Question about early induction?

[sarahlu]

Hello, I've been told by the obstetrician that there is diminished fluid around my baby and that it's likely that I will have to be induced at 37 weeks if not a little earlier. I've never heard of anything like this and wondered if there is anyone out there with a similar experience or with any advice?
xsx

Hi sarahlu,how many weeks are you now?Also have they told what your AFI is(?amniotic fluid index) .I'm sure they would have calculated this when they diagnosed.

hiya,

i'm coming up for 35 weeks on sunday. It's a bit of a strange situation as the low fluid count was actually picked up during a scan i'd volunteered to do in a lecture for medical students so it wasn't discussed at the time, the obstetrician called me later to tell me that this was a likely possibility as he knew that I was planning on working up until 37 weeks. It was a bit of a bolt from the blue so I wasn't ready with questions at the time. I'll be getting the full details at my next appointment on Tuesday.

Hiya,
Maybe you could ask for another scan if not satisfied with the results.The Afi is classed as concerning if the amount of fluid adds upto under 8cm.Why not ask what yours is if they don't tell you.(nice guidelines).I also read that by drinking at least 2 litres of water a day you can increase fluid by as much as 30%.If you really don't want to be induced then maybe you could suggest daily monitoring?It is YOUR choice and no-one can make you do anything you don't want to.

Thank you for the advice, I'll make sure I ask about the AFi. They are scanning me again on Tuesday so hopefully it will all be made a bit clearer. It's not so much that i'm completely against being induced early, I had been hoping for a natural birth but obviously my priority is to have a healthy, happy baby. What are the risks if I decide to wait? I feel it's difficult to go against the advice of the medical people, when I have no knowlege of it myself.

Hi I have been induced twice and have had another birth where i wasn't induced but it was discovered during labour that I had no amniotic fluid left at all. I should say straight away that I had and have 3 healthy babies (now aged 4,6 and 9).
You don't say whether there are any other 'complications' in your pg? Presumably your consultant is concerned that the loss of fluid could adversely affect your baby. At this point I should say 2 more things: 1. I am not a great believer in medical intervention 2. Since having my babies, I have trained as a doula with Michel Odent and he has reinforced my views.
There is a lot of research about oligohydramnios (the name for your condition). It is most often associated with pregnancies that are post term.
The main question is, is your baby being adversely affected or likely to become distressed during labour? There are studies which go both ways but the most recent suggest that there is less cause for concern than originally thought - have a look at \link{http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=15970814}

and there are other studies that show that hydrating the mother can increase the amniotic fluid - are you drinking enough water?

i could go on but it's difficult to know how much to say on here.
i have been lucky with induction but it is not without its risks - as is the case with all intervention - and my 1st induced labour led to a lot more intervention than i'd wanted. My second induction was different and i had a water birth.
are they going to monitor you again? when will you have to make a decision?

i was induced with my third child - for different reasons
it took days and days - first started on a monday and she wasn't born until Thursday morning - she just wasn't ready . The actual birth itself was fine, but the prostins just didn't do what they were supposed to and it was awful just waiting and not knowing when she'd arrive - it seemed completely out of my control

she's of course fine! a gorgeous 5 month old, and as i say, once labour was established it went v quickly and was fine

Hi sorry about the enormous gap in my post - don't know what happened there. And in the tme it took me to add the link, you'd answered some of my questions. good luck at your appointment.

I was induced around 37 fro pre eclampsia
ds1 was fine (other complicatins but nothing at all to do with being induced or early iyswim)

oh and the birth was fast (but not too fast) and worked first time

I would agree with tester penelope.Thanks taster penelope I couldn't find that link.As I said before drinking at least 2 litres of water a day has shown to increase fluid by as much as 30% and is going to do you no harm.
I would ask the hospital what their procedures are with low AFI.I have heard of them replacing the fluid through cervix but wouldn't know whether this would apply to your hospital.Maybe you could google oligohydramnios and explore all avenues before agreeing to an induction.I feel this may also give some control over the situation.
good luck ,keep us posted on how you go

I guess I'll have to wait until my appointment on Tuesday before I can really make any decisions, as I mentioned I found out about it in a rather unusual way. So I'm glad to have the opportunity to hear what you all have had to say, helps with knowing the right questions to ask. I'm in Brighton and they seem to be very pro-natural birth so I feel i'm in good hands. The only complication I've had in my pregnancy was a parvo-virus risk right at the beginning, which can cause anaemia in the baby, that risk is long gone, but that is why i've been being monitored. I reckon I've been drinking a good two litres of fluid a day so i'll keep that up. And let you know how I get on next week.
thanks to you all.