AIBU to refuse induction and request c section?

[FanaticalFox]

I am now 40+7. Induction booked for Wednesday however its likely in my view that I'll need a csection as the baby is on the right and should be on my left according to the midwife (its my first baby) and she is large - at least 9 pounds they think. I really don't want to go through natural childbirth with a big baby especially after reading how the lack of pain relief is used on other threads (i want an epidural straight away which the midwife agreed with as she said induction is more painful than natural labour)
I just feel like I'm going to go through potentially almost 24 hours of 2 pessaries and a gel and then need a csection anyway.

So i want to know if i can refuse induction if the baby is still on the right (or just refuse it is general) and request today to be booked for a csection. What are my chances?! Thanks all.

I've had an induction and a c section (2 babies, not the same birth!). I was repeatedly told both babies were big (my mother in laws family had form for 12lbs babies!!) I was terrified but both my two were 7lbs 7oz - they were just very, very long (90th centile). I got the impression that they couldn't really predict the baby's weight all that accurately.

I loathed the c section and felt much more tired after. Induction wasn't a barrel of laughs either though - as referred to above make sure they don't whack the drip up if things don't happen quickly.

Sorry meant to say both my inductions were drip straight away. With 2ndy waters had to be broken then I was put on the drip.

A bishops score is how favourable your cervix is for induction.
You will hear good and bad stories about induction or section. Ditto big babies and smaller babies.

Go with an open mind, try to be positive.

I had four inductions all for different reasons. Only ever needed one pessary or gel. Never had a drip, waters broke naturally. First one forceps but nothing to do with induction. Last one was a water birth. Everyone's experiences of induction will be different but mine were only positive.

Hi Op, another one here who thinks a planned calm ELC is the best way to deliver a baby!

nothing to be afraid of at all, good luck.

The issue is that a fairly significant percentage of inductions fail. Often leading to an EMCS which really is the worst of both worlds be wasn't a risk I wanted to take. Part of the issue I have with induction is that it often doesn't take place in a place conducive to labouring effectively. Ie you are often in a ward (in the early stages), without support and/or with a strange male (however nice they are) sitting two inches away from your bed behind a flimsy curtain.

I planned to decline induction and ask for a planned section for DC3. I felt by then I knew how I laboured effectively and it wasn't in those conditions

They get the size of babies wrong a lot. Mine should have been 11lb according to the scans, she was 7lb 13oz. My hospital were insistent on an epidural from the get go. Once I decided I would have one it was on the go in 30 minutes.

I was induced by drip and it was truly awful. I went from nothing to excruciating pain within about half an hour and from 1cm to 6cm in 2 hours as the contractions had very little space between them. I asked for the drip to be removed which wasn't well received by the medical staff but they did it anyway. My first epidural didn't work so I had to wait for a second and all in all took 2 hours for epidural to work from asking for it. The drip then went back up.

I ended up getting a section anyway as I wasn't progressing past 7cm (baby's head was too big). I got nicked in the wrong place and lost 2 litres of blood.

Post section I was sore but find but a week later I developed an infection. I was admitted to hospital twice to be put on antibiotics via a drip and it took almost 4 weeks to be infection free although I wasn't in hospital all this time (let out with oral antibiotics).

I'm now feeling back to normal but my wound is still sore and I've been advised that the pain could last another 3 months due to scar tissue not healing properly due to the infection.

Despite all this I would go for a section if we have another. I couldn't go through that drip again. No matter that my section recovery has been bad that drip was just totally brutal in my experience. I was unlucky with my section but hopefully won't be again and hopefully you would be. Also if it's a planned section I imagine it would be more calming. You won't be knackered after hours of labour and stressed about baby's progress. Also I think it's easier to get baby out if they are not totally down the birth canal like mine was. I've heard the scar is smaller too as they are not lifting the baby up kind of thing but not sure if that's right.

I did this - refused induction for my first baby as from all my research (and from reading lots of posts on here!) I didn't think it would be suitable for me and didn't fancy an emergency section at the end of it. I was told that the hospital would not "let" mothers go over two weeks late - so they had to give me a scheduled C-section in the end, though I was under a huge amount of pressure to agree to induction (they called in the head midwife and then the consultant, but I'm stubborn as, and love a good argument, so wasn't swayed!).

The section was fantastic, took 40 minutes, no complications, I was up and walking the next day, and just have a small white scar now. Whole thing was pretty painless in all senses of the word, so from my perspective I would recommend it, but I was nowhere near going in to labour at the time. I think induction may have been more favourable if there were any signs at all of labour being close.

I found this quite helpful: www.amazon.co.uk/Inducing-Labour-Making-Informed-Decisions-ebook/dp/B00KHEMLHO/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforum-21

I have been induced twice and my DS's first was induced too... all different but my conclusion is if the pessary and the sweep don't work promptly go for a c section - in fact if your cervix is very posterior when they first examine you... go for a c section even if that means going home and waiting a bit longer. If your cervix is not very posterior my experience is that induction is ok... but if not it's likely to be a long induction process as this is not pain free by a long chalk, extremely exhausting and ended up with ventose for me and emergency c section for my sister. Good luck!

I found my section absolutely fine (and I had a general).

It's your right to refuse any intervention you don't want. Induction is a VERY mixed bag and it's impossible to predict how you'll progress - Bishop's score is an indicator but not perfect. A CS is surgery with all the risks that entails, and I don't know how willing your hospital will be to arrange a last minute ELCS in this situation.

I was induced at 42 weeks, and went from first pessary to delivery in 12 hours, with no ARM/syntocinon drip. DS was 10lb - size of baby is not necessarily an indication of difficulty of delivery, and as far as I'm aware neither is the side they're on. I was very aware of how inductions could progress though (I'm a doctor with a fair bit of exposure to obstetrics) and would have been vocal about quitting early and going for CS if things weren't progressing or I wasn't coping.

Had an induction but it did end up leading to an emergency c-section, however I recovered very well from that. Was easily up and walking the next day. It was nowhere near as awful as I'd been led to believe it would be.

So much so that I'm having a planned c-section in a few weeks - don't think I could even face the thought of a vaginal birth now.

Thank you all. Sockqueen thats my thoughts maybe try the first pessary etc then see how i go and how I'm feeling and demand C section from there if I am not coping well or it doesn't seem to be working.

My SIL had a good induction story! She was so chilled out that they upped the drip just to speed things along. Good luck op!

I am not sure if you can demand a c section if there are no medical reasons. I know it's not very reassuring.

Having said that, I was induces and ended up with emergency c section, and it was fine. I was extremely tired afterwards but apart from that, it was fine. It was not as bad as I expected, and i certainly had no issues with breastfeeding, bonding etc as others had led me to believe pre-birth. I have very fond memories of giving birth.

I declined induction as I had no other risk factors besides dates, a very overdue first baby and a family history on both sides of longer than average pregnancies. My dates weren't that certain either and induction isn't risk free.

I was then referred to the consultant who specialised in post-dates for an expectant monitoring plan. I asked about c-section and they said there was no justification for it. There was a lot of pressure to accept an induction, but ultimately DD made it on her own.

It was possibly the most stressful week of my life though, including a number of communication issues and scheduling stuff ups by the hospital. I did accept a sweep but in retrospect I think that was a bad idea as I went into established labour after it but it stopped.

I'm glad I refused induction, it was ultimately a very straightforward and relatively quick birth with only a birth pool for pain relief. But it's a very personal decision and not easy.

Yes to c section. I had a long labour with a large first baby (9 15) and it was unbearably painful. Forceps in the end. It resulted in a severe prolapse which I've just had my second surgery to fix. Oh and I needed physio after being in stirrups for so long I could barely walk and it fucked up my hip.

Second baby born with elcs. Recovery was a doddle in comparison. Ok you can't drive for 6 weeks but apart from that it was completely uneventful. I was only in hospital for one night, whereas I was in for a week with the vaginal birth.

Google Bishops Score and become familiar with it. If you have a low one don't fuck around with an induction.

Good luck.

You never know you might go naturally yet! I was 8 and 10 days late with my two. One was 10lb 4 and the other as 9lb 1 both done without painkillers as I was too stupid to figure out the gas and air was supposed to make you woozy when you hold it in and labour was too fast for pethadine to start working (I figured it out for my stitches with number 2 and that stuffs amazing!)

Gravity helps with big babies, I had very fast labours and was just sore afterwards. I always thought a c-section was the easy option until I read about them on here and now I'm glad I didn't need major surgery and have completely changed my views on those that have to have them.

I wouldn't. First was an elective c-section because breech. Second was induced at 42 weeks. Induction was infinitely easier. I could have bounced out of the hospital immediately. That certainly wasn't true after the c-section.

OK, so not every induction will go that smoothly, but no-one ever bounces straight out after a c-section. It is major surgery.

And I didn't need an epidural. Just use gas and air without any difficulties.

Couldn't you wait a little longer?

Yes irregular I will wait til the induction on wednesday on the hope that she might come on her own before then. Theres lots of good info so far so its made me realise i need to just wait and see.

I had two LSCS. It's major abdominal surgery. Recovery is crap. I would have chosen a vaginal delivery any day of the week. Unfortunately my babies didn't agree!! (Both my Caesarean sections happened when I was fully dilated and pushing)

Hi OP. The only reason I'd say avoid induction is because it may very likely not work and you'll end up with the c section anyway, after days of pain and frustration. That's what happened to me 11 weeks ago and I'm still not over it. C-section was fine, V painful for about 24 hours but perfectly manageable after that, a week or two later i was fine and frustrated i still wasn't allowed to drive! But the fact i had it as a last resort after my fake and completely agonizing induced labour completely failed to progress even with all the induction bells and whistles left me feeling utterly worthless and like i hadn't given birth at all. My advice would be hang on in there, don't be induced, monitor baby closely but give them a chance to come in their own time.i would give anything to have that option again now, 2 weeks overdue is such an arbitrary cutoff point.