Induction without epidural

[Grimbles]

I can't have an epidural for medical reasons. I'm booked in for an induction next week @39 weeks. Would I be mad to go ahead with it - I don't know what to do at the moment.

I'm having a sweep tomorrow which will hopefully work but need to decide if I want to go ahead with an induction if not, or ask to delay for another week.

Part of me wants it over and done with, the other is worried about the pain if I have the drip

I had an induction at 39 weeks and honestly couldn't have managed without pethidine and an epidural. Sorry if it's not what you wanted to hear. But if you need it you need it. I'll never be able to go to term because of a medical condition but I'm opting for an elective C if we are lucky enough to have another baby.

@SockQueen yes, I have seen an anaesthetist, they did mention remifentanil as an option but said I would need to insist on having it as MW won't suggest it as it requires constant monitoring.

Please for the love of God do not have the drip without an epidural, which you can't have, so go for the c section. The drip hurts like a mother fucker, also you have to be hooked up to monitors so very hard to move. I lasted 20 minutes before getting an epidural. You can just try the pessaries and refuse the drip, go to c section, they can't force you to do anything. Good luck! My first ever post btw, hoping you can avoid the horror.

Me again. You can also ask for your bishops score to see what the chances of a successful induction are. Turns out mine had minimal chance of success so I might as well have gone straight for c section. They are unlikely to tell you this, ask!!

I was induced but just had the pessary. It did really hurt but the midwife told me they were still just tightenings so I was trying to hold out a bit longer before pain relief. Anyway it obvs worked faster than they expected because the next time they came in to check she did and examination and I was fully dilated. They gave me some gas and air then which was a godsend. I was also able to get in the pool too as I hadn't had the drip, that was amazing for the pain relief x

Couldn’t have managed without epidural - the drip caused rather fast & painful contractions. Did not enjoy it much. Didn’t feel needle for epidural at all! Immediate relief & fell asleep which was nice.

I had two drip inductions, didn’t need an epidural for either, just gas & air. They were fairly quick deliveries too, 8hrs and 4hrs.
Obviously I have nothing to compare them to but I never got to a point where I thought I needed more.

Good luck

I was induced at 42 weeks, only needed the pessary so can't comment on the drip. I had gas and air; nothing else and survived!

It's worth saying OP that although we don't recognise this enough, you have the right to refuse interventions- so if you don't want to have the drip you are completely within your rights as an adult with capacity to say you don't want to have the syntocin drip and would like to discuss other options if the pessary doesn't work. X

Pessary no issue. But the birth where I had the drip was unbearable. I would have taken death if the epidural was not available. The happiest moment of my life is when the epidural kicked in. (For what it is worth I would definitely choose an elective c-section over drip without epidural: I have had both -plus a “natural” birth for comparison).

Sorry for a negative message. But it was fucking awful.

I had pessary induction at 39 weeks quick labour with gas and air

I've had 4 inductions, for two of them I needed ARM after pessaries but I never needed the drip. Using the tens machine from early on really helped manage them pain and all of them were unassisted deliveries no tears etc.

I’ve had drip induction, after 4 days of failed pessaries. I couldn’t have gas and air as it made me sick due to being nil by mouth for 24 hours prior to the drip being started.
I managed 7 hours, but the pain became too much, I was delirious from low blood sugar and just didn’t have the strength in me to do it without.
Still the best experience of my life though.

I was induced at 41+5 I had 2 pessarys, then gel then the drip. (Little one was comfy).
I didn't have an epidural , drip was started about 10am and baby born 6.40. Pain was bad so gave me pethudine which made me spaced out ( like waking from a dream).

The worse part for me was lack of sleep on the wards the days before (take ear plugs) and not being able to move around, one the drip started I had monitors on my stomach (like bands)
Chat to your midwife or consultant I wish I had beforehand.
Fingers crossed baby decides to make an appearance on their own x

I’ve been induced twice. No pain relief at all either time (not through choice necessarily but that’s another story) it was fine.
Good luck op, hope it goes well.

I've been induced with the drip twice and yes the contractions come hard and fast but i managed both times with just gas and air. By the time i asked for pain relief it was too late so don't wait too long if that is what you want.

Induction of labour is more painful than if you go into labour on your own, as the body is being given artificial hormones your body doesn’t create its own natural endorphins to help deal with the pain. However all women are different and some cope with pain better than others, but the babys position can also make labour more painful for example if it’s back to back (their back is towards your back) you’ll feel all of your pain in your back and bum so it’s good to try and stay mobile to help encourage the baby to rotate, but sometimes this isn’t possible/easy if you’re hooked up to monitors and drips.

The prostaglandin gel/pessary is given to trigger contractions to help your cervix soften and dilate, at this point you can still be mobile to help encourage contractions and you will only be offered pain relief such as paracetamol and Codeine, until you’re considered to be in established labour (3cm onwards).

If the prostaglandin doesn’t work they’ll either firstly break your waters or suggest the oxytocin drip, at that point they should also discuss your pain relief options.

It’s only when you’re in established labour from 3cm onwards that the stronger pain relief (gas and air/opiates/epidural) can be given so they’ll discuss with you the way forward then.

I guess all you can do is weigh up the pros and cons, and do what is right for you. Induction of labour can be a very long winded process, it is more painful than going into labour naturally however you might cope well with the pain. Tbh epidurals aren’t always effective anyway... cons of the GA along with the obvious risks are recovery time and time away from your baby. Pros are things such as not being tired after a long winded induction process, and the feeling of disappointment after a failed induction.

I think if it was me I’d go for the induction then assess options once in fully established labour.

I had drip induction at 37 weeks with 9lb baby on just gas and air. The pain was terrifying and I would ask for all the pain relief possible if I had to do it again. I also had to labour on my back which did not help.

Two inductions here. One straight to breaking waters and the second with synto. Not significantly different to each other but I was able to tell the midwives when I didn't need any more of the drip. Gas and air, two shots of diamorphine for the first and gas and air and a single shot of diamorphine for the second. Both six hours from first contraction to baby. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Diamorphine is a wonderful drug. Don't put yourself through an epidural if you don't have to. It was fine and totally manageable.

I’ve had 4 inductions and all so different but 3 were without epidural.

First, drip after 24 hours of pessary and ARM, 6 hour labour with co-codamol. It was painful but manageable (38 weeks)

Second, drip after 48 hours of pessary and ARM, 6 hour labour with co-codamol. I thought I would die the pain was so bad but baby was back to back (42 weeks)

3rd, pessary inserted and baby arrived unexpectedly after a 20 minute labour, no pain relief (42 weeks)

4th, waters broke naturally but no labour after 3 days so advised to have drip, I knew baby was back to back so requested epidural. 22 hours on the drip before baby arrived, pain free but very tiring! (40 weeks)

I had drip with a shot of pethadine then gas and air. Not pleasant but did it. No one told me till after people normally have a epidural with the drip. I'd think it's very much down to individual.

I've had an induction, and there's no way I'd recommend going through it without the possibility of an epidural. Gas and air made virtually no difference. If I was in your shoes it would be elective C-section without a doubt.

I was also induced with drip and also had a contraindication to epidural. There was a maximum rate they said they could run it at when no spinal/epidural. I managed ok at that rate but when they needed to get baby out we agreed to speed it up but at that point pain was pretty ouchy (but do-able). Didn’t work though and needed emCS under general. As above, would ask re alternative analgesia plan ahead of time and then ask to see anaesthetists when you are admitted to labour ward, before the pain is too severe to get it set up.

The drip hurts like a mother fucker

This!

As these responses prove it's very much up to the individual, as to whether they coped with the drip or not OP.

First baby I was induced, with the drip only, due to PROM at 39 weeks. No pain relief except TENS machine. I made a fuss about being able to stay active and was able to labour on my birthing ball, which was great (you don't have to be stuck in bed if you don't want to). It was definitely painful, but having just had a non-augmented labour in the last couple of days, I don't think it was really significantly worse? It ramped up quicker definitely, but I barely had a break in contractions in my recent labour either.

It's a how long is a bit of string question really, as for every "I thought I was going to die" experience there will be someone who had the opposite.

Hi all, thanks for your posts. I had a sweep yesterday afternoon, and at the time the mw said my cervix was closed and quite far back so nothing was happening on its own. I spoke about being induced and her suggestion was to have another sweep on Monday and then make a decision about induction at the end of next week.

Saying all this, although at the time she did it my cervix was closed, I am having some back pain and cramps that started yesterday night which could be the start of something! Hopefully I won't have to make a decision after all!