How to make a good decision about induction especially when quite sure dates are wrong?

[sedgiebaby]

I'm pretty sure that I'm about 4 days behind what the scan suggested. (I can pinpoint when I ovulated, and the due date given to me if I count back 40 wks I was actually still on the pill!) I didn't test postive until 5 wks going by the hospital dates (3 different makes of test) so this also adds weight in my mind to my dates..

I will be 12 days over on Monday (8 going by mine), I dont want to put baby at risk by delaying, it is possible that I could be wrong about my dates, the suggestion that they dont know when the placenta will 'stop working' scares me, I wouldn't forgive myself would I?

Any thoughts?

Lurking as I'm sure I'm 4 plus days later than my EDD based on ovulation and facing the same dilemma. Want to give nature a fair chance but don't want to risk the baby.

even if you are overdue you can still ask for "expectant management" rather than induction. there are some NICE guidelines about this if you google it - i would advise printing them off and taking them with you to your appointments as some of the Obs & Gyn folk I encountered had never heard of them

basically expectant management is where you go in every day to have fetal monitoring and then a few doppler scans to ensure that the placenta is continuing to function properly

if you get a consultant who is unhappy doing this then ask for a different one who is. or get an experienced midwife with long fingers to see if a sweep will get things moving

HTH

Have you discussed daily monitoring/ scans with your midwife? THey are supposed to be very effective for assessing the state of the placenta, and will give you a better idea of if the placenta is not in "top notch" condition.

Someone recently said to me that if going post dates was SO dangerous then they wouldn't both spending many hours (or days) inducing you but would take you immediately for a caesarean. I kind of see their point.

However I was always taught to trust my intuition in these matters, not me or my decision to make though. Expert opinion is just that, the OPINION of an expert. They also don't know.

Best of luck, hope you go naturally into labour soon so you don't have to make a decision!

Mine were 8 days, 11 days and 15 days late, only the second one was induced, the last one I did a marathon

Sounds like bluepills' advice is good.

afaik the placenta gradually breaks down, doesn't suddenly "stop" working overnight.

at the "long fingered" midwife!

good luck when it comes btw!

no, no, I didn't do a marathon - got distracted by the phone there - I did very long walks!!!

Normal and I say it again....NORMAL gestation is 37 - 42 weeks!!!!!!!
don't get induced unless there is a medical necessity for it.
why oh why don't doctors / mws believe that a mother can go into labour on her own?????

am marking place for advice :)

In terms of dates, the 40 weeks of gestation actually includes two extra weeks before you conceived. The reason for this is that EDD used to be calculated based on your last menstrual period (which in a 28 day cycle occurs two weeks before ovulation). Despite the fact that EDDs are now calculated using scans the two weeks is still included probably for not other reason than that's how it was always done. So actual gestation is 38 weeks rather than 40.

Just had the S&S and apparently not 'favorable'and 'typical of a first time mum' so induction is very much looming. I will at least get assessed on Monday if nothing happens although i still don't feel like I have a clear view on the best decision/course of action, this is a difficult one!

most pregnancies go to 42 weeks without it being a problem.

Just to add, my babies were 8, 12 and 10 days over the scan dates, and where I have had a date myself they've moved it forward 7 days every time, so I've always expected to be late. I can put my newborns in order of size according to how "late" they were, so my earliest was the shortest and my latest the longest. I've concluded that since they date at the 12 week scan based on crown to rump length of the baby, then mine were all longer than average at 12 weeks which made them seem "late" (I wasn't induced with any of them btw).

I would be cautious about agreeing to be induced without a scan or some indication that baby is not doing well (they can check blood flow in the cord, obviously check baby's heartrate, etc), someone else mentioned it, called expectant management. It is really interesting to me that the inductions that do end in C-sections generally seem to happen because baby is not descending even after many hours of drug-induced contractions, so my postulation is that baby wasn't in the right position yet as baby wasn't ready yet, and forcing Mum to have contractions and bring baby out won't work if baby genuinely isn't ready. Often it turns out baby was back-to-back (I realize many women go into labour with baby in the position anyway, but I still think it is significant). Hope you don't have to decide and go by yourself!