Why is it important to wait past due date etc..?

[ag123]

I've started coming to the childbirth board quite regularly recently (not actually pg yet but just starting ttc dc2) and have noticed how many posts there are about people 'fighting the system' and wanting to wait as long as possible for their birth. Is this all about just wanting to avoid intervention and being induced because of all the complications that are associated with that?

I had traumatic emcs with ds after being induced but he was huge at 11lbs and I presume if I successfully get pg again I will have a lot of monitoring and possibly be encouraged to think about birthing early. I will NOT be induced again and I think my vague plan would be to have a elcs booked for around due date but possibly think about trying for vbac if spontaneous labour before that. But could spontaneous labour be encouraged by e.g. a stretch & sweep or is that really intervention?
Sorry, I know I'm planning this all way too much in advance but feel like I need some clear ideas in my head before I can feel completely happy about the idea of being pg again..!

I'm not an expert, but sounds like we had v similar births - also emcs after induction and 11 lbs 9 oz baby! Mine is only 12 weeks old but when TTC again in a couple of years will be planning same as you.

Hi lunalovegood84! It seems to be quite a rare thing to come across someone else with a pfb in excess of 11lbs!!
Would love to hear from anyone else who did and their experiences if they have gone on to conceive dc2...

Yes me too, slightly nervous as anecdotally it seems second babies are bigger! It was a total shock finding out his weight. I was 2 weeks overdue and got to fully dilated but didn't get to the pushing stage as he just wouldn't descend. He was back to back and his head measured above the 99.6th centile. My cs and recovery was fine though. Would opt for another except we would potentially like a few more children and obviously repeat cs become more risky.

Well the due date is just a date in the middle of a 4 week window when you are likely to give birth.

The start of birth is a complex hormonal interplay between you and your baby when your baby and your body are ready to birth. Interfering with that process ie induction often makes birthing tougher and leads to more interventions, poorer birth outcomes, etc.

So OP it may be that you had a tough time because your baby was big. It may also be partly because you were induced. Your body was pushed into doing something before it was ready to do it.

Also in the last few weeks and days your baby is still developing important things like its sucking reflex. Those that are induced can be harder to breast feed because they've not developed this yet. Etc.

Hi ladies, my first was 10lb 8 (not quite your 11lb bundles) and I'm currently 39 weeks pregnant with number two. I had 44 hours of contractions every 5 minutes with my first and never got past 5cm so ended up with c-section.
The consultants were not pushy at all for a vbac, quite the opposite.
Something of note I've now had two midwives and a consultant squish my bump and tell me this one feels 'normal' size wooohoooo

There's a lot of doom and gloom repeated about induction around here most of which actually isn't backed up with any evidence.

Firstly, my own anecdote (knowing that the plural of anecdote is not data): I was induced at 39 weeks because of complications and the consultant was quite happy for the midwives to give me sweeps every couple of days from 38 weeks to try to kick things off naturally. DD knew what she was doing in terms of BFing straight off, whereas DS (home birth at 40+9) didn't get it for weeks, so induction doesn't necessarily mean BFing problems.

Secondly, actual science: Induction after 41 weeks is actually associated with a reduced risk of C section and better neonatal outcomes. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22696345

Many obstetricians, if you are worried, will do a pre-pregnancy clinic to discuss potential plans with women prior to TTC. That, or Birth Afterthoughts (or whatever it is called in your hospital) with a senior midwife, might be helpful to go through what happened in your specific case and how things might work out next time.

Good luck!