Artificial rupture of membranes as induction method

[RainRainGoAwayy]

Went in yesterday at 40+2 for reduced FM during the day - I hadn't felt great all day and was being very lazy and realised baby wasn't moving a lot either. Hour and a half on the monitor and all fine, they offered induction as i'm at term but I would really rather avoid it so declined.
Anyway had a sweep booked in for today so asked them, as I was already there yesterday, could they do it then and they did. Didn't have a sweep with DS1 so wasn't sure what to expect but MW basically said she could stretch to 4cm, cervix for soft and 1cm thick (whatever all that means!). She said she could break my waters there and then and it would probably be quite a quick labour - again I declined however she said if I did change my mind and wanted to be induced/got to my induction date that is what they would do... no pessary/gel as my cervix is already 'on the way'.
This scares the life out of me - what's it like having your waters broken and do contractions come on really strong really quick?

When I was induced I didn't have the pessary and my waters were broken. I was then put on a drip to speed up contractions.

I would personally avoid it, it sounds like labour is imminent anyways. I wouldn't be surprised if you went into labour very soon.

I had my waters attempted to be broken and I'm not going to lie, it was rather unpleasant. Although both times I've given birth very quickly after waters have gone, without showing too many signs of labour before.

However if you are worried about your baby then please don't ignore their advice. I've had 2 inductions and they really weren't that bad.

Both times my inductions have started with waters breaking, although I've also needed the drip due to health issues. With dc2 I was similar to you - stretched to 4cm and all ready etc at my due date. I still went 12 days over! It was a fairly quick labour, just a couple of hours and was actually slowed down by the baby being back to back.

I think with second babies your cervix tends to be more ready, and you could well go naturally soon! Obviously you don't need us to tell you but keep an eye on movements.

Oh as for what it was like - having them broken felt quite similar to the sweep.

I had my waters broken. No pessary afterwards and the birth was normal.

Wish I had my waters broken with my second born. I had a sweep and I was in agony (didn’t help he was back to back) because his waters kept bulging.

Midwife thought he would be born in them for a while before they popped

I've had mine broken twice - once at the start of an induction which properly started my contractions and second time a long way into an induction when I was fully dialysed but hadn't had the urge to push. It worked and DS was born shortly after. If I was going to do it again (which I'm not!) I'd ask for them to be broken earlier.

I didn't feel it with either of them, the waters rushing out is an odd sensation and I got soaking wet feet but it wasn't a bad experience.

Thanks everyone. 48 hours since the sweep and everything has tailed off so I presume it wasn't successful. Keeping a good eye on movements and have another appointment on Thursday to see where we're at.

If your cervix is already on the way and it's safe to do so then I'd wait. I had my waters broken as part of an induction. The process was quick and painless but didn't bring on labour. Because I didn't go into labour (even after having the drip), I developed an infection which was pretty serious.