To be terrified of being induced?!?

[Housequeen101]

I’m being induced this weekend due to baby measuring small. Il be just 38 weeks.

Midwife said if cervix is ripe enough they will break my waters and put me on the drip. Does breaking waters heart when you’re not in labour? For women that have had this, after the drip was inserted, how long until you gave birth?

I know I need to man up but I’m terrified!

Thanks

Please don’t Be scared. I was induced on my first baby and if I had my choice I would be induced on this baby too. It was lovely and calm. Pains began 4 hours after second gel and waters then broken. The drip was given at 9 in the morning. Epidural straight after ( that was always my preference for pain relief) no pain for around 5 hours , I slept and then baby born at 3;30 in afternoon. I know lots of people will have had s negative experience so I’d like you to know that induction is not always bad. The waters breaking was uncomfortable but not awful.

I have had this done twice (both at 38 weeks).
I’m both cases my cervix was not ripe so had to have pessary stage first which was also fine.

Didn’t really feel the waters breaking. It’s not fun because it’s like an examination/smear, but the actual breaking bit was painless.

After starting on the drip I gave birth within 4-6hrs. But most of the action was at the end, the first few hours were pretty uneventful with just minor contractions.

You didn’t ask but I did one without epidural and one with and I would recommend the epidural. With induction it’s harder to be mobile anyway with so many drips so might as well have the pain relief. It was my plan to have epidural in the second induction but I asked too late

I was induced with DD4 as they didn't want me to go past my due date.

I had 2 sweeps (midwife uses finger to 'stretch' cervix), nothing.

Then into hospital for a vaginal pessary (like a little wax tampon), waited 12 hours. Nothing.

Another vaginal pessary. Another 12 hours. Nothing.

Then into delivery suite to have my waters broken. Still no labour.

Drip plugged in - labor finally kicked in. The drip on a short 'lead' meant i couldn't move around a lot. It was awkward. DD born 8 hours later.

Prepare for it NOT to happen very fast OP. Of course we're all different and some women have found it all happened more smoothly than mine :)

It all took ages

Having waters broken can be slightly uncomfortable but you can ask for some entonox (gas and air) to relax you while they do it. They should then give you a couple of hours to see if labour starts without the need for the drip. It very much varies from woman to woman as to how long it takes for labour ( and by labour I'm talking, regular painful contractions) to kick in. I've had 6 babies, 4 inductions, 2 spontaneous, they all hurt like fuck towards the end regardless of how they started

And my first labour, induced was 3 hours and last 30 minutes. But it's not a race

I'd recommend an epidural before the drip, the contractions can be very intense and close together. With epidural I was fine.

I was only just 1cm when they broke my waters (three failed pessaries) and it was uncomfortable but not painful. Took seconds!

I don't remember the water breaking hurting much. I went on the drip at around 4pm and gave birth at 7am the next morning. I had an epidural and slept through most of the labour!

Even if your body reacts quickly there can be a lot of waiting around for free beds/midwives in the early stages. I waited about 2-3 days on the induction ward to get to the waters breaking/drip stage both times even though the first pessary worked well enough in 12hrs (double ). I wasn’t in any pain but it was boring.

I was induced at 37 weeks due to a small baby. They inserted a pessary first (doesn’t hurt) to bring on labour and they leave that 24 hours. In my case it didn’t work so the midwife broke my waters using her fingers. It was a little uncomfortable but not bad at all. In fact the feeling of the water breaking was quite strange if anything. Then they put the drip in my hand which was the worst of the lot but only because the midwife put the canula in wrong. Once it was corrected I was fine. Of course it’s natural to be nervous but don’t be terrified. You’ll be fine.

the waters being broken felt like a relief for me you get a skoosh it doesn't hurt ime The drip is intense though you don't get a build up but my experience of induction was better than my first labour.

Don't be scared. I was induced for the same reason at 37 weeks and it turned out to be a lovely, calm, well managed experience. I was determined to ask for an epidural alongside the drip but never got that far - waters went after first gel and labour started naturally after the second. If they go straight to the drip take comfort from the fact it is usually pretty quick and baby will be with you soon. Good luck.

People are all very different. My waters went at 33 weeks but no labour. I was induced at 34 weeks. Only allowed one pessary for 12 hours due to waters being gone so long and higher possibility of infection. Pessary did nothing at all. I was then put on a drip and had a 1 hour 33 minute labour in total. Too fast for the epidural I requested. I didn't have contractions like I expected, just constant pain and a lot of medical staff intervention. I don't think my body was ready but my waters went so early they couldn't have left DS in there any longer. I don't want to scare you with my story but like I said it is very different for each person.

I would insist in strong strong terms that I had an epidural before being induced. My BIL (consultant anethatist sp) was surprised I had been induced by drip with no pain relief as in his hospital that was done.

I found no gradual build up in contractions with the drip just straight into it. Really wish I had known this (my induction was emergency so no time to plan etc).

Had my first at 37 weeks second 35 weeks both absolutely fine.

I know it sounds scary, but it’s not too bad. I’ve had 3 inductions and they were all absolutely fine.

Having your waters broken isn’t at all painful, slightly uncomfortable but no more so than any internal examination, I didn’t feel the actual hook at all. In 2 of my labours, ARM was enough to start contractions, in the third, I had to have the drip. They started low but it did nothing so hiked it up after an hour. Contractions then started within 20 minutes and they did come pretty full on. I didn’t have any pain relief with any of my labours but I was very lucky that my longest was less than 3 hours from first contraction to baby in arms. I had one spontaneous labour too and it was better in that there was more of a ‘build up’ with the strength and frequency of the contractions so do mentally prepare yourself for them to be fairly intense from the off.

It’s also true that an induction can increase the chances of other interventions but that isn’t already the case at all. My best advice is to take plenty of things to distract yourself; book, IPod, magazines, games on your phone (there might be a lot of waiting around) walk about as much as you can pre-drip because the downfall of having it is your pretty much stuck in bed. Take each step as it comes with little expectation and you’ll be fine. Practice lots of breathing too.

Look at it this way, baby has to come out one way or another and there’s not much you can do about the method so you may as well just look forward to the lovely, snuggly end result. Good luck

I was induced, it wasn't ideal but it was fine.

I think it's good to think now about pain relief. In many hospitals if you don't ask for epidural before they put the drip up you might be waiting ages / be too late for one. I would personally want an epidural as like a pp said you might not get natural contractions but rather a constant pain, which is exhausting.

Your other option is a c/s which is what I would personally push for (!) next time. It's all individual though and most people I know would prefer induction.

It's fine. I asked for gas and air when they wanted to break waters. Didn't feel a thing. Induced on the Thursday evening. All ready to go Saturday morning. Went from 2cm to 10cm in 6 hours. First baby. Don't worry

I've had 2 inductions before, the first I had my waters broken..which I can't remember hurting at all, then walked round for a bit, had some lunch, contractions started 3 hours later and Ds2 was born maybe 6 hours later.
With DD I had the pessary, then it was similar to the previous time.

I prefer a tens machine for pain relief, but I also had an epidural for my second birth.

(I wasn't induced with DC1 and had lots of issues which would have been avoided if I had been induced earlier)

I had the classic "cascade" of intervention - drip induction, labour, got stuck, emergency c section. Still end result was me in one piece and healthy baby so was fine.

Be assertive about pain relief though because by the time the pain arrives its often "too late" for an epidural which I think is pretty lame. I got the double whammy of long labour with no pain relief then a c section yay. Still second birth was a 4 hour normal labour so who knows.

I was induced for my first and it was fine.

Be prepared for things to move slower than you'd probably like them to and you may need some intervention but as long as you have a good maternity unit who explain things to you, you should be fine.

I was induced on the Friday morning and gave birth on the Sunday morning. The contractions didn't start until the Friday evening and continued into Saturday, they got more intense on the Saturday evening but I was exhausted so I had an epidural so I could get some sleep. That wore off about 5am on Sunday then it was all system go and he was born just after 9.30.

I was induced at 11am (straight to drip) and baby was in my arms by 3.30pm.

Had gas and air, then diamorphine. It was fine, I'd do it again. I wasn't stuck in the bed at all, was pretty mobile, but I did end up with my bra hanging off the drip

My only advice is to stay absolutely as calm as you can.