Terrified of induction 1st baby

[Salene]

I'm being induced on Sunday , I will be 39+5

Due to baby not moving as much

I'm so scared as have heard nothing but horror stories esp as it's my first baby

My biggest issue is I can't get a epidural as the whole thought of them going near my spine terrifies my, if it was a choice between epi and c-section which would need to be done under general I'd go for c section

Doctors have warmed me though that induction can be way more painful

I'd originally hoped for a water birth and gas and air only

I've said if I can't manage pain I'd want remiphentanal instead of epidural which they said should be ok

Has any 1st time mums had induction and it's not been a total nightmare

I really really don't want forceps etc either

I've sat awake the whole night worrying, totally petrified :-(

Please don't worry. It sounds like you are making a good choice if your baby's movements have decreased. You are days off your due date so baby will be a good size and your body is likely getting ready for birth. The mw's will be very kind, you can tell them you're worried.

My advice would be to try to relax - think about bringing some calming music or a hypno birthing stuff with you to listen to on headphones and remember that you are designed to do this - your body will know what do, don't resist it, just let it happen and take big slow breaths. Get some lucozade or similar for hosp bag and a straw and have a sip now again to keep your energy up, don't eat anything too much - nibbles of this and that if you fancy it, plenty of sips of water. Remember to wee often.

Ask if you can walk about a bit in early stages - it will help to get everything moving and might give you a distraction. Remember that the mw's and drs are not going to let you suffer - there is lots of pain relief available.

It won't be a nightmare, it will be totally fine. You can do this and really really soon you will meet your baby - and I promise that when you do you it will be amazing. Be brave, deep breaths and ask for what you need. Good luck (you wont need it though...!)x

For my first dc I was induced . I had a pessary at 12pm after which I had little pain until my waters broke at 5pm and she was born at 10pm .

I had diamorphine and gas and air and it was definitely bearable . Please try not to worry ( says the eternal worrier) .

It was far far less painful than the birth of ds who was back to back .

Best of luck

Hi salene , I had all the same fears for my induction , heard so many stories & was petrified !!

As it happens it was my best labour & I actually enjoyed giving birth to my Ds .

The midwives were amazing , I was crying in the beginning as they were talking to me about it all as I was so scared but they were so kind and supported me every step of the way .x

I was induced with dd as my waters broke and nothing happened.

Only had the pessary but things progressed quickly. Pessary at 9pm born at 4.30am.

Could still move around and have a bath in early labour (so don't think any different).

I would have been able to have a water birth on the midwife unit but Unfortunately my dd's heart rate was falling and there was macconium in the water so we had to go to consultant unit.

By the time the baby is coming you won't care if you need forceps or not as you will just want them out safely.

I'm now pregnant again and I'm worried about a natural labour and how dragged out it could be!!!

Good luck

Type 1 diabetic so induced at 38+2. Also first baby.

You do hear horror stories but honestly I had every womans dream labour. First pessary was placed at 11am and started cramping a few hours later, these got stronger until I started contracting about 10pm. Up until then I had only paracetomol but when the contractions kicked in I had some liquid morphene. I was moved to the labour ward at 3am and baby came so fast (exactly 60mins after arriving in labour ward) I did it on gas and air only. Yes it was sore but I certainly dont feel I needed the epidural looking back. When I was induced I was not at all dialated so I went from a standing stop.

If you need a drip I have heard they can be worse than the pessary but talk through your options re pain relief before they place it.

Dont panic, being induced doesnt automatically mean a cascade of intervention,plenty of my friends went into labour naturally and tell me they're jealous that I had such an 'easy' labour compared to them.

Well I do feel better now reading these stories, maybe it's not all doom and gloom.

I'm praying mine kicks off with just the pessary too, you never know I might get lucky. I guess I need to give myself a shake and man-up a little.

Stressing over it defo won't help. I'm going to try and not think about it till Sunday, otherwise I'm going to arrive at hospital shattered from not sleeping

I was induced with my baby 3 weeks ago!
I had the drip in the end, I wouldn't describe it as painful just intense they're didn't end up being much break between contractions for me. I like you had said I wanted a water birth with gas and air if I needed it but I decided that seems though Id already lost out on that I needed to just go with whatever happened. My midwife was really good and put a clip on baby's head to monitor him so I could stay as active as possible and using the ball really helped me. In the end I had pethidine and it was amazing for me. It did make me very drowsy though (apparently I was even snoring ) but it really helped me stay calm through the contractions but I could still feel them. That's all I ended up having and I even had a dose 2 hours before delivery because I made quick progress at the end and baby was completely fine when he was born not drowsy at all! I even managed to get up and move positions when they told me it was time to push despite being alseep 5 mins earlier!! I was going to ask for remephentanal as well because like you the thought of an epidural was scary but I only ended up asking for it when it turned out I was ready to push so I think the pethidine really did the trick. I would however say that it made me forget some things that happened in labour (not delivery) and I had to get my mum and partner to fill me in afterwards because I could only remember it in bits (apparently the important bits).hope that helps and try not to be too worried it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it's all worth it when they're born! Good luck! Xx

Thanks that's very reassuring , hopefully my experience will be similar

I have been induced with all three of my DCs.

I know that induction does statistically increase the need for intervention, pain etc. but, in my case, it was fine each time.

DS1 was the longest labour, but then first babies generally are, even if labour starts spontaneously. I had an epidural which didn't take & ended up giving birth without pain relief as no-one believed me about the epidural! No forceps, intervention or even stitches though.

DS2 - refused epidural due to previous experience. Had gas & air and a pethidine injection when the pain escalated. Much shorter than my first labour & also no intervention needed.

DD - once again refused the recommended epidural. Had only gas & air as by the time I asked for pethidine DD's head was visible so it was too late! Final stage of labour lasted only 15 minutes - again no intervention or stitches required.

Obviously, I have never gone into labour naturally so have nothing to compare induction to - but I certainly wouldn't be scared of another induction.

Good luck .

Had a midwife stick something in my vagina at 6pm. DS born 0504. 11 hours start to finish.

My main issue was that I was given no pain relief, but that's not connected to the induction.

Hello, I was induced 39+4. I was scared, anyone would be scared, I'm a first time mum too. But honestly, there's nothing to worry about, birth is a beautiful thing, relax, have a cup of tea and get as much sleep as you can!

Thanks guys

Another who has had two inductions here:
DS1 - induced with drip at 33+5 due to bleeding and abruption. Had diamorphine, was very intense, contractions came quickly, but only lasted 4 hours total and pushed him out in 10 mins!!
DS2 - induced on due date due to DS1 experience, but only needed to break waters, he was born about 4 hours later as well. He did get a bit stuck and needed suction cup. I did get to go in the pool as well though. Only had gas and air, but to be honest it was no less painful than first labour at all!
So I don't have anything to compare to, but I am not afraid of being induced for no.3. In fact, I'd rather be induced on due date than go too far over due... Hopefully I'll be pretty much ready to go again this time like I was with DS2... Don't plan too much, just try to relax and go with the flow, do what your body tells you to do and listen to the midwives as well xx