen to your body.

Also, what do they mean by "keep an eye on you". Ask - are they talking about continuous monitoring? (I'm wondering if this is why they've said no pool). In your shoes I'd be finding out if this is strictly necessary - some MWs want you labouring on your back with continuous monitoring with again makes everything more painful, and also harder work. Again I would do this in a flash if necessary for the baby, but if not, then I would avoid it.

My labour was really slow to start but he was turned halfway so all the pain was in my back, it was agony.

I'd had strong contractions for 12 hours by the time I went in and was only 1cm so not active labour. They hid me in a maternity room too!!

They gave me syntocinon (sp?) in the end to get things really going. And Ds was born 10 hours later.

Labouring at home for as long as you can is preferable. But be firm with what you want. I wish I had spoken up sooner about a few things. The midwives were lovely, but don't put much stock in you knowing what you want!

Hope things pick up for you soon

They have no idea if you'll 'go naturally' or not. You're not even term yet!

Induction is not the easy option, trust me.

With DS2 my husband went to the MW & said "I don't think you realise how much pain she's in". She felt my stomach and said I wasn't contracting properly and it was just prostin pains from the gel they'd used to induce me. I had him 30 minutes later.

Keep mobile, it keeps the contractions going. Ask them if you can go home; it may help them make a decision. And don't take any more ibuprofen! Good luck OP!

Honestly go home.

I was two cms dialated two weeks before dd was born. No mention of an induction, just keep active and relaxed and I expect we will see you in a couple of weeks.

Exactly two weeks later I was in labour. I am anaemic as well but that doesn't actually mean you need to be induced. Just monitored.

I didn't find an induction to bad.

Op I know people on this thread are trying to help, and on dd birth the MW didn't have time to put gloves on. However listen but question the MW.

I had a syntocin induction at 39+4 - with only gas and air because I react badly to opiates. I was on the drip from 9.30am with nothing happening until 12.20 when the mw increased the drip to 7.5... 41 minutes later dd shot out, too quickly because I literally couldn't pant through crowning because of the strength of the contractions....and the mw told me off!!!

Please don't take any more ibuprofen! Non steroidal anti inflammatory meds shouldn't be taken in the later stages of pregnancy as they can cause premature changes in the baby's circulation (there are changes that take place at birth after the baby has started breathing, but you don't want them triggered until birth).

Why induce?

Going overdue is normal. Stop start Braxton Hicks are normal, especially in first pregnancies.

I would feel like the end of my pregnancy was being spoilt with all this needless faff.

Go home.
Indulge yourself
Spoil yourself
Treat yourself like someone extra special

You will always remember this week. Create lovely memories

Follow your own body and if you need help and you are positive, then don't let them convince you otherwise.

I had my first baby last January, I was induced due to waters breaking (full term) and no contractions. Like you I got put on a ward with little checking. I insisted to them a few hours later the baby was coming. They told me it wasn't, too soon, that I mistaking induction pain for labour, told me to have a bath and told my partner to go home until he was "needed" (he didn't leave), 20 mins later I'm screaming and they tell me If I'm in THAT much pain they'll give me diamorphine as I'm clearly no where near ready and needed to rest. 30 mins later I'm growling and the baby is coming, they check me and I'm 8cm, They didn't believe me the whole time, and baby was knocked out by the diamorphine and needed resuscitation. I'd have never taken painkillers if I knew I was that close, but they convinced me I was being a bloody wimp, and I had nothing to compare the experience to to not believe them.

Not saying it to scare you, but don't let them convince you nothing is happening if you think it is. In my debrief the midwife said that sometimes nurses can run too much on autopilot and you really have to push to change their minds.

Induction will scupper your chances of using the birthing pool anyway, even for pain relief. They'll want to be able to monitor you.

I am pretty sure that taking the odd ibuprofen is fine, it's when you take them regularly that it can cause problems, unless that has changed since I was last pregnant.

OP, I don't really understand why you are in hospital right now, this type of pre-labour can go on for days with your first, sometimes weeks.

How the fuck the midwife can tell you she thinks you won't go naturally when you aren't even overdue is nonsensical. You might need monitoring with your anaemia but an induction? I would be questioning that and ask to see a consultant because it doesn't seem right.

If nurofen is working then it is unlikely the contractions are that strong. Sure, some people might be in late stages of labour and nurofen is enough to ease the pain but that is very rare.

I personally would probably ask them to examine me again, if I had made no progress I would be going home unless they can give me a sound medical reason why I need to be in.

I don't think it's helpful to terrify the OP with stories of horrendous inductions, if she wants one then that's her choice, and it doesn't necessarily mean she'll deffo need an epidural, I've had 2 inductions now with a whiff of gas and air and that's that.
My first 3 babies were born with the midwives tutting and sighing at me because I couldn't possibly be that far along, all ,y babies were born outside of the labour room cubicle I was given because of this.

Listen to your body, op, be firm and consistent with what YOU want and keep as mobile as possible to let gravity do its thing and hopefully your baby with be with you soon.

If you need pain relief ask for some from the ward so they can monitor it.

Good luck!

HG is a perfectly valid reason to induce, and induction does not stop the use of pain relief.

Titsalinabumsquash i'm sorry but I disagree. I wasn't trying to scare the OP by mentioning that induction can be painful.

It's about informed consent IMO.

If there's a good reason to induce then fair enough. But if it's just that the MWs want some progress and the OP thinks an induction is an easier option than more of what she's experiencing right now, then I think she has a right to be informed.

I'm really pleased you had a good induction and it's great to hear tha it can be relatively pain free. But that is not the experience of many, and to pretend it's a walk in the park is infantasising women IMO.