Can anyone tell me how induced labour differs from natural labour?

[Poppyjen]

Hi all - I am expecting DC2 in a few months. DC1 was induced at 42+2 (convinced the dates were wrong, he showed no signs of wanting to come out!).

I was just wondering if anyone can tell me how natural labour is different from induced labour. I understand the mechanics of it, and the theory but I am really interested in how it feels different. If anyone has experience of both I would be very curious to know how your experiences differed.

In my mind natural labour has a slow build up and (hopefully) you have more chance to get your head around the contractions etc rather than the induced full on labour from a standing start.

Thank you!

With induced labour (ie syntocinon drip) then you don't produce endorphins, which you do produce in spontaneous labour and these are natural painkillers. The synthetic oxytocin doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier so whilst your uterus is told to contract, your brain isn't told to release the endorphins.

This can make it feel more painful.

There's also no gradual build up from irregular little twinges over a few hours to full-on contractions, the drip is usually turned up every half an hour or so until you're getting contractions at full strength (and that doesn't take very long with the drip usually)

You might already know that bit though.

I've only had an induced labour, and it's not something I'd consent to again (not just because of the pain, but because of the increased likelihood of the 'cascade of intervention' happening again). I had an epidural after 6 hours on the drip as the MW told me I'd be another 12 hours (I was) - she said in natural labour she'd have had no question that I'd have managed on G&A alone, but 12 more hours of those contractions would have finished me off!

My induction ended in emcs :(

I think it very much depends what kind of induction you have.

They usually try to start it off with a pessary and, in my experience, that kind of induced labour is not very different from a natural one.

I was induced with my first (pessary only) and had a home birth with my second and the labours were almost exactly the same - they had a similar build-up, took similar amounts of time (second one was slightly quicker but not markedly) and I experienced similar amounts of pain (I managed with G&A only in both cases).

If they can't persuade labour to kick start with a pessary then they usually move to syntocinon, as Fliss says, and that is, from what I've heard, much more painful and much more "0-60 in 10 seconds" kind of experience. I don't know anyone who has managed a syntocinon induced labour without an epidural (though friends who were augemented with syntocinon later in labour did manage fine - I think again it's all about the build-up and the endorphins).

Thanks everyone! My induction ended with an EMCS too but got to fully dilated after 12 hours of syntocinon. I too had epidural after about 8 hours - was managing ok with just hypnobirthing techniques but it all got a bit much, what with there being no gap between the contractions and being strapped to all of the beeping machines and having tubes everywhere....

Really hoping for straightforward VBAC this time around and I have made sure that my dates are as certain as they can be (backed up by dating scans) so hopefully I will be left alone to go into spontaneous labour this time. I am just curious to know a little bit about how things might go, and whether if there's a more gradual build up I think I might be able to cope better without needing the epidural.

Interestingly last time they talked about using the prostin gel but decided against it in the end for some reason so I went straight to the drip from nothing. Not ideal and really wished I had been more assertive and asked more questions...

I did syntocinnon with just gas and air. I was however high from that, extremely tired after weeks of very little sleep and delirious with pain and it never occurred to ask for anything else. I had to be induced as my waters had broken 5am the day before and in 19 hours after that I only got to 2cm. however, i was lucky as the drugs sped it up and within 4 hours of the drip he was out.

i found it funny that as soon as the drip went in i was offered all painkillers whereas in natural i wouldnt be.

I might be wrong, Poppy, but I think I was told in NCT classes that they won't usually induce for VBAC due to the risks.

That might have changed though - this was 5+ years ago.

Certainly the only VBACs among my friends were spontaneous labours.

Poppyjen Were you already dilated on arrival for induction? At the CLU I went to they only use the prostaglandin to get the cervix to dilate enough to break your waters (ARM) and I was already 2cm on arrival so they went straight to ARM which had no effect - so went to the drip also.

i have been induced for all 5 of my labours, i am allergic to the gel they use, prostin? so its ARM for me, for no 1 it was a nightmare, 3 day labour, sytnocin, nearly c section or forceps, but delivered naturally in the end after 3hrs of pushing!

no2, 3, and 4 they just ARM and then i laboured naturally no need for the drip, ds4 was born in the pool :) and tbh these labours seemed fine to me, they were quite quick, 7hrs, 3hrs and 1hrs! so very intense but i managed fine with gas and air and water as pain relief.

dd no 5, was also induced, ARm but this time i needed syntocin :( thankfully once the sytnocin kicked in it only took 3hrs but it was very painful and i did manage on just gas and air but not sure how much longer i could have done.

if you do have ARM push for them to give you as much time as possible for the drip, ifyou are fine and no temp etc and baby is fine then you can leave it for quite a while, up to 24hrs, they often want the drip up within 2hrs which gives you hardly any time to get into labour yourself! best things is ARM, a bit of monitering to check baby is ok, then up and mobile etc, i went for a walk around the hospital etc and sat and rocked ont he birth ball, anything to help encourage labour to start, it took a while as much as 6-8hrs? with some of my boys but it did then start on its own. thanfully ihad supportive midwives who agreed with me and we ignored consultants who were wanting drips up and continual monitering etc. with dd however we waited and i mobilised but it just wasnt happening i think maybe because she was back to back? but he labour was fine even with the drip, just very intense.

it hink they sometimes induce now for vbac but only with the gel and arm and not the drip, a higher chance of uterine rupture? but i think it depends on your lcoal health authority, they all have slightly variable policies.

Yes I was 2cm when I went in, so they could ARM without a problem. They then left me for 2 hours and went straight for the synto - I wish I had asked for more time, it just didn't occur to me at the time!

This time around they won't induce (they may ARM but they won't use any synthetic hormones. Partly because I won't let them ;) ) and partly because of the increased risk of scar rupture. If I go post dates this time around then I will push for daily monitoring/scans etc and if all else fails an ELCS.

So I have no worries about the induction being repeated, I just don't feel like I know what to expect even though it will be second time around I feel like I know what strong contractions feel like, but I didn't get to the pushing stage so I have no idea what to expect on that front!

I was induced for DC1 and have had two natural labours since.

My 2nd was amazing - I was waiting for it to hurt as much as the first time, but it never did, and DD was born only 45 mins after I got to hospital. I never knew why it hurt so much less, but Flisspaps explains it beautifully. My 3rd was an amazing home birth.

All 3 labours were quick - 4cm to born in 1hr 45mins with DC1, 45mins with DC2 and 1hr 12mins with DC3, but with DCs 2&3 I had long early labours, starting with a show and gentle contractions - in fact, with DC3 I had niggles and contractions on and off for 4-5days. I didn't have that with DC1 - I had 4 hours of intense, hardcore contractions before I got to 4cm.

I think your labour will be similar, but with a more gentle start and a quicker end. I hope you get your VBAC! I found acupuncture and shiatsu massage really helpful for getting labour on.

I agree with everything flisspaps said- really well described. Didn't know about the endorphins though.

And poppyjen, if its any help, my waters brok, I waited 24 hours before going in (after being xhecked and sent home), did jumping, walking fast up a hill, RLT, everything I could think of to help get labour started (bar sex because of the ruptured membranes), still nothing, they wanted to go straight to drip but I was told my cervix was 'unfavourable' as in hard, posterior, closed, I insisted on the prostin pessary to try and 'ripen' my cervix and get it going naturally. It did nothing. In the end it was 30 hours after my waters broke before the drip went up and it still all went to hell in a handbasket, epidural etc, third degree tear... so don't beat yourself up- more time may have made no difference ignores fact you were 2cm dilated

it depends how they induce you. I had the ol' crochet hook (mw was waving it about as she was chatting to me before hand)

and it went from teeny tiny contractions to feeling like i was being ripped in half. needless to say i screamed for an epidural

Gimme natural labour any day.....

Ime the difference also is MW are more inclined to give you pain relief quickly with a induction.

I was induced with the drip for my first. My waters sort of leaked a bit rather than broke properly but because of that I coudn't have a pessary so was hooked up to a drip. I found it excruciating after a few hours and had an epidural. Gt stuck at 8cm for a further 8 hours - cue emcs.

My second I went into labour naturally a week ahead of due date. I took hours to get to about 2cm but it wasn't too painful. Then my waters broke - and I'm talking Niagra Falls here - which seemed to accelerate things massively. Pain then became comparable to induction but I could cope better somehow and 90 minutes later started pushing. 30 mins later - hello DD!

I think that being slammed into full contractions without your body being able to prepare is going to be a lot more painful. Furthermore your ability to manage that pain tends to be reduced due to reduced mobility because of drip, CRM belt etc.

I had an induced labour for my first. I had the end-type labour pains for 10hours. Dreadful experience.

I also had an induction for my last baby which was no different to my spontaneous labours.
Regarding slow build-up - that doesn't always happen. With my 6th I had a prolonged painful first contraction which turned into advanced labour - 1st contraction to delivery was just short of 1 and half hours.

They will induce you with VBAC although i had read that that they don't.

Had waters broken but then sintocin which led to a EMCS. 2nd tried for VBAC and again had waters broken but nothing. Had sintocin again and had a forceps and venteuse birth. Epidurals both times. Would liked to have experienced going into labour naturally so I'd advise people not to go for being induced it at all possible.

I have had 1 natural birth and 3 induced births.

The 3 induced births were more painful...but also different from one another.

I was 10 days late with the first induction, i had the gel and breaking of waters. It was a fast labour (2 hrs from established labour), very over-whelming and painful. Managed on gas and air.

2nd induction was 2 weeks early. It was longer (8 hours), took along time to get from 2-3cms and it was very painful early on and much more painful than the 1st induction. I had breaking of the waters and the drip. Just about managed on gas and air.

3rd induction was not fun!!! i was 40 weeks exactly, baby was an 'unstable lie' so they waited until he was head down, broke my waters and pushed him down. Was put on the drip and i felt horrendous from the minute the drip was on. I was distressed, baby was distressed. It took 10 hrs to get from 2-8cms.....i had to push him out at 8 cms or it was an emergency c-section. I lost tons of blood and was totally shell shocked with it. It was also a different type of pain, it was like my insides were burning and slowly being ripped, if there had been an open window in the delivery room i would have jumped. i had gas and air, pethidine and an epidural.

I was never allowed to be induced again (doctors said my body doesn't react well to being induced!) and went on to have 2 c-sections.

I think the 'later' your baby is the better the induction. The midwives did also try to persuade me that i might want an epidural each time, so they know it is more painful.

Bloody hell, idobelieve - your third induction sounds barbaric!

hi in my experience the 'pain' was actually quite similar but the main difference was being able to move around more freely with DS.
I was induced at 35 weeks with DD after my waters broke spectacularly. After 2 nights of mild contractions I got to 3 cm and they put me on the drip. I started on the drip at 10am and at 2pm was fully dilated. I had a long pushing stage but DD arrived at 3:37. I had no pain relief but couldn't have carried on any longer. Everyone who has said above that with induction the contractions come on very suddenly is exactly right and mentally I think thats quite hard. DH really had to talk me through them and without him I don't think I could have done it.
With DS I was 12 days over and due to be induced the next morning when I finally went into labour naturally. I started contractions at midday and by the evening they were coming regularly and I was breathing through them. I stayed at home until 11pm then went into hospital, laboured in the pool and DS was born at 2:58am after a very short pushing stage. I had no pain relief with him either. In some ways it was a harder labour I was really sick with the contractions and I'm not sure if its because its more recent but it was very painful (I think more so than with DD) BUT the huge difference was being able to move and not be hooked up to machines all the time meant the whole thing was just a nicer experience. Mentally I was much more in my own zone if that makes sense and I needed less help from DH to keep focussed.
Hope that helps a bit!