To ask about labour on induction wards

[guinea36]

Hi
I had DC a month ago and over the last few days have been reflecting on the birth.
I was going to pass my thoughts to the hospital but was wondering whether my experience and the experience of a friend who gave birth around the same time was normal.
I was induced and admitted to the special ward as DC was two weeks overdue. When I arrived there were a couple of other women with their partners and relatives. It turned out they had been on the ward a few days but were yet to go into labour. One of the women was playing music really loudly on her phone. It was a normal ward, bright lights, noise and curtain cubical. The family group were noisy and excited - although to a normal extent. However I later realised that some other patients behind curtains were clearly in labour and in a lot of pain. Some of them what sounded like fairly full on labour through the night while some of the other women's partners were snoring. They were left like that for several hours at least.
The next morning I went into labour. I would have loved to have done this stage in privacy at home and not behind a curtain on a dusty ward. A couple next door had arrived with loads of friends and relatives. I had to listen to one of them talking about how they were going to order chicken nuggets from McDonald's while I had painful contractions inches away!
I was eventually admitted to the delivery suite because of other complications after about 5 hours and the staff were fantastic. But a friend who was induced the next day was left on the same ward with no pain relief until she was 10cm dilated. She said she was gnawing a pillow so the other women didn't hear her screams.
I know the NHS is stretched but the more I think about it the more I feel it isn't right that women are left for hours to labour pretty much in front of strangers with little or no pain relief. Even if you are not yet 4cm dilated you can really in a lot of pain.
However I'm not sure what the solution could be. Private rooms for women in the early stages are probably not practical. Perhaps a calmer quieter area for women where labour is starting. I'd be keen to hear others' suggestions about how things could change and whether these kind of induction wards, where women in labour are left next to those waiting for things to kick off for hours, usual practice?

I've been there. 4 days on induction ward with people making noise. In labour with nothing more than paracetamol because there were no beds on delivery. It's hell.

This happened with both my labours (in different hospitals) I was left both times until I was 10cm and both times I gave birth within minutes of being transferred. I hated other women being right there as I had contractions. I hated listening to other people's pointless conversations. I hated the smelly food.

I am with you 100% OP. I haven't been induced but I was terrified of it for this exact reason. I think induction wards are a horrendous idea, completely and utterly lacking in dignity and respect. With my first baby I had a very long slow latent phase, it was far more painful than the active labour itself, I was terrified of having to do that again on an induction bay surrounded by 11 other women and their partners.

2nd baby I was threatened with induction after having reduced movements and planned to decline and go for a section instead, but thankfully DD2 arrived before that happened in doubke quick time. I arrived at the hospital at 3cm in screaming agony. I wasn't technically in active labour so if that had happened during induction I would have been on the bay still! As it happened less than an hour later DD2 was born. Again, if induced it's fairly likely I would have delivered on induction suite surrounded by women and their take away eating relatives.

I've been induced twice, both times in the antenatal ward. In our hospital only your birthing partner is allowed in (my mum and DH swapped over when he had to leave so there was someone with me, but everyone had to go home overnight whatever was going on) the second time I hypercontracted which is hideous and got me whisked up to labour suite early for some morphine after I started being sick.

Both of my inductions were fast, so maybe I was lucky that I didn't find it that bad, I definitely found post natal with the hordes of noisy visitors etc worse. I can definitely see how that atmosphere during labour would have been awful. I'm very glad our hospital doesn't operate like that!

That setup is pretty common in my area. Many labour on the ward. I did both times for a few hours. It's awful as you feel self conscious

I didn't know there were induction wards! I was induced 2 weeks ago and was put straight in a private room in the delivery suite.

When I had dd1 4 years ago (natural labour) I was placed in observation in the delivery suite which was just a bed with a curtain round it off the corridor from the midwife station which was bad enough to labour in!

Sounds like it is fairly common then - although I'm interested to discover that private rooms do seem to be possible in some hospitals. Looks like a postcode lottery.
Im sure when I watched OBEM women had inductions in private rooms - not sure that tallies with real life though!
I do think that at the very least a quieter, calmer, nicely decorated area where only birthing partners are allowed and women have easy access to a clean bath and midwives can keep a closer eye on whether pain relief or more checks are needed should at the very least be a possibility though.

I needed to be induced because my waters had been gone for more than 24 hours but nothing was happening. Unfortunately there were no labour rooms available so they put me on the ward and wouldn't start induction until a room became available. Which is a good thing, at least I didn't have to labour in public, but I did wonder what would happen if labour did naturally start and there were still no rooms. Would they have just left me to it? Plus my waters were gone for 3 days by the time my baby was born (emcs), partly because there weren't the facilities available when I needed them.

Gawd, this sounds barbaric.

Very similar to my experience sadly. I was in a room with I think 5 other women with various family members all in various stages of labour. One was vomiting, another puffing and panting, one doing nothing asking to go home, another screeching whilst her accountant husband logged it all on a spreadsheet I kid you not. The lady next to me behind the curtain spent hours having a go at the nurses as she'd been waiting too long to go delivery as if she had been skipped in line at a supermarket. One by one all ended up late stages and went to delivery overnight, except one they left too late and she had that baby in the corridor. I tried to blank it all out with headphones but it was the most horrendous surreal experience. None of the induction methods worked for me, early delivery medical reasons, not surprising really. I couldn't wait to get out. I think the NHS is history in the making to be honest.

I started on the normal ward (2 bed only) as my blood pressure was a bit high on my due date. Day 2 and 3 were sweeps while they waited for my ankles to puff up cos I obviously had preeclampsia due to BP....was fine btw. Day 4 was a patch with a string (???) placed on the uterus. This didn't work. Had to wait another 24 hours, so day 6, before having the tablet pessary inserted on the labour ward. Inserted at 9am, by 3pm only 3 cm dilated. MW would have broke waters but because of tilted cervix she couldn't get the hook in and cos it was now Saturday no doctor on to do it. Luckily I was in full labour by 7.30pm and DS was born 4 hours later. However I believe it was a busy night on labour ward and we were left in labour room until 4.30 am......no tea or toast offered 😱 until we were finally taken bank to a private room to get some sleep.

This is wrong. So wrong.

At the hospital I gave birth in, once you are well into the latent phase/getting towards the active stage you are moved to a private delivery room.
Only really on the labour ward until the pain needs controlling, you are making a lot of noise, getting ready to push...

Nobody should be dealing with that on a busy ward.

Sadly I also had a very similar induction experience. I was bought in at 40+13 having been really pushed by the Drs basically scaring me into it. Went on to a ward where they did absolutely nothing for a day! Literally not even a blood pressure check. No sleep because people were labouring in the bays next to me. I had the pessary the following day and was left to labour on the ward until I was 5cm which was about midnight I think. It was awful, I just kept on saying over and over that I wanted my own room.

I finally made it to the labour ward where at least I had my own room, but was pretty much left overnight. My DH was fabulous, clearing up my waters - no one gave me a pad and looking after me. We were bloody freezing too!

Things finally improved in the morning with the staff change but it was generally an awful experience. I ended up with no progress in my labour for 15 hours and I think a dig I can't part of that was down to feeling so uncomfortable in my surroundings. Plus a lack of sleep from being bought in a day earlier than neede and lack of food as the hospital was awful at actually giving you anything. I don't think anyone should have to go through labour in a ward ever. Midwives need to be available too, I didn't have a clue what was going on and it was horrible.

• a big part of that, not a dig I can't part of that

My baby was born in the induction ward because the midwife did not believe my husband that I was in full labour, because I was silent. He was frantic, trying to get a midwife to come over. In the end one did as our baby crowned. And later the midwife who hadn't believed us moaned about all the blood on the floor she had to clean up!

I was induced with both of my dc.
With ds, I had the pessary at 8pm and transferred to a private room at about 11am.
With dd I had a private room from the start right through to the end.

I think it depended on how busy they were with other women at the time.

DP was induced a few days ago. Ward with cubicles. You were allowed a birthing partner plus one other visitor - most people didn't bother, but a youngish woman had her mum and her partner. No one was really loud but there was quite a lot of noisy phonecall/ TV by bed noise. They were really clear that they would get you into delivery asap once you were ready, and I think they did. Still, even early stages of induction before proper labour can be really painful. One woman was properly moaning and screaming and on a lot of pain relief. DP had contractions that were registering as being as strong and regular as normal labour for a couple of hours.

They should have been more careful to watch and offer pain relief.

For us the induction ward was a very positive experience in an otherwise pretty scary birth, so I guess I am biased. But for us it was really relaxed despite noise levels, and the staff were very kind. The fact there weren't private rooms felt less important at that stage than later on, especially post-delivery.

I'm due my first baby in September. I really had no clue this sort of thing happened!!! Are most of you from busy cities?? I don't think I could cope with all that going on! My sympathies go out to all of you that suffered this sort of treatment!!

Yeah I was at King's in London - it'll be much better somewhere quieter! Also you hopefully won't need induction.

I lost my mucus plug and started contracting at 27 weeks with my twins. I was kept on the labour ward until it was confirmed that the Atosiban drip had halted labour. I was re-admitted at 29 weeks and was informed there would be no intervention and that we were to wait and see what happened.

The only bed available was on the induction ward. I cannot stress how horrendous it was desperately praying I wouldn't go into full labour whilst surrounded by women who wanted the exact opposite! I lasted 12 hours before my mental health started to really suffer and I begged to be moved. Luckily a private room had become free and I was moved.

However, I don't really see how this could have been avoided. The NHS is hugely overstretched and the fact is I was where I needed to be in terms of medical care. When I voiced my concern the staff did everything they could to help me but it was a pretty horrendous experience.

I should add that when the girls were finally born at 30 weeks I was admitted straight onto the labour ward when I arrived at hospital (as I was already 3cm dilated).