What's the procedure if I refuse induction?

[DairyNips]

I am 27wks pg with dc3. I went two weeks 'over' with ds1 and ds2 and was induced both times.

I really would like to avoid induction this time as it'll be my last birth and I would like, just once to go in to labour naturally without being prodded and poked and injected etc etc

The hospital I will give birth at is 60 miles away. There is a midwife led unit here but it's only for 'low risk' cases.

I'm wondering what will happen if I get to 42 weeks again and they start wanting to induce me. As I understand it, if I refuse they will then monitor me daily. I'm a little worried they will do the monitoring at the hosp 60 miles away although would hope they'd just do it here..

Any advice would be welcome, thanks

nannyl I briefly considered home birth but I have basically heard it direct from a midwife that if one wanted a home birth here they would try their best to discourage that as they don't really have enough midwifes to staff it. She said they would try to convince anyone who wanted one to consider going to the unit instead.

This wasn't in response to me asking for one. It was at a Breastfeeding committee meeting (I am the secretary) so she was just chatting away, off record so to speak.

There's an interesting article on induction here which you might find helpful.

www.kentmidwiferypractice.co.uk/induction-artical/

Thanks RootBeer, will take a look

I declined induction on the drip, so they just broke my waters and out she popped an hour later.

Read the article. Very interesting!

itdidnt glad it was so quick for you

I didn't feel like I had much choice in the matter last time I was induced. I was basically told I would be induced then told they would break my waters and told
I was going on the drip. Of course now I'm older and better informed I am much more aware that I can decline any treatment I don't want.

I really hope it doesn't get to the point I have to even discuss induction, I'd like just to go in to labour without having to think about any of this. Knowing my luck though I'll go to 42 weeks again and have to resist the pressure to be induced.

Has anyone out there had expectant management past 42 wks and if so did you feel pressured during this period to be induced?

Thanks for sharing nappy.
I just wondered how much pressure I'm likely to come under. I'm not an overly outspoken person, I can stick up for myself but am worried I would give in if the pressure got too much

I can't afford any help like that although dh is very supportive

In the article I read it said the still birth risk was about 1 in 1000 but even this risk was 'dubious' because of the out of date evidence it was based on. That makes me feel a little better.

I tried all the old wife's tales the last two times and nothing worked

I don't think most of those things make much difference apparently with the pineapple one you would have to eat 8 pineapples for it to have any effect. I would bet I'd probably sh*t myself after eating that much!

I asked to decline induction and was sent to see a doctor, the midwife said it was to discuss my options but in actual fact he made me feel like I was going 'rogue' and refused to discuss other options. I felt as if I could refuse it only in the same way I could theoretically refuse any medical procedure, but there was no 'choice'. At one point he actually said 'oh no we wouldn't let you go over 42 weeks.' Then he called in a more senior doctor to reinforce the message. I felt to refuse would be to go it alone and risk my baby so I went in at 40 + 12 for induction. It ended in an EMCS- I can't say if the induction contributed as DS had cord around his neck. I'd like to know but have no idea how to go about getting answers.
In retrospect I would have asked to see a consultant as the young doctor seemed to either deliberately or, worse, unintentionally misunderstanding every point I made- something that was a big part of my NHS experience during pg.

conchita that's awful they ignored your wishes like that The nice guidelines seem to state that induction is an offer and if declined then expectant management is the next step. Can't believe they pressured you like that.

It was very distressing. I knew I had the right to refuse but I was vulnerable, emotional and scared, and it was DS1. Family and friends seemed to think that the doctors knew best and I felt that if something happened to the baby, it would all be my fault. Having the induction unwillingly felt like a bit of a violation, to be honest. Of course, I do appreciate that I have a healthy baby now and I'm grateful, and I would have the same birth again just to be sure of that outcome, but I would have liked someone to have discussed my options frankly with me and treated me like an intelligent adult.

ps sorry DairyNips this is your thread and now you're consoling me! Anyway, hopefully you will be able to stand your ground better than me as it's DS3.

• DC3, I mean!

Ah don't worry Conchita I just started this thread to share experiences

Oh and it is DS3, we saw his winkle at the scan

it's been kind of cathartic to share, thanks. And congratulations on DS3!

Ah good thanks for the congrats, 3 boys will be a challenge!

Any more experiences?

Nothing very useful, except that my DD arrived just shortly before I was to go in and be induced at 42wks. I had no intention of being induced at that point ad I did pleny of research first and was reasonably happy to stand my ground. Most of that has now evaporated from my brain (thanks DD!), but one thing which struck me as particularly interesting was the different accepted length of pregnancy in other countries/parts of the world.

I appreciate that people of european origin are, as a generalisation, significantly different in shape and size to, say, people of south-east asian origin, and can understand there may be associated biological differences, but I gather that in France it's now based on 41 rather than 40 weeks - and I would have assumed we were very similar indeed.

I could well be wrong btw but it's just something which occurred to me!

might be interesting?

I had heard that people of different nationality/ from different parts of the world have different lengths of pregnancy on average. I really think I'm just meant to have long pregnancies.. Thanks for the link, will take a look

thanks for the article, this part I feel like I could have written myself almost word for word, except my baby was a little smaller:
'I held out as long as I could, but in the end Jack was induced. I wish it could have been otherwise. The day before he was born, the hospital consultant had made it clear that she didn't agree with me remaining pregnant for a day longer. Despite the fact that there were no signs that there was anything wrong, there was a risk of stillbirth, she said. "How does that apply to this pregnancy in particular?" I asked, as all my tests were clear. "You're very overdue," came the answer. I could have waited another day or two maybe. But I wasn't happy acting against the hospital's wishes.

The induced labour was not a terrible experience ? Jack was born with no complications in 50 minutes ? but it was not ideal. I had wanted him to come out when he wanted to. Not when a doctor ordered him to. It turned out that he was large, but not abnormally so (8lb 12oz; his sister was larger at 9lb). And he had no signs of being post-dates: no wrinkly skin, and the amniotic fluid was clear. I wasn't sure he was really that late at all'

Out of interest, those of you who were induced due to going over the EDD, how were you feeling? Because I felt really comfortable, not really ready to give birth, none of that clicheed 'I want this baby out now' feeling.