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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Induction a real possibility. Come and tell me what it's like?

16 replies

Hohohomouse · 09/12/2011 08:13

I realise there are a few stages. I am keen to understand where I will be in the hospital when they can things underway, the timings and the discussion if pain relief?
Ie. if epis are normally given post 4cms, what do you do before? Can you ask your anaesthetist to site epi early?

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Original poster

Hohohomouse · 09/12/2011 08:23

Just seen earlier cross post on this. Ignore, ignore!

OP posts:

cravingcake · 09/12/2011 08:40

Firstly be prepared for it to take some time, and to not necessarily have it start when you are told it will. My hospital can only do 2 inductions at any one time so although i was supoosed to be induced at lunch time it was after 9pm at night before i was going in. I was induced as my waters broke but contractions didnt start properly.

I was able to stay at home until there was a bed ready in the labour suite, but this isnt always the case. I went in to be checked over and as i only live 10mins away it was nice to have te distraction of the tv, my own bathroom etc.

I was given gel on arrival, told to get some sleep of i could. Was given a second lot of gel 8 hours later. 8 hours after that i was only 2cm so couldnt be given the drip (have to be 4cm before that). Was going to be moved to a different ward to wait til following day before starting the gel process again, while they were making the arrangemets for that my body finally decided to get going & contractions started on their own. Took 6 hours to get to 10cm. I was given epidural as i wanted it and it was good, while it lasted.

sleepatlast · 09/12/2011 08:47

I had 2 lots prostin pessaries...not much effect other than ds's heart rate plummeted. Put on synto drip when 1cm took v long time then em section at almost fully as baby distressed.my advice...don't let them come near u with drip unless epidural is in.my mistake was waiting then took 3 hrs to get one after I asked! All worth it though for gorgeous baby x

Original poster

Hohohomouse · 09/12/2011 08:47

Thanks craving. Guessing your partner couldn't be with you all the time in the hospital? They have to work with the visiting hours?

OP posts:

Flisspaps · 09/12/2011 09:01

Admitted thurs am, 2cm so no pessary needed. Waited on AN ward (escaping with DH out of visiting hours) for 24 long, boring hours for a delivery room to become free so could have ARM. DH sent home at 8pm and I had a crap sleep on a busy ward!

Room free at 8am Friday so DH returned. Waters broken 9am. No ctx so syntocinon drip given at 1pm with continuous monitoring, leads crap so couldn't mive from bed. Gas and air at 3pm and MW suggested epidural at 6.30pm as she expected another 12 hours with full strength syntocinon. Epidural in by 7pm.

DD born by forceps at 6.39am. Followed by PPH, manual placenta removal in theatre, and stitching of tear with spinal block in place.

Every hospital is different, some offer epidural siting before putting a drip in, some give a pessary if you're more dilated than I was. I don't know if any that allow partners to stay on the AN ward, even if you're in early labour without pain relief other than paracetamol or pethidine

cravingcake · 09/12/2011 11:15

My OH was able to be with me the whole time as i was on the labour ward/delivery suite & they have a 'man chair' in every room (big comfy reclining arm chair that he slept in). I think i was lucky as they were not very busy, plus i think they expected me to be quite quick. If i had to have been moved to the ward then he would have probably had to go home until i started progressing. My hospital lets partners stay from 10am-10pm on the ward, and they are fairly relaxed if they arrive early or leave a bit late.

BaaBaaHumbug · 09/12/2011 12:20

Our hospital has side rooms for people in early stages of induction or just arrived in labour and waiting to be assessed. They are next to the labour ward rather than part of an antenatal ward.

That means birth partners can stay with you and are only sent home if you go upstairs to the antenatal ward overnight. My DH left at 10pm after seeing me into bed and was back at 8am before I came back down to the labour ward to start the drip.

As this thread shows though, each hospital handles things slightly differently so if you have any monitoring appointments before going in for induction ask the midwife to explain the process. I did this before my first birth and found it helped to know what to expect.

alison222 · 09/12/2011 12:40

I was taken into the hospital to be induced. Gel x 2 first day , cramping - like period paid but no noticable effect. Was not allowed to go home once induction had started. DH sent home and i went to a ward overnight. Day 2 same again, Day 3 same again, day 4 cramping did not stop at night this timeand labour finally started. They sent me to the ward to sleep with paracetemol Ha ha. Morning of day 5 they broke my waters and put me on a syntocin drip and recommended I had an epidural as I was so tired.
So you can see my experience was different again. My body clearly didn't want to go into labour. I hadn't known it could take so long or that they would not let me home again. We were mainly very bored the first few days waiting in vain for something to happen, pacing the hospital grounds, on their advice climbing lots of flights of stairs etc. All the staff were howeve, lovely, its just i would have liked my own bed at night to get a decent night's sleep

breatheslowly · 09/12/2011 20:27

I was taken in and had pessary + 3 x gel (none of which seemed to do anything. That took from Monday to Wednesday. So on Thursday they went for ARM and the drip and DD was born that evening. I was talked out of having an Epi before the drip by my well meaning MW. I really wish I hadn't. DH couldn't stay every night and I was rushed up to the delivery unit in the middle of the last night due to a dodgy trace which was odd given that he wasn't there. I ended up with forceps and wish I had asked about the posibility of a CS instead of induction. I wouldn't do it again.

ilovesprouts · 09/12/2011 20:30

my induce dint work for me after 2 pesseries had emcs has baby was still high up ds is 5 now

ConcreteElephant · 10/12/2011 11:07

I had PROM at 36w2 and was kept in so they could check DD regularly, give me antibiotics etc. while waiting for labour to start. It didn't, so when a slot on the delivery suite finally came up I was taken up to be induced. It was about 4.30am, I was put straight on the syntocinon drip and woah! Fast and furious is not the phrase! I was able to stay quite mobile despite the drip and occasional monitoring (not internal) and DD was born about 4 and a half hours later. No slow burning for me apparently. I just had entinox (albeit quite a lot of that!) and it was manageable, though I've no other birth experience to compare it to and I think my pain threshold might be quite high. Of course it was so fast that I didn't get so tired, which may have had me asking for something 'stronger'. Friends have had very different experiences with induction. I hope yours goes smoothly - best of luck if it comes to it :)

CointreauVersial · 10/12/2011 11:27

Not a great experience for me. Admitted late afternoon, pessaries in, then had a miserable and uncomfortable night on the antenatal ward listening to other people going into labour. More pessaries and poking about in the morning, but no sooner had I gone into labour than the baby's heart rate plummeted and I was rushed off for emcs. A successful outcome (she is now 10) but no fun at the time.

GwendolineMaryLacedwithBrandy · 10/12/2011 11:32

I went in at 6pm and was given first pessary at about 9pm. Woken again at 6am for second pessary. Then lots of hanging around bored arseless with nothing happening until third pessary at 7pm. Waters went at 11pm and DD born with no intervention and G/A and pethidine at 3am.

Am very likely to be induced again in a couple of weeks and if it's the same experience again I'll be happy but who knows.

Flisspaps · 10/12/2011 23:42

Forgot to add - will NOT be agreeing to induction again. If I go over 42 weeks this time will have expectant management and if baby is needing to come out will only agree to CS - I am not willing to risk further serious damage to my pelvic floor or nerves down there, and that is considerably more likely to happen with intervention - which is more likely if induced.

leftmymistletoeatthedoor · 10/12/2011 23:53

I was induced twice.

I ended up having my waters broken and then on a syntocin drip both times.

With ds (dc1) I had an epidural x 2 which failed but I only had it because the mw told me I woudlnt be able to handle the pain (!?). As it turns out the pain was fine. Ds was born 6 hours after labour starting.

With dd I didn't bother with an epidural, I used gas and air which made no difference but gave me something to do. The labour was much more painful because she was back to back but again, all over in 6 hours. I did have a pph but recovered ok. Slight tearing both times but nothing major. Ds was 8lb11 and dd 9lb4 if that makes any difference.

Don't be frightened of induction but make sure you know what all your options are. I personally could never risk going over 42 weeks (though I suspect my dates were right not the hospitals and dd was born at 43 weeks) but I can understand people who do go down that route.

Good luck.

Daisybell1 · 11/12/2011 22:24

My induction was very lengthy... 4 days of prostin tablets and I still had to be manually stretched to get to 2cms. The prostins made my fanjo really sore and I demanded g and a for the sweeps.

They finally thought they could try to break my waters so took me down to the labour ward. 12 hours with the evil drip on full saw me get to 3cms (woo hoo) at which point we all decided a section was best.

Not sure if I'd agree to be induced again, as I didn't have any contractions despite the drip, or if I could be given the section.

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