Daft questions re induction

[mummyhill]

I am due to be induced on Wednesday by which time I will be 15 days overdue. So here are the daft questions.

1. Is it normal to be left this late?

2. does it hurt

3. how much monitoring are they likely to do?

4. when would they class it as a failed induction and decide on a section instead?

1. usually done at 10 days over by our hospital, though grudgingly allowed me 11 days. dont think they recommend you go over 14 days (but im not a midwife)

2)with me, they used a syringe (without the needle!) to insert some goop up by the cervix. i then had 2 days of on/off contractions with not much happening. they were fairly painful but not so i couldnt cope. with ds1 my waters were broken which got things going. with ds2 they put a drip in to speed things up. they do say it makes the contractions seem more painful because they get stronger faster than they would if you are not induced, but not sure if thats always the case

3)with ds1 i had the machine strapped over my bump for several hours which was annoying. with ds2 i didnt need a huge amount of monitoring, came in every hour or so to listen to baby and check i was ok.

4)sorry, dont know.

hth. its not that bad, if it was no one would have more than one baby!

I was induced when I was 12 days overdue it then took another 3 days to give birth but that is unusual. My healthboard normally induce after 10 days but will go upto 2 weeks if requested. After that time the plancenta does not always work so efficiently so they reckon its better to induce.

They insert a gel (like a pessary) to help soften the cervix and then wait about 12 hours check to see if your dilated and then may give you anpther gel. ( I had 3 but that was unusual). On day 2 i had my waters broken and was given a drip to get the contractions going.
They was lots of monitoring, I was wired up throughout labour (so much for my water biirth!)

I think if I hadn't been 1cm dilated after 36-48 hours they would have given me a section they kept mentioning "other measures"
hth
Good luck

Thanks for the reassurance. I am starting to get a bit worried about it all. I didn't request to be left so long as I am in quite a bit of pain due to a prolapsed disc and was hoping that they would of had me in before wednesday.

Will have to check how long they intend to keep me in though as will have to arange care for DD

I can only answer #1 - round here it is normal to be left the full 14 days before they induce.

1. I was left to 14 days over with ds and he arrived 15 days over.

2. The induction was not as bad as I thought however Ds was my first so nothing to compare to. I had pessarie twice which did nothing apart from some mild period pains. Left over night and next morning was found to be 1cm so they started syntocin and broke my waters. Ds arrived 90mins later. 3. monitoring at my hospital was half an hour on machine then was allowed to walk around for an hour while having the pessaries. Once on the drip etc obviously you are in the bed and strapped to machine. Overnight I had to stay on a antenatal ward aswell as once induced you cant go home until baby is born. 4. dont know sorry

Good luck
p.s it cant have been that bad as 5mins after ds was born i was phoning people saying I would do it again..lol Am also expecting no.2 in dec and ds is only 23mths so it didnt put me off. This time I may have to be induced again but I have no qualms about it.

meant to say our pessary was every 6hrs.

15 days seems a long time IMO, ive been induced 3 times but mine were early inductions due to complications, you get usually no more than 2 lots of prostaglandin gel(private hospitals give a tablet which is usually more effective), given 6 hours apart, the gel usually causes whats called prostin contrtactions which are irregular contractions which help to move babies head down and thin the cervix.with last baby, i was told that if there was no sign of labour by 48 hours they give a c-section, but if you start to labour but dont progress very well they will give a drip to speed things up, the contractions of an induced labour can start of very powerful as you dont get the gradual build up and i found it more painful and intense, that said, 12 hours after my second pessary with dd2 my waters broke and an hour and a half later i had my baby in my arms! so it was quick!i didnt even have time for gas and air, hopefully your baby will put in an appearance before weds

forgot to add thaty i was monitoed for an hour after the insertion of each pessary just to cgheck the baby was happy, also you can feel a bit flushed and warm after the pessary is inserted but it doesnt last long.

Thanks everyone. Sounds a bit scary to me but at least I have a better idea of what to expect if I get that far.

1. No idea - sorry !
2. process is uncomfortable rather than hurts ! If they break your waters you can have gas and air to help relax
3. I was constantly monitored once they broke my waters but before this on and off
4. Don't know for sure but think it would be if baby went into distress or a significant time had passed once waters had broken. In my case I was one cm dilated after 3 days abd waters had been broken 10 hours before, I had been on syntocin for almost this long and nothing was happening. But then I had other issues too (was induced early rather than late).

Don't worry too much Mummyhill, don't want to frighten you!

Further to what everyone else has said...

1. Our local policy is 10 days over, although I have always wanted to resist, once you get there, you just want baby out! I get really fed up hearing about placental insufficiency as all 3 of mine (well overdue) were apparently fine.

2.With ds2 I was given 9 (!) prostin pessaries over 2 days. Sometimes I got more than one at once and sometimes they left me alone for more than 6 hours (overnight and if the delivery ward was busy). They give you annoying moderately painful contractions or 'prostin pains' which unfortunately don't necessarily dilate you at all (but do stop you relaxing/sleeping). I have to say I was very 'unfavourable' when I started, we had a long way to go. With hindsight I wish I had had an epidural for this one, he was posterior 'face to pubes'.

With dd I had a show the morning of induction and on examination was about 2-3 cm. I went into hospital a couple of hours late hoping to have started on my own and they told me off! (messing up their schedule/ward rounds - sod em!) Somehow they managed to talk me into a pessary 'to get me going properly'. DH went to work (expecting it to take hours) 30 mins later I was screaming the place down - the contractions were coming thick and fast (way too quickly for me to cope with) and on examination I was 5 cm! Went up to 8cm in a couple of hours and on course for a 4hr labour when it was discovered she was face first! (another story...) Had to have an epidural in case of a section and it was bliss, bliss, bliss!

3. They monitor you for an hour after each dose I think and you have to lie on your back for that hour. Monitoring is also annoying and uncomfortable and once you get in on, midwifes seem to like to keep it on you (although everyone then becomes mesmerised by it).

4. Not sure about this, it took 2 days to get me into established labour with ds2, I think the next option would probably be a drip or breaking your waters if dilated a bit, before a section (depends on the doctor).

Good luck! I'm sure you will be fine, everyone has a different story to tell but it is best to be forewarned and forearmed!

PS Reading this back, I think I've just convinced myself of another epidural for this one if even the slightest thing delays me! Ds1 was 9'5'' and only had a local for a forceps delivery. Since that neither of the other two had their heads in a good position.

Hi Mummyhill - I thought I'd come over here and answer your questions. There's never a silly question BTW!

1. Last time I was induced early but friends who went overdue were left to about 13 days.

2. I had two doses of paessaries inserted, 12 hours apart because the ward was so busy and I was not top priority. I had some cramping around that time but managed to sleep. About 12 hours later I was 3cms and had my waters broken. That was quite painful. I was then allowed a bath and to walk around. Two hours later I needed gas and air and went to pieces in the delivery suite as the pain came on very quickly and I was unable to deal with contractions as I went from nothing to everything in a short time. BUT, I then progressed very quickly and went to 8cm in an hour. Knowing the end was in sight got me through it and I started to use the gas and air properly and was fine.

3. I was monitored an hour after each pessary and then for an hour once I was in established waters. My midwife was fantastic and encouraged me to move around.

4. I think my hospital would have allowed me 3 doses of pessary and then would have tried the oxytocin drip.

Do you hgave to lie on your back durring the monitoring? If so I have an issue with this as I will be in agony due to my spinal problems.

I was elevated on a bed, in a sitting position. Would that be OK for you? They put a strap around your bump to measure baby's heartbeat and your contractions (I think. I should think you could sit in a chair if there is good reason for you not to be on a bed on your back.

Thanks Beatie - Sitting isn't to bad but lying flat agravates the problems i have

mummyhill I was also sat up all the way through my labour as I have a bad back form a car accident. IT wasnt rigid up but slightly tilted so was quite comfortable

1)yes
2)yes,as your body is being "pushed" into labour before its neccessarily ready
3)depends how it goes and what they do,they may just do ARM and if you progress well, it should just be intermittant monitering of the babys heartbeat via sonicaid, if you get put on a drip, then they will put a belt on you and moniter babys heartbeat constantly
4)when you dont progress as they want, if your taking too long to dilate/babys in distress/you are having problems pushing baby out

hth

Thanks Nemo. Can't remember what I did last time as I was that spaced on g&a and pethedine, by the time I had the epidural I was just to exhausted. Mind you at least I didn't have to be started off then this baby is way too comfy. However I do remember being in a lot of pain with my back when all the drugs wore off. I was also in a car accident at the age of sixteen and my back has never recovered, I have been having physio on and off for 14 years now and have to phone to re book my MRI post nataly.

Ohh this could be fun. It took me ages to dilate last time and they kept threatening me with a section but as dd didn't g into distress managed to convince them not too.

Had 2 inductions: 1st time around took two attempts, long labour, and ventouse delivery, 2nd time around, pessary @ 6pm, nothing happening @9pm (husband wnet home!), 10pm suggested a bath as very mild cramp like pain, got in bath and "BANG", it all started happening, they rushed me back to the bed to find I was 7cm dilated (from nothing!), raced me through the hospital in a wheelchair to the delivery suite, got into delivery room at 11.25pm, baby born at 11.50pm with just gas and air (9lb 7oz). Husband managed to get back just a head was crowning!!!!

Sounds horrendous - but much "preferred" 2nd time around - no time to think and worry.
BTW - I couldn't lie flat either (SPD & Sciatica) - always in a sitting position on the bed for monitoring & delivery.

Anway - good luck - you'll be fine - we always are!!!