Balloon induction?

[Firsttimer16]

Has anyone got any experience of this recently? I’m hoping for a Vbac and have been suggested this (although they will induce me normal methods at my hospital). I’ve read old threads and asked midwives (who seemed clueless...!) so does anyone have any recent experience?

It has been introduced in the trust I work in recently, and from the professional perspective I would say the outcomes are looking very positive generally, however as with anything they do come with risks also. It’s important to speak to a professional who is experienced in undertaking balloon inductions, as there as slightly varying methods.

If it’s not offered in your trust, would you be looking to transfer care?

I had one in July. It didn't work for me but nothing else worked either. It was also very painful so ask for gas and air to help. Good luck

I had an attempted catheter induction. They had 3 attempts at trying to get it in but the blasted thing fell out onto the floor... My cervix was not facing in the right direction.
I bled a little. Ugh, hurt like the clackers.
Do ask for pain relief if they're going to do this. Even the gas would have been nice.

The idea of the catheter is they can take it out if the contractions get too intense, whereas with the prostoglandin gel they don't have control over it.

Even so, I had the gels and they worked well for me, I had a spontaneous water breaking 6 hours after the first gels went in. Baby born 7 hours later.

That’s really useful thanks! They do offer them at my trust and have been recommended as I’m looking at Vbac. Lots of official literature says they are painless but all the “real stories” seem to disagree!

The catheter is effective but certainly not "pain-free".
It's not as painful as full blown labour, but it's like someone pinching hard at your cervix. Very uncomfortable, but effective at getting labour started if done right.

My story about the prostoglandins is unusual, apparently for most women it takes at least 12-24 hours and several doses every 6 hours before labour starts. With 2nd time mums it doesn't take as long, but they may just want to induce you using for Oxytocin drip instead if the catheter doesn't work.