Is it possible to still have a relatively intervention-free labour in spite of induction?

[JBrd]

I'm booked in for induction this Saturday and am trying to get my head around it... All of the people I know who were induced ended up having an epidural, and while I am determined to stay open and flexible, I am just wondering if it is actually possible to have an induced labour without one? Has anyone been induced and continued to have a relatively 'normal' labour, i.e. without of the big pain relief guns?
The thing I'm most gutted about is that I really wanted to use the pool for labour and possibly even for giving birth, but that I won't be able to when I get induced - or will I? I've heard that they might let you use the pool if you get going with the pessary/gel, any truth in that rumour?
There is surprisingly little information about labour induction in all of my pregnancy books, so any information and positive birth experience would be appreciated.

I'm seeing my midwife tomorrow for another sweep and intend to fire the same questions at her. I know they can't make me have an induction, but she strongly advised it when I saw her on Monday... I just want to make sure I know and understand all the implications.

I think most units require much more monitoring following induction, but you could find out if there's wireless and waterprrof monitoring in your unit.

I had induction for dc3. Just gas & air, no instrumental intervention at all.

Jbird I seem to recall you are going to the Rosie from a previous thread about it, is that right? If so I was induced there last week so may be able to help.

I am not sure about the use of the pool (it wasn't mentioned to me at all) but I was certainly encouraged to have an epidural once they had broken my waters. I was really surprised as no one had mentioned that they highly recommend it before, I was wanting one anyway so it wasn't an issue. But if you don't want one it may be a good idea to speak to them about it before hand.

Ironically, having my epidural wasn't a good idea and my dd ended up being a forceps delivery after quite a traumatic build up, but I think I was just unlucky and of course I now have the most beautiful daughter to make me forget the worst of it!!

I guess it's just a case of speaking to the hospital first to see what their position is and making them know what your preferences are.

Hello JBrd,

Well I was induced last week ... it was my second labour/pregnancy.

They used the gel (I was 42 weeks, so overterm). And then after 6 hours they wanted to break my waters. They were going to give me 2 hours after this before they started the syntocin drip.

My advice to you would be - after the first gel, just walk and walk and walk. I went out the hospital and walked for about 2 hours. Went to a Chinese takeaway and got the hottest ever hot and sour soup (I think this was the most helpful thing as it came out in the labour)

Then inside the hospital I walked up and down a flight of stairs (2 at a time, up) about 50 times in all.

Things had started to get going. I was having tightenings (not full on contractions). But they then hook you up to monitors to check baby's heart rate etc. Because they kept disappearing this took 2 hours. By which time everything had died down. That was when they wanted to break my waters.

I had read up a lot before going into hospital and was sure that I wanted to leave it a bit longer for the first gel to work. The doctor was very unhappy about this, but I said I wanted to sleep and build up energy for being induced further the next day.

I then walked more around the hospital (which was lovely because it was empty as it was night). Kept trying to go to sleep but could feel more and more contractions. I focussed on these and imagined my cervix widening with each one and amazingly this seemed to bring on more and more and stronger contractions.

So I gave up with trying to sleep and walked more and more round the hospital and then the contractions were big enough for them to take me to the labour ward. By which time my waters broke on their own and labour came on fullfold.

I was not allowed in the water, which at the time really pissed me off as I'd been promised that I would be, even with induction.

However my first child was born in the water and the labour was very slow and peaceful - which sounds nice. But my body got very tired because of the time it took.

This one was so quick and I'm sure that being upright and moving around made my body more efficient at getting the baby out.I had no drugs. It was painful - but manageable.

Sorry this is soooo long. Don't know if mumsnet will put it all on. Good luck. Baby crying, have to go.

I was technically induced with my first dc, but all they had to do was break my waters and everything else happened naturally and in reasonable time. It helped that we had a great midwife who had talked through our birthplan first and understood how important it was for us to have as little intervention as possible. She definitely bought us more time when the doctor was keen to get me on the drip and then later when he wanted to use the ventouse. Was so pleased we did the whole thing drug & intervention free!
Would agree with keeping active and walking/bouncing on a birth ball as much as possible - visualisation advice is excellent too & definitely helped me.
Remember you are still in control - if they want to 'move things along' ask if there is a medical reason for doing so, as usually it's just because their guidelines state you 'should' be doing so-and-so by now and not because they are looking at your individual circumstances.
I'm currently term + 11 days with our second dc and am also booked in for an induction on Saturday! Wish you the best of luck and hope you get a fantastic birth experience, I certainly did the first time and I've got my fingers crossed for a similar if not better experience this time!

I was induced (overdue, and low fluid on a scan) and ended up with the whole hog, but in contrast to people here they actually tried to do it with the hormones where the sun don't shine for a two days (afternoon, then again the next morning, then once more the next afternoon, before giving in and saying they'd try something else the next day) before resorting to the drip and didn't mention breaking my waters for me once.

It sounds like they've been in a bit of a hurry with these other ladies to move on from the gentler induction to the big guns.

Each time I only managed to maintain contractions as long as I was upright and moving, so definitely keep walking!

Thanks for posting JBrd will read with intent as most of my questions are here as well.

Too many questions which is why I am still awake at this stupid time!

I was induced both times but just needed the gel to get things going. My waters broke and everything happened naturally after that. I had G&A for DD1 and nothing for DD2, there wasn't time even if I'd wanted something (she arrived 1hr after waters going).

Good luck! Wish it was me- I loved my hospital stays and enjoyed being induced (weirdo).

I was induced and ended up with waters broken and on the drip and didn't have an epidural.

Aaah, thank you, ladies, those are some great and encouraging stories to read! It's good to know that there still might be a chance to have a straightforward birth. Trying to stay as open-minded as possible at this point - not saying that I absolutely won't have an epidural, but knowing that there is a chance I might manage without one helps a lot!

ng - yes, I'm going to the Rosie, so sorry about your traumatic birth! But you are absolutely right, it's the baby at the end that makes it all worth it! That's the most important thing.

I was induced due to high blood pressure after planning a home birth with pool.

Started with the gel and then, when I was sufficiently dilated (can't remember how much but it was about 6 hours after the gel being applied) they broke my waters. The contractions came on very strong and I went quickly from G&A to remyfentanyl (an alternative to pethidine that not all hospitals offer as it is more expensive). The only intervention was the monitoring of baby's heart beat and my BP - which was annoying as it made it difficult to move around with all the wires (and made the pool a non-option) but not too bad. No one mentioned epidural and no-one else I know who was induced was actively encoruaged to have one. DD1 was delivered 6 hours later. I like to think that if the contractions had built up more slowly I could have coped on just G&A, but perhaps I'm just more of a wimp than I thought I was!

I wouldn't have had an epidural as the thought of the injection makes me feel a bit queasy, so the pain relief I had was all I was ever likely to have. The whole experience was more positive than I could have hoped, I was devastated to realise I wasn't going to have the home birth I wanted but I'm now pregnant with DD2 and am planning to go for the pool at the midwife-led unit this time, as long as my BP stays ok. This is mostly because I've lost confidence in my ability to cope at home with just a pool and G&A!

I was induced and didn't have an epidural (I did beg ask for one but a patronising, dismissive midwife decided it wasnt neccessary). I couldnt use the pool, was heavily monitored and was lying on my back the entire time, which was most certainly not what I wanted.

Man, that midwife was lucky I was virtually strapped down. I'd have punched her teeth down her throat if I'd have been more mobile

Hi all - due to head into hospital at 2.30pm today for induction and this thread has really helped. Not 14 days over till Monday so was given option of Saturday admission too and spent last night in a snotty, teary mess (husband suitably perplexed/terrified!) agonising whether to wait the extra day and a half. After reading all this - and acknowledging how wound up I got last night - I have decided to go ahead with plan A and approach it with a positive mindset. Hopefully I'll be like many of you and come back with a good experience to feedback on. Thanks all!

Remember that you don't HAVE to have the CFM which will help no end in staying mobile, which I think is key in having fewer interventions from what I have learned from my time on MN. They can still monitor baby periodically with a hand-held doppler, gravity can help with pressure on the cervix, and movement can help with pain management.

It's the one thing I'd change about my induction (other than out-and-out refusal) which was straight to ARM (was 2cm dilated on arrival), synto for 17 hours, epidural, episiotomy, forceps, 3rd degree tear, retained placenta and 750ml PPH. Should have played intervention Bingo, I was only short of a EMCS

I will say that I've not posted that to scare you all - it's important that you hear about good AND not-so-good inductions.

And at the end of it I DID get a lovely baby. And I went home the following day with no complications since - it's not all bad!

Yes - just know that they do want to take things into their own hands and have total control really. But you always have a right to say no to whatever they propose. Its your body and your baby.

Same with whatever they 'do' to you in labour. I'm sure my midwife would have liked to have strapped me down on my back too. She certainly wanted to, during the most excruciating contractions, strap me to a machine and monitor me on the ball (which I know isn't so bad). But I told her she could not do it. I just refused to be strapped to anything. The pain was too great and I needed to be moving around.

So she asked me what I would allow her to do and I said 'use that dopler thing'. The dopler did not seem to work so she ended up following me about with the heart monitor from the strapping you down machine.

I still told her to get off me when it was annoying though and she did what I asked.

I only needed a couple of pessaries to get me started and just had g&a. It was very intense but also fairly short.

I could have used the pool but it wasn't free, and I could have walked around, used birthing ball etc but I got the fear, demanded an epidural and was given a cannula and moved to a smaller room to prepare for it/strapped up to a monitor, and then they found I was 9cm dilated so I didn't get it! And tbh, once I knew that we were on the home straight I was fine without the epidural for the final couple of hours it took for ds to eventually be born.

I was really worried about the induction and convinced it would end up in intervention after intervention and eventually c-section, but it didn't.

They're all different.

yes.

i had the drip and labour was an hour and I had no pain relief (didn't need it) and it was all fine. It was the best of all my births and easiest - the others were water births and/or home births and fantastic.

Had pessary around 5pm though cervix wasn't looking favourable. Sent hubby packing for night at 8pm as not even a twinge. Been awake & up and down pacing with sore back and either mild contractions or cramps since midnight so hoping things will be looking favourable when Doc re-assesses me at 7am. Really hoping to avoid c-section. Especially as live in the sticks so no driving = disaster!

JBrd really hope you manage to have the birth you want despite the induction. I am now a week overdue and starting to think along the same lines as you really. I have said from the start I would like as intervention-free a labour as possible and am hankering after a water birth and using movement and breathing instead of medical pain relief, but now am starting to realise I may have to rethink all this

I don't know much about the different types of being induced and wondered if some of you could help... I have a sweep booked for this afternoon so would like to be as informed as possible and have some good questions prepared for the midwife! From what I can make out, the gel allows for more movement etc and may avoid being stuck on a bed? What would stop them using this and how can I ensure I am not just given the drip?

Also, can I insist on booking another sweep for say Monday if today's doesn't work?!

Would be grateful for any advice - sorry for hijacking thread!

JBrd, i hope things go well for you... i am in the same boat overdue and my doc couldn't do a sweep twice... will be induced on monday. really wanted no epidural and water birth, but was recently told that the best thing for the baby would be to have a continous monitoring... i heard a horrendous story at my gym about a woman who insisted on not being induced and then had a water birth at 42 weeks, and her baby got distressed and died (there was limited monitoring available during water birth)... honestly, i would just go with the medical advice and not resist being induced - as much as i don't want intervention, i think better safe than sorry. wishing you a great birth experience!

I had the same experience as Skewhiff and couldn't agree more with the walking and the visualisation. Best labour out of three (DC3), came very fast in the end and was totally manageable, didn't even have time for g&a. I'm convinced that keeping active and the walking got things going as opposed to being kept on a bed and given a syntocin drip for my DC2 which was horrendous.

I had my second sweep yesterday - cervix is still completely closed, so nothing doing . Am now resigned to getting the induction tomorrow, as I don't think that I would gain anything from letting things continue - I would just get stressed out, especially if I had to go in for monitoring every other day.

Had a good long chat with the midwife yesterday and also with my reflexologist, who is also a midwife, and they both said the best thing is to stay open-minded and flexible, just like with a 'normal' birth. There is nothing to say that you have to have an epidural, and advised to talk to the people in the hospital about the monitoring - it obviously depends on the individual, but most labour wards will want to accommodate the woman's wishes re monitoring, and they will want you to stay mobile.
And if the gel/pessary kicks things off already, then it's even possible to use the pool, so fingers crossed!

I feel a lot calmer and less scared now, every birth is different and after reading all the stories above, I feel a lot more positive about going to hospital tomorrow! Thanks everyone for sharing, and I wish all the others-to-be-induced a lovely birth!

hiya JBrd - good luck for tommorow!you never know what is going to happen - im another who was induced at two weeks over. however, the gels started everything off and my waters broke naturally, i had a quick but intense labour with only a little gas and air, no interventions at all. So it does happen! Sending positive thoughts your way :)

That sounds really positive JBrd, good luck. Come back and let us know how it goes!

hope all goes well tomorrow!