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Childbirth

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

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Original poster

Being induced - is it really that bad ??

44 replies

Ra88 · 30/01/2014 11:35

Being induced and wondering if it as bad as the stories I have been told ?

Apparently it will be very drawn out , painful etc that usual .

My dd was born within 5 hours so quite fast, I am quite scared of the thought of it being a very long process.

I am already 1-2cm and indefinitely want to have an epidural again but I'm curious as to what stage they would allow me to have this ?

OP posts:

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Grohlsgirl · 30/01/2014 12:20

Mine went really smoothly, waters broken and drip on at 11am, epidural when I got to about 5-6cms I think, baby born at 6.30pm after half an hour of pushing. I made it clear from the start that I wanted an epidural so they were all set to go when I requested it.

I think it's different for everyone, but my experience was really positive, contractions and progress just went smoothly.

Good luck and congratulations!!

starlight1234 · 30/01/2014 12:22

Mine was a breeze..I was induced at 39 weeks with a pessary...Waters broke 4 hours later then full blown labour...Son born 2 hours and 19 minutes later...That was my first...

I did it all gas and air

Poledra · 30/01/2014 12:23

My induction was the best of my 3 births, by a country mile! I didn't have the pessaries (previous c-section) but went straight onto the drip. The epidural I had first might have something to do with it though - I dozed through the contractions and only woke up properly to push. Start to finish, about 8 hours.

Good luck - think of all those lovely new baby snuggles

Original poster

Ra88 · 30/01/2014 14:44

Thank you all , at least I know that there is a good chance it will go smoothly .

I shall definitely be requesting the epidural as soon as possible , wasn't able to until 5cm with my DD

OP posts:

LottyLikesWindows · 30/01/2014 15:52

Hi ra88 good luck with your induction. I think that the degree of ease depends on how favourable your cervix is at the time of induction.

I had the gel at half an hour past midnight and first contraction an hour later. Dd was born at 8 am and all done on gas and air (except when that was taken away during the 54 minutes of pushing stage at the end because I was just enjoying the trip and not actually doing any pushing)

Eletheomel · 30/01/2014 19:52

I had 2 inductions both on the drip - first one was complicated with pre-eclampsia - it wasn't fun (was confined to bed and gave birth with legs in stirrups and ended up taking diamorphine, but it was very quick (1 hour on the drip to get fully dilated, then 1.5 hours of pushing to get my son out - an extra hour after that to get placenta out - but that was just me being unlucky).

I wasn't mentally prepared for it (wanted hippy water birth!) and so i was all over the place.

2nd induction was voluntary (I'm old and didn't want to risk full term still birth and was worried about getting pre-eclampsia late on (like first time). Totally different experience. Waters broken at 8am, on the drip at 10:45 am and baby born at 7:58pm. Wonderful labour though, didn't take any drugs (not even paracetamol or gas and air) I laughed and danced through most of it until the last hour when I started to 'zone out' during contractions and pushed my boy out - which was an amazing feeling to be totally conscious and not drug addled for. I actually feel like my induction 2nd time round was as close to a natural birth as you could get (I give full credit for this to my lovely midwife who fought off the consultants to get me as low-interference an induction as I could get).

Second time round I told them I wanted to be able to stand even if it was just next to the bed and that I wanted a couple of hours after waters broke to try and see if natural labour would start this was agreed, and I felt quite empowered during my second labour (whereas was out of control in first one).

Every birth will vary, some inductions are crap some can be great :-)

Catsize · 30/01/2014 21:10

My induction took three days and was NOT good (will spare you the detail), but am glad to read more positive things on here, as I fear the same process again.

Lozzapops · 30/01/2014 21:49

I was induced at 40+2, due to pre-eclampsia. My cervix was "favourable" so had the gel inserted at around midday, and contractions started about an hour later. I was given an epidural before tea time, at just 2cm dilated (due to huge birth anxiety), was 4cm dilated by about 7pm, and baby was born at 10:45pm. Good luck!

ElBombero · 30/01/2014 21:51

My induction went like a dream, glad I opted for me. Pessary at 12pm, pains at 7pm, baths/pacing/contractions till 1am, baby at 6.

Kidsarehardworkbutgoodfun · 30/01/2014 21:56

I've had two induced, and two spontaneous. I think overall they were pretty much the same in terms of ultimate pain! And even the two spontaneous ones took a while to get organised into real labour.
I wouldn't dwell on the process of induction. Just try and look forward to your baby
Congrats!

Writerwannabe83 · 30/01/2014 23:13

My Obstetrician gave me the choice between induction under epidural or ELCS - I opted for the latter!

Felix90 · 30/01/2014 23:23

I was induced with my dd who is now 5 weeks old. Induced at 37 weeks due to obstetric cholestasis. Went in on the Friday and had the pessary inserted at 10.30am. Not much happened but started getting mild contractions at about 4pm. Was examined at 11pm and told they could break my waters but had to wait until 1pm on the Saturday for this to happen as the labour ward got very busy (by this point my contractions had completely stopped). Ended up on the drip at around 6pm which made contractions start again and they got very intense very quickly. Requested an epidural quite early and I glad I did as I wasn't coping well with the pain and by the time the epidural was in they were extremely painful. Epidural took the pain away totally and I felt so calm! Was examined at 11pm with the midwife expecting me to be 3cm dilated and I was fully dilated. Left for a couple of hours for baby to move further down and she was out in 4 pushes at 1.54am on the Sunday.

The only advice I have is if you end up on the drip, think very carefully about your pain relief and request it as soon as you can as the drip ramps your contractions up very quickly. I was 100% against having an epi before I went in to labour, but the midwife was so great and talked me round to having one as she thought it was the best option for me and I'm so glad she did. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat! The worst bit for me was waiting around for things to happen. Take lots of magazines and things to entertain yourself

Misty9 · 30/01/2014 23:35

I was induced at +5 with ds after my hind waters went and nothing happened. On drip straight off as was 2cm dilated and vaguely favourable. Drip started at 11am, established labour by 1.30pm and ds born at 6.30pm - after 3hrs of pushing big head! Did it all on breathing...as I was too scared of being sick to try the gas and air

Scotinoz · 31/01/2014 06:28

I was induced at 40+4 with my eight week old. My choice. Prostin at 6pm, waters broken at 8am, Syntocinon drip at 9.30am, active labour from half 12 with gas and air, baby arrived with 20minutes of pushing at 3.07pm.

Induction was a great experience for me - no regrets.

lougle · 31/01/2014 07:18

I was induced with all three of my pregnancies (39+6, 35+3, 38+5) and had fat, easy labours (4 hours, 8 hours, 3 hours) with no epidural, just gas an air for 1&3, plus pethidine for number 2.

Original poster

Ra88 · 31/01/2014 07:49

Thank you all for your responses.

I also don't want gas and air as with my dd it made me feel very sick (drunk!) after only 2 puffs . I shall definitely request the epidural as soon as I walk through the doors

At least I know that in the next few days my baby will be here

Congratulations to everyone on their new babies

OP posts:

YoniMitchell · 31/01/2014 08:13

I was induced last week, most horrific 3 days of my life, sorry.

When my waters broke at 6.30am on day 3 I wasn't examined properly until 2pm, despite reporting very specific symptoms of a serious infection and clearly being very unwell, this was not included in the notes made by the midwife. I was sent to the delivery room that night and finally got decent pain relief but ended up having an emcs, due to the infection, which had got worse.

This resulted in me and my baby being treated in separate parts of the hospital for 5 days and me being rushed back due to a relapse linked to the infection. I'm likely to be stuck here for a couple more days.

Once I've recovered I'll be considering my next move with the hospital.

Glad many have had positive experiences though.

StillPukin · 31/01/2014 10:27

Induced at 42 wks. 0-birth in 5.5 hours. No pain relief. :)

Hope it goes well for you x

ThereIsNoEleventeen · 31/01/2014 11:28

I've been induced twice, once for my 1st and once for my 3rd. 1st time was awful, 3rd time was ok. Interestingly with DC1 the gas and air made me throw up. DC2 was a speedy birth so it was gas and air or nothing, I was worried about being sick again but was fine.

DC3 was painful but because I was expecting it/had done it before it was more manageable...if I am induced again I think that I will turn the equipment away so I can't see when the MW turns up the dose on the Syntocinon drip, seeing the number go up you are almost expecting the pain to get worse. I had a LOT of gas and air for DC3!

babsie007 · 31/01/2014 17:30

Sorry I haven't read all the responses on here..,

I had my induction process started last Friday - prostin pessary number 1! It didn't work so had number 2 and 3. The first 2 didn't do much - although I did get prostin pains for a while by those cleared up with some codeine. The 3 rd got me to 2 cms so they could break my water.

I started on the syntocin drip last Sunday morning at 11am. All I had was gas and air for pain relief and t was manageable - they started the drip on low.

As it was turned up, I did have 2 shots of diamorphine. I had a long labour as I wasn't dilating as quickly as they would have liked. After 13 hours, I decided to have the epidural.

It was bad without the epidural but I was told that the epidural doesn't really hold back the labour as they can easily turn the drip up to counteract!!!

All in all, it wasn't that bad. It was worth it, I had an unassisted delivery, pushing my 8lb dd out within 45mjns (this was my first) and I had no stitches either.

I'm already talking about baby number 2!!x

MrsVDB · 31/01/2014 21:18

I have an induction booked on Sunday and an dreading it ( was hoping for water birth in mlu ) so really good to read about so many positive experiences

Doodle1983 · 31/01/2014 22:33

I'm loving the positive responses. My Baby hasn't grown any in a fortnight due on Tuesday. Going for a scan Monday to check but talk of induction. I'm petrified!

I've been seeing consultant for my anxiety and potential for ELSC - thinking I might insist on ELSC instead if induction. These positive responses are great to hear.

I'm hoping baby comes this weekend naturally and saves me the worry Monday x

BumPop · 31/01/2014 22:58

Nope, induction was fine. Baby refusing to leave was more of an issue. Induction labor pains painful but bearable, but I think they all are (not tried any other way, inductions and cs's for me).

Good luck, it'll be fine and you are much stronger than you realize. You'll also get a fantastic prize at the end of it, not being pregnant anymore! Oh and a beautiful baby...

LottyLikesWindows · 01/02/2014 04:55

Good luck to all of you waiting for inductions. Really glad that our positive experiences are putting your minds at ease. As someone up thread mentioned, I really hoped for a water birth at a MLU but as my hind waters went and nothing happened I had to be induced instead.

One thing that really helped me was a quick readjustment of attitude. I decided not to lament the change of plan but just accept it and go with whatever was coming next. I really do think that the positive outlook helped me through the induction. I guess I'm trying to say that unexpected change of plans are inevitable in labour and it pays to keep an open mind and be flexible, at least it was the case in my experience.

As for gas and air, yes it made me feel drunk and a bit sick too but I stuck with it and after a while I was too high to care it got better.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 01/02/2014 07:17

Pessary at 8pm. Waters broke 11pm. DD1 born 3am. That was a doddle. The worst bit was hanging around the hospital for 36 hours waiting for the previous two attempts to work. God, hospitals are dull!

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