AIBU but why are so many women induced?

[labourisscary]

Everyone I know (nearly) who has given birth have been induced and so many of them have then had to have emergency c-sections. I have heard the numbers being induced are simply down to hospitals/docs etc not wanting to monitor you in the later stages of your pregnancy so they induce...I really do not want to be induced, I truly believe that it is better for the Mum and baby to let things develop naturally where possible...am I alone? AIBU??

Dd was induced labour due to 3x reduced movements in short period of time. No issues with induction or forceps being used.

Baby now is transverse at 32 weeks so if he doesn't move it's a C section as I don't want a turn done if we can't see where his cord is.

I'm totally fine with that.

Plenty of woman I know of different ages, races, sizes etc have been induced and many have saved lives.

Sorry - what an an essay!

I wasn’t induced with ds2. I had to go in for regular monitoring.

He ended up being 23 days late but wasn’t dry at all so I think the dates were wrong at some point.

I was adamant that I wouldn’t be induced unless necessary, and presented my case.

With dc4, I understood the reasoning and risks and was glad to be induced to increase my chances of a speedy healthy delivery.

It’s a case by case thing for sure.

I was induced at 40+15 but it was in discussion with lovely non-pushy consultant and for us the research plus the fact I’d had a few ‘false starts’ and signs like losing my mucous plug and then nothing made it feel like the right choice at the time.

Was glad we did as my baby was back to back and brow presentation, and I think my body had been trying to go into labour and then giving up when he wouldn’t shift (this is not science; based on my gut feelings at the time). When he arrived the placenta had started to get grainy and his vernix was nearly all gone, and I think without the induction and the help of brilliant midwives and doctor he wouldn’t have arrived safely.

That’s a bit of a ramble but I think what I’m saying is to trust your instincts, and be open to changing your plans if your instincts change. It helps a LOT to have a listening, trusted consultant to talk to.

Also, I was really really worried about induction/intervention prior to labour, and had initially planned a home birth. I ended up with a forceps delivery under epidural and honestly wish someone had told me that all that would matter was being treated with respect and involved in the decisions about my labour as an intelligent collaborator rather than a reproductive system with an incidental human attached (I was. It was sanity saving), and both my baby and I being healthy and well.

There is way too much judgement about what constitutes a ‘good’ birth, from both sides of the debate.

I found the opposite as I had to fight for my induction at 40wks due to severe ongoing pain. Very glad I did as didn’t take very long and he was 10lb 9oz, so 2 weeks later I might have struggled.

Just read the posts it's not anything to do with "enhancing birth experience".

DD could have died.

Yes, YABU

What you say is based on supposition and misinformation/ misunderstanding. At best.

It would be FAR easier to just let women trundle on- being induced means monitoring, not less monitoring. It is done more frequently now as we now know more about certain risks- for example, letting women go beyond 42 weeks gestation leads to a higher risk of placental insufficiency- which increases risks of still birth and neonatal death/complications. Similarly, we are better at monitoring/detecting early stages of pre-eclampsia. In addition, more high risk women are becoming pregnant (older women, higher BMI, with medical conditions who previously would have been advised against pregnancy etc). All of which can lead to higher rates of induction. Really, medical guidance is based on the best available evidence that we have NOT on a whim or "can't be bothered to do x..."

That is not to say that guidance does not evolve as further evidence is produced by research, of course it does. It may be in the future that we will have evidence that says we should do things differently- induce earlier or later or not at all- but we have to base what we do NOW on the evidence we have at the moment.

Namechange, so why are people induced after 42 weeks? It surely makes no odds to the NHS whether your child is born today or in another few days? Dismissing this as ‘utter rubbish’ seems odd. What are you basing this on?

Bottom line is we're all different and having set cut offs for is never going to be right for individual women.

I was induced at 17 days past due date and I was terrified that something would go wrong after reading many stories of placenta failing after 42 weeks. I begged them to induce every day over due date and eventually they gave in.

It took me 15 yrs and a lot of heartache to get pregnant, I didn't want anything to happen at the final hurdle.

Everyone I know who was induced early was because of a medical problem ie pre enclampsia -I'm pretty sure that it's not just done for the sake of it

Some of these stories are amazing.

I don’t think any woman should feel like she has taken a lesser path for having an induction. Someone I know tried to persuade people that “Mother Nature won’t grow you a baby you can’t birth” when a woman was being recommended a c-section due to her size and the size of the baby.

Mother nature’s priority is the survival of the fittest and I am keenly aware that me and mine may not be her best bet so I am putting my faith in doctors frankly

@Buggeritimgettingup where exactly were my risks... my baby was "predicted" to be big using a highly unreliable tool for measuring babies that are notoriously inaccurate, and the fact that my baby was late? There is no evidence that show a direct correlation between the quality of the placenta and the length of pregnancy....none...nada.
Yes, my baby was predicted to be big, and he was, and my body delivered him just fine, just as it should. Evolution seemingly counts for nothing these days, we all have a blind belief that our bodies suddenly produce monster babies no woman could ever birth naturally...yes a TEENY TINY portion of society may produce a baby that is too big to deliver, but it doesn't warrant the hysteria currently spewed out designed to terrify expectant mothers into unnecessary induction.

FWIW I can't stand the attitude that "birth is over medicalised". Maybe it is but wouldn't most women accept an intervention that may later turn out to be unnecessary than a baby with health problems or worse if it was starved of oxygen.

I had the easiest pregnancy with DS1 so when I went into labour I was left with a student midwife who didn't monitor me properly because it was expected that I would have an easy delivery. I didn't. As said previously, induced labour with DS2 was much better!

Let's not forget that it wasn't so long ago that women and babies used to die in childbirth more often!

YANBU I think this.... its a money and statistical issue... sadly they have had to make the decision for it to be NHS policy to induce at 2 weeks overdue (earlier in some places) because they know that statistically the placenta become more likely to have issues after this point and that in order to be safe they would have to monitor women daily...
It would be very expensive to do that so instead they induce before the time that statistically there is most risk of there being problems with the placenta.
Its not very patient centred sadly as many women will just naturally carry babies longer than others and would deliver a healthy baby past 42 weeks.
So it does then seem like there are a lot inductions taking place that did not really need to.
I guess they are just doing the best they can to be safest whilst working with the financial reasources that they have.

Id certainly push for monitoring rather than an induction at 42 weeks this time... you can refuse an induction but it is scary to do so as they do push it and tell you the placenta may degrade.... but I had such a terrible time with mine and it seemed completely superfluous so id just wait it out a bit longer this time around

I was induced because the maternity hospital I was at labour ward was closing because of the sewers, (we were in the day unit), I wasn’t wanting to move to a new hospital nor have an armed guard on the door, this was nearly 19yrs ago and we were in the day unit for 3 nights with 5 new mums and 6 new babies it was great

I was induced and ended up having an emergency c section. Ignoring my severely raised blood pressure, which they couldn’t lower, to allow ‘things to develop naturally’ definitely wouldn’t have been better for mum or baby.

No one can force you to have an induction but I’d advise you to have an open mind as you really don’t have much control over how your birth goes. I’m pretty sure no one plans on being induced but sometimes it’s necessary. For what it’s worth I got the complete opposite of the calm-hypnobirthing-in-the-birthing-pool-and-staying-mobile labour I’d ‘planned’ and got what I pictured as my worst nightmare - health scare, induction, constant monitoring, concerns over baby’s heart rate, lack of progress despite constant contractions, epidural that I really didn’t want but was advised to have to help lower BP, then finally after 48 hours without sleep the c section (with a full spinal as the epidural wasn’t adequate). In reality, it really wasn’t as bad as it all sounds. I have positive memories of the experience, no regrets and it ended in the safe arrival of DD. Recovery from the section was far better than I expected. It was not what I would have chosen but worked out well. I know there are women who had similar experiences and it’s been very traumatic, but that can also be the case without induction.

Out of my close group of friends with chiIdren (around 10 of us) I’m the only one who was induced and one of only 3 who needed a section. In my wider circle, baby groups etc, I know of a good few inductions that went well and only one that ended in a traumatic delivery.

I highly doubt that the NHS induce because they don’t want to monitor.

I really wouldn’t waste too much time worrying about it and just wait and see what happens (I’m assuming you’re pregnant). You may well not need to consider induction. If you do then you can make the decision that’s right for you based on the circumstances and medical advice. Hope all goes well for you.

Mother Nature won’t grow you a baby you can’t birth

DS1 was small but got stuck. The interventions I had during labour and resuscitation after birth saved his life. Mother Nature had very little to do with that.

@Oly5 I would never risk the health of my child. If I need an induction then of course I will have one! I am interested in others' experiences because I have noticed a slight trend with people I know and other countries do things differently. Also, I have done my research and the research that the increased stillbirth info is based on had a very small sample. I trust midwives and doctors completely...but I also think that you need to be informed and know your options.

Without induction Myself and DS would be dead. No question about it. I'd take over-medicalised than maternal deaths and stillbirths any day. Obviously it isn't a black and white situation, but generally if medical professionals want to induce you, they're going to have a damn good reason why! I'm not going to put a couple hours of researching via google over trained medical advice.

Sorry but which studies are your referring to? One of the biggest - the California study in Obs and Gynae - included more than 3m births. How much evidence do you want?

To make doctors hours more predictable.

@Oly5 and that study proved what?...that after 42 weeks they had clear evidence that all placentas began to fail independently from all other organs which continued to thrive? I highly highly doubt it.

I was induced due to pre eclampsia. It was horrendous and I've chosen to not have a second child rather than risk going through that again, but I'm glad we're both alive even though a bit more communication could have led to a better outcome mentally.

I wasn't induced in any of mine - and my consultant said I shouldn't be in my second two as I had a CS for the first. And very few people I know have been induced.
My second and third both came the day before the one where I was due to see the consultant to discuss "what do we do now you are so late".
But Induction is essential if needed. Just as CSs are.

To make doctors hours more predictable.

I was induced on a Saturday night. No doctors were involved whatsoever.