Overdue and keen to avoid slippery slope of interventions. Help me strategise!

[peacefuleasyfeeling]

I am booked in for a stretch and sweep tomorrow, when I will be 40+6. The appointment was booked preemptively a few weeks ago during my last MW appointment. I haven't had one of these before. Whereas I am not against interventions per se and where necessary, I am keen to avoid the text book chain of events which turned my attempted homebirth into a hospital horror story last time.

I am trying to get my head around how best to have a converation with my midwife about this. She is great, and very supportive of the idea of a homebirth, but I also know that she'll have her own set of guidelines to comply with. My main objective is to avoid a drip induction, which is what happened last time, in order to "speed things up" a little once we were deemed to have run out of time after the waters breaking. So, I'm looking for help with spotting angles I may otherwise miss or may just not have considered, bits of information that may come in handy. If you have anything to chip in, please do!

a) should I ask her to check my cervix and only perform the stretch and sweep if I seem to be ready-ish anyway? Or is it simply a case of "it either works or it doesn't"?

b) is a stretch and sweep likely to start things off but perhaps not have the oomph to carry it through in case I am not "ripe" enough (thus necessitating a trip down the IV induction route later)?

c) if I go much further overdue they will start to pressurise me for an induction, and I wonder if you can go in, have a pessary and then slink back home again and await the onset of labour and proceed with a homebirth as intended? Or are you stuck in hospital once you're in?

d) if during a homebirth, the MW considers things are moving too slowly, or if labour stalls, is a drip induction really the only way to go according to the medical model (leaving aside earthier nudges such as nipple stimulation etc), or could I ask for an alternative method of induction such as a pessary to move labour along?

Is there anything you would make sure you said / had recorded in your notes / asked?

Thank you very much!

I tried acupuncture - didn't work for me I'm afraid!!!!

nannyl very refreshing to find such an informed and proactive comment here. I'm in almost exactly the same boat as you, 41 wks today, having a homebirth after a crappy c-section with my first, refusing all forms of induction/sweeps/exams/scaremongering consultants/scans till 42 and then...well, we'll have a discussion and see. :)

i too am 41 weeks today

I didn't get to go into labour before, so of course I'm desperately symptom spotting...while simultaneously trying to relax and forget all about it...another night of cramps and backache last night, all gone again now. So have arranged a lovely day of social activities that it would be most inconvenient to have interrupted by rushing home to get in a pool...ho hum, tweedle de dee!

lol

last time i didnt even know that i was in proper labour..... i got to transition before i realised for myself, 12 mins before she landed on the sofa...

I have thought "this is it" 8 times and counting so far, but still well and truley pregnant.

though i now refuse to sit on chairs (at home) and sit bouncing on my ball instead! (even at the dinner table, and even now lol!)

I will be at a 2 year olds party in an hours time..... perhaps I should join in musical bumps?

Lovely afternoon pottering around in a garden with paddling pools and naked babies...I couldn't BE more relaxed...ho hum...hello? Baby? May have to start bouncing on my ball more often though...except it's hard when it feels like you're bouncing on a small skull (I don't believe this baby is only 1/5th in there; feels like there are no 5ths left down fanjo way!). Think I'll arrange to go for a long walk into town alone tomorrow and forget my phone and wallet...Sod's Law says that'll definitely make something happen....

Just wanted to echo what nanny and others have said re inaccurate scan dates (+- 1 week), normal pregnancy being up to 42 weeks here (and up to 43 weeks in other countries...) and not having to agree to induction. There is no "how long will they let you go overdue" as it's up to you. A couple of other things to add though: the mean (average) gestation varies by ethnic group and for example is longer for white western women than some other groups. Can't remember exactly but think it was 40+8. The standard deviation is 9 days too meaning that two thirds of babies will arrive between 9 days before and 9 days after the mean. The national mean is skewed anyway by all the premature births not to mention the fact that many hospitals offer push women into having inductions at 40+10 or whatever their random "limit" on being overdue is. Many women just want to stop being pregnant by that point and that's their choice but I think it's vital to be fully informed. For example they quote at you "the risk of stillbirth doubles after 42 weeks" without giving the absolute risk ie that it doubles from 1-3 in 1000 births to 4-7 in 1000. Therefore meaning there is still a 99.3% chance (at worst) that everything is fine! Whilst they quote this at you they completely fail to mention risks of induction!
You've probably realised I know all this cos it applied to me! My dates were wrong as I knew the day we'd conceived. My (healthy and still with some lanugo so obviously not wildly overdue) daughter was born when I was 41+6 by my dates and 42+3 by theirs. I refused induction after doing a lot of research but did agree to be monitored (amniotic fluid levels, fetal heart beat and movements). I'm also a mathematician as you can probably tell and had a big rant at the consultant about how irresponsible it was to only quote relative risks "double" and not absolute "4-7 in 1000" .
Sadly even though I went into labour naturally, it didn't all go to plan and I did end up with a section but that was completely unrelated to the length of gestation. My daughter was happy throughout pregnancy and labour (and I would have been induced if she wasn't and consented to whatever was necessary). I'll stop there as this is v long but if you want to know more, just ask. Good luck with everything, I hope it works out as you want!

Just checking in to say "We did it!" After Friday's S & S, I woke up with a tiny trickle of fluid on Saturday morning, but no sign of labour. Went back to bed and managed to bring on some twinges with nipple stimulation, but not enough to sustain a momentum.

Went for long walk to the allotment, starting to worry a bit about whether I ought to report the leak of fluid or not, knowing it could possibly set the clock ticking. I didn't. Went home and tried the nipples again and this time it worked!

After a gentle build up of a couple of hours, I rang the midwives who came just as it started to feel intense, and to my absolute amazement, DD2 was born just 2 hours later, not quite a sneeze, but surprisingly smoothly. I kept waiting for the moment when it might feel unbearable, or at least for the cue to get into the pool, when suddenly, she was crowning, and came out all in one on the next contraction. I think I'm still in shock !

Thanks everyone for chipping in, it really helped me focus on how I wanted to proceed, without feeling railroaded into making a desicion I might have regretted.

That's fantastic. Congratulations!

yay...

the birthday party worked for me too..... baby born 13mins after midwife arrived (who did nothing) at 0133 monday morning, 1st july, at 40+9

Congratulations to both of you!

Congratulations nannyl ! Mine all kicked off Monday too, bloody show, contractions every 4mins, then stopped Tuesday, then started again last night more intense, then stopped again this morning. Booooooo! Think it's because the baby's head's still too high...have been doing some excersises so fingers crossed...hoping for an Independence Day baby! Hope you're all well.