INDUCTION - Has anyone resisted it?

spidermama · 2006-04-15T14:46:23+00:00

My SIL is under sentence of induction. She's eight days 'late' and the mws are talking about a membrane sweep and say they'll induce at 10-12 days late. [shock] I feel this is a great shame. She had a mid pregnancy crisis of confidence (her mum died in childbirth)but she managed to get over it and was feeling calm and confident. Now she's tense again because the mw's are issuing dire warnings of aging placentas etc. She wanted my advice. I was always 'early' so have no real experience but my gut instinct was to insist they leave well alone until at least 14 days over, then re-assess. I'd be interested in the views of anyone with more experience.

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Heathcliffscathy · 15/04/2006 15:50

noooooo....she should be fine for up to 3 weeks after due date (can have heartbeat checked everyday to make sure all ok).

dating is still an inexact science.

my indep midwife said they didn't even bat an eyelid for at least 14 days but would go to 21 with no intervention as long as baby not showing any signs of distress.

i'm an old hippy, get her to ask the baby (outloud) to come, and to explain that although she might feel ambivalent (fearful, anxious etc) she really wants to be able to cuddle it....worked for my sis!

hope pupuce or mears is along soon....

cod · 15/04/2006 15:50

i think odd
suereyl 14 days is the norm

Heathcliffscathy · 15/04/2006 15:51

see, even cod thinks they are being too quck off the mark! :o

cod · 15/04/2006 15:51

i too have a mate who is now 8 days late
she was due last friday

she has had a sweep

Original poster

spidermama · 15/04/2006 15:56

I fear that intervention tends to snowball and may well be the worst thing for SIL with her history.

I'll tell her to have a chat with her baby Soph. She might well go along with that. My bro has hippy tendancies and she's Brazilian Catholic so it's worth a go.

OP posts:

colditz · 15/04/2006 15:56

I insisted with my first that they leave me alone until 14 days overdue, and reassess then. (Then my waters broke on day 14, so they had to induce, but that's a different kettle of fish altogether)

I am going to wait until day 14 with this baby too. They are no way inducing me before they have to, and they don't have to at all until 14 days over. I strongly suspect a lot of hospitals check their rota before they book inductions!

FWIW, if I were her I would go for the membrane sweep, it's only an internal with a bit of a jiggle if your cervix is ready to go and it can start a natural labour off IIRC

colditz · 15/04/2006 15:57

I am 9 days over myself now btw.

Original poster

spidermama · 15/04/2006 15:58

Really Colditz? What is a membrane sweep? I thought it meant an attempt to break the waters?

OP posts:

GDG · 15/04/2006 15:59

I went with teh flow for ds1 - not the confidence to protest. Refused induction with ds3 - mainly because they were going by scan dates which had my due date earlier than mine - I was 100% certain of my dates (planned!) so I knew I wasn't overdue.

Luckily I ended up with minimal battle because he came pretty much on my due date which was a few days before I was due to go in and tell consultant no induction.

GDG · 15/04/2006 15:59

I had several sweeps in a desperate attempt to 'force' him out to avoid induction. Tbh, all it did was make me niggly and uncomfortable for the week up to his birth. Don't think it helps - they come when ready.

bambi06 · 15/04/2006 16:05

i`m with you about leaving well alone..i was 19 days late with ds and 10 days with dd.i used homeopathy to bring on labour with dd.
i was observed every couple of days with ds and everything was finr with both

Original poster

spidermama · 15/04/2006 16:14

Thanks for your responses. I think I've probably given the right advice. I'll send her a link to this thread so any more responses would be most welcome.

OP posts:

lact8 · 15/04/2006 16:18

I was the complete opposite, I was begging them to start me off on no. 3 (baby's head not engaged and lots of water, mw's had discussion over my bump about the possibility of water's breaking and baby suddenly dropping and being strangled by cord but I did feel very weepy after the sweep so its not something I'd suggest unless your desperate. On the whole I agree that nature knows what she's doing and baby's come out when they're ready. If your SIL is happy about going over due date and baby is fine then she should stand her ground, I think it's too easy to be bullied by midwives, especially with your first.

TuttiFrutti · 15/04/2006 17:35

Colditz, of course hospitals check their rotas before booking you in for inductions! I was booked in to be induced on a Tuesday, and while we were waiting by the lifts one of the midwives ran out and said "Actually we're a bit busy on Tuesday, could you come on Monday instead?"

All inductions and planned Caesareans in that hospital were booked for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and by the weekend the maternity unit was practically empty. I found this out because I ended up staying in hospital for 6 nights . Mine was one of the 1 in 3 inductions which ends in an emergency c-section. I hated induction and would advise anyone to put it off for as long as possible.

colditz · 15/04/2006 18:28

Yes TF, my induction ended with a vaginal delivery, but it was so close. My body wasn't ready at all, the baby's head wasn't fully engaged, cervix not remotely ripe, but my waters had gone and I was basically forced into it. It was still 42 hours between waters breaking and baby delivering though.

Avoid if at all possible. 10 days over is nothing with a healthy pregnancy. If she is 8 days late, she'd be due on a friday, right? Meaning they'll have her over the weekend if they let her go to 14 days, whereas if they induce on the 10th day, or the 12th, it will be over by friday, and they will probably be able to shunt her home.... Hmm.

Clure · 15/04/2006 19:15

I went 12 days over with a sweep at 8 days.Was induced. Delivery resulted in ventouse and cervical tear. In hindsight I would probably hold off induction if there's a next time!

tortoiseshell · 15/04/2006 19:19

i held off induction with dd, delivered at 14 days late.

Piccalilli · 15/04/2006 19:22

I was induced at 14 days late, horrible, don't think I'd do it again, ended up with ventouse and forceps, she just wasn't ready to come out. Personally, if it happens again I'll go for daily monitoring but no induction unless it looks like the baby's in trouble. The sweep isn't too bad though and worth a try not least because it gives a fair idea of how close you are to going into labour naturally - they couldn't even do my first sweep as they couldn't reach the cervix - dd wasn't remotely ready to come out and as a result induction was hugely unpleasant.

willyumsmummy · 15/04/2006 19:23

I resisted induction and was 16 days late with ds1 and 15 with ds2 but had to have regular heart checks with ds2.My mum was 22 days late with me. Hope your friend is feeling reassured

Hattie05 · 15/04/2006 19:28

I had dd 14 days overdue.

I would recommend accepting the sweep - i had one and think it helped to labour, but you never really know.

I am now pg with second and living in a different area where i have been told i would be induced at 10 days. I plan to refuse if it gets to that stage. I have opted for a home birth, and hope that that will make it easier for me to refuse induction.

Your friend should be able to pop in every day for a check and listen to the babies heart beat, and of course if there are any signs of distress she would agree for induction - but if all seems well, i would encourage her to stand her ground.

liquidclocks · 15/04/2006 20:13

Hi - everyone seems to see induction as a really negative thing. I know that it's nice if everything can go naturally but sometimes it really is the right thing to do. I had a really positive experience of induction and would go for it again in a second if the doctors thought it was for the best.

Firstly, they monitor baby's heartbeat all the way through so any problems are immediately apparent. They can control the speed of the labour with a drip, though they didn't need to me with me as I delivered after 5 hrs anyway.
Even though an induced labour is more painful you can have a planned epidural.

I had a great time! I had my waters broken, got labour established properly, had an epidural and then an chatted with my husband for the next four or so hours - it was like being in a waiting room! And no problems knowing when to push either.

liquidclocks · 15/04/2006 20:16

Hi - everyone seems to see induction as a really negative thing. I know that it's nice if everything can go naturally but sometimes it really is the right thing to do. I had a really positive experience of induction and would go for it again in a second if the doctors thought it was for the best. Here's some good things I can think of:

Firstly, they monitor baby's heartbeat all the way through so any problems are immediately apparent.
They can control the speed of the labour with a drip, though they didn't need to me with me as I delivered after 5 hrs anyway.
Even though an induced labour is more painful you can have a planned epidural.
If you go for the epi you don't feel the internal exams and if you do need stiches you have to have any faffing about with local anasthetics.

I had a great time! I had my waters broken, got labour established properly, had an epidural and then an chatted with my husband for the next four or so hours - it was like being in a waiting room! And no problems knowing when to push either.

liquidclocks · 15/04/2006 20:17

sorry about being on twice - browser not browsing properly

Hattie05 · 15/04/2006 23:53

I see you're putting the 'positive light' on induction liquid clocks. But for some of us (me!) the idea of all that intervention fills us with horror.

You had a great experience and a great outcome but this isn't always the case.

I wouldn't want to be confined to a bed to be monitored, and definitely wouldn't want an epidural for fear of the implications - for those reasons alone (and i could list many more) i would not want to be induced.

Uwila · 16/04/2006 20:56

I was induced at 2 weeks overdue. It ended in an emergency caesarean which in my view should have been a clam planned section. The baby was wrapped up in the umbilical cord (twice around the neck and then some). She was never going to come out naturally alive. I should never have been induced as a matter of course because I was overdue. They should have scanned to see why I was overdue, and they would have seen the cord around her neck literally suspending her up keeping her from engaging, and anyone with half a brain would have forseen the section that followed. My point is if she is overdue, someone should be asking why, not just running for the induction.

Now, I actually share the midwives' fear of placenta deterioration. And, I personally would seek intervention at about one week overdue. At least a scan to say all is well. But, I also think that running for unnecessary induction can lead to a much more traumatic experience for mother and baby.