Induction - top tips, do's & don'ts from survivors!

[fifi08]

Hi there!

Am booked in for induction with DC2 on 2nd Sept (41+4). I've read the skimpy hospital leaflet and as much as I can online. DC1's birth was "quick" - just 12 hrs from waters breaking to birth. Been in pre-labour with this one since 38 weeks, sometimes with 5+ hours contractions then it all disappears. Was effaced but cervix totally closed at 40wk check up, baby back to back (gulp!).

So basically I'm looking for survival tips and do's and don't from ladies who have been induced. The inside secrets that aren't on the hospital literature or the net. I understand that the progression can be very random - first gel may/may not work etc but I'm not due to see anyone till i check into hospital and i know i'll be too freaked out to take it all in on the day. Any info at all on getting through the waiting for it all to kick off bit or how to judge what pain relief you think you might need (hearing bad things about natural back to back births - nevermind accelerated versions of that).

em.. also, and this is a bit, ok very, ick but i have really badly swollen vulval varicose veins.. will that area ever be recognisable again after an induced birth given the potential speed at which things can progress?

thanks to all in advance!

I was induced with gel at 39 weeks, had a 5 hour labour with G+A. The night before, I sat there with the breast pump on trying to kick things off myself. After they gave me the gel, it got going pretty much immediately with quite strong contractions, I was quite surprised at how soon they started. I really think staying active helped, I walked up and down the corridor for as long as I could and that really did help me cope with the pain. My advice would be to keep on your feet/knees/all fours for as long as you can, get gravity working for you, use anything you can to prop yourself up when you get tired - windowsill/DP/leaning over the bed etc. When it comes to deciding if I want pain relief or intervention (MW offering to break waters etc), I ask for another fifteen minutes and see how I feel then... if I feel like I can go on, another fifteen minutes please... and on and on and on until I needed the drugs! Personally my induced labour was a great experience, much preferable than my "natural" labour with DC1. Best of luck, sorry I don't have any experience with your second Q.

All I can say is keep moving once the induction has started, wish I had as I did in spontaneous labour this time. It seems for me that being stationary or on me back makes everything stop! So keep moving if you can.

Thanks so much for the really quick responses! really appreciate it and really happy to hear that an induced birth can be better than a spontaneous one!

Well, iMHO (but unqualified) opinion, there is a BIG DIFF between ARM/ prostin and synto.

My MIL laboured after 2 prostin and wondered why I made such a fuss abou being induced (12 hours of synto, ever-so-slightly-different)

I 'failed to progress' over 6 hours so was put on a drip. I was offered epidural but declined as I didn't want to loose my mobility and compromised on pectine. That actually worked out really well as they cranked up the drip and I gave birth in 2.5 hours (after 38 hours on the ward 'in labour'). It was a massive relief finally getting things progressing properly as it was hell start/stopping for so long. Not sure if my natural contractions would have been as strong/painful in the transition/pushing stage as those with the drip but I found the pectine veyr helpful as it make me detached from the pain but not detached from the process and also allowed me to move around. Its a morphine though so research its particulars before you decide to take it. I would take some painrelief with a drip again though, and in your case, if your baby is back to back I would consider proper drugs as its supposed to be intense. In my case the drip worked very well even if the labour after drip was very quick. I gave birth naturally without interventions or tears. I had one vulval varicose vein but no long-term effects to my poor fanny either

Biggest tip: RELAX, really it can be just like a normal birth! Do refuse continous monitoring (a lot is fine in my book, but you need a bloody break) if all is well. The only bad bit for me was being forced to stay still.

Yup, my 3rd baby was induced after 2 spontaneous labours and it was just like the other 2 births only even quicker and definitely better (because I'd done it before and felt more in control).

Good luck!

i was induced at 41w+5. The first day they gave me a prostin pessary which produced very little by way of progression. I was monitored on of off all day. The second day they upped the dose of prostin and i started to get stronger contractions and very slowly started to dilate. DD was OP and just wasn't putting enough pressure on my cervix to progress things. It was the worst of both worlds really. Lots of contractions but no progression. I asked for panadol and eventually pethadine and did loads of pacing up and down the corridor.

On the third day the monitoring picked up that DD's heart was not recovering as well as they would have liked after each contraction. They decided to go to the next induction step. The midwife broke my waters and i was hooked up to a oxitocin drip. I knew that the oxitocin would be brutal so before they hooked up the drip i asked for an epidural to be administered.

It was brilliant. The epidural was a mobile one. I could move around on the bed if i wanted too but i probably couldnt have walked. I was able to feel the pressure of each contraction but none of the pain.
3 hours later DD was born. It was quite funny actually. I was telling the midwife that i was feeling loads of pressure and that maybe something was happening but she was sure it would be hours yet. Eventually she checked me and DD was halfway decended. 20 minutes and 5 pushes later she was born. I had 2 minor labial tears which were given 1 stitch each and were completely healed in 2 weeks. They only hurt the first time i pee'd.

Taking to the midwife she thought that the fact that the birth was so rapid was the reason i didnt have any major tears as the skin was not subject to prolonged stress, just a short sharp burst if you know what i mean.

Having the epidural before the drip was fantastic. We were so chilled out in the delivery room, chatting with the midwife and each other. I was having a cup of tea literally right up to DD being born. If i could plan the birth of my next baby that way i would.

I had an induction at 42 weeks. Went in to have prostin gel at 2pm - at 4pm told it wasn't needed as I was 3 cm dilated already so they could break my waters. At this point I decided to go home- since they'd not been expecting me on labour ward til the next day anyway. Came back the next day having had contractions every 7 minutes throughout the night at home, & they broke my waters. Whereupon the contractions stopped dead . After 4 hours, they started the syntocin drip & - get this - I sent my dp off to go himself some dinner, have a break and a wander about. They upped the drip every 20 mins so when dp left I was sat in a chair looking nervous & by the time he came back I was on all fours on the floor with my head in the chair & the midwife was looking daggers at him for abandoning his post. I got through on gas and air but only because my labour was really short (less than 4 hours from when the drip hit full strength). Syntocin is horrible.

My top tips would be if you have to have the drip make sure the put it in the same side the monitors are on so you can move a bit- otherwise you are trapped on the bed & leave the monitors to the mw's to worry about. Mine kept slipping off , but because I had all the pain in my back my mv- bless her- didn't try to put me on my back but organised a scalp clip to monitor the baby. Good luck!

My daughter was induced at 35 weeks. I had one lot of gel, waters broken & then the hormone drip. She is my first baby & the whole process took 11 hours from first administering the gel to her being born. Of that, 9 hours were fine & I managed fine just by moving round, breathing through contractions & using a TENS machine. The last couple of hours were more intense. I used G&A & in the end I did have an epidural, but that was only because I was told that I had 'hours to go' when in fact I was already fully dilated!! If I'd known that then I could've managed without. Definitely ask for mobile monitoring, and if you need it a mobile epidural. Stay upright for as long as possible (once I didn't feel like walking around I sat on a birthing ball). If you need the drip, ask for it to be put in whichever hand you don't usually use (I am right handed so had it in my left hand). I read alot that some people find induction makes them sick and I am very phobic of throwing up, so I asked for anti-sickness drugs before they started the drip. They were very effective and I was fine. Good luck!