Delaying induction...AIBU and has anyone done this?

[Meadows20]

I'm due to be induced on Sunday at 40+4 as I have GD and my hospital like all ladies with GD to have delivered by 40+6.

Now this is the clincher...my GD has always been mild and under control through diet. Any time my blood sugars have spiked I can pinpoint why and it's rarely gone outside of the preferred range. The reason I think I got a high GTT is because I wasn't eating enough due to nausea rather than eating the wrong things. I'm still 3lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight to put in perspective that I've clearly not been eating enough.

So these are the reasons I want to delay my induction:

• GD is completely under control. I've been checking my blood sugars before and after meals the last few days to be sure and they have not left the range once.
• BP on Monday was 122/74
• Urine sample was clean as a whistle
• Baby is measuring on 50th percentile (so no where near considered a big baby!)
• I'm getting signs of early labour and would just like to give baby a couple more days to make his own way out

Am I being unreasonable? I get I'm not a doctor/midwife and I understand the concerns/risks around GD. It's just looking at what those risks are I.e. big baby, reduced movements due to high blood sugar etc haven't applied to me I think it's only fair to ask for a little bit longer before looking at induction? Or should I just get this baby out as soon as I can?

OP, I would really strongly advise you to follow medical advice.

I have type 1 diabetes but had excellent control throughout my pregnancy (HBA1C was around 48 I think). However when I got to 36 weeks I had a ton of hypos and they induced me as they suspected placental failure. Diabetic placentas are known to degrade faster than non-diabetic placentas, it really isnt just about baby's size.

Your baby is full term, you have zero worries there, and this also gives the induction a good chance of working. You don't really have anything to lose from being induced, but would absolutely kick yourself if you declined it and something happened to your baby (obviously unlikely but is it a risk worth taking?).

Good luck OP, FWIW my induction worked at 36 weeks and the labour was fine, you always hear the horror stories but lots of inductions are perfectly straightforward.

You are being unreasonable, because GD can make your placenta deteriorate which is why they choose to induce earlier than normal. If you are in early labour they might give simply break your waters or give you a pessary.

I had an induction at 41+5 & 40+5 with GD, both fine. It would be nice for baby to turn up by itself but the most important thing is to get baby here safely.

So just to be clear, I'm not refusing induction completely I'm just asking to give him 2-3 extra days since I've got early labour signs. So instead of inducing at 40+4 they induce me no later than 41 weeks. My trust seem to induce earlier than others for GD.

Have you tried to discuss this with your consultant? I would have thought there answer would be to go ahead at 40+4 but have you tried to put your case forward to get the induction pushed back?

The consultant originally put 40+6 but it was the GD midwife who said 40+4 as they like the baby born by 40+6 with GD mothers. This is even though she said my sugars have been amazing and she had zero concerns.

Basically it's a blanket approach irrelevant of whether you're in range or not...as soon as you are marked as having GD and irrelevant of how you manage it they want you to start induction no later than 40+4.

But why even delay a few days? If you are in the early stages of labour, all the more reason as the induction would be very minimal and speedy!

Because I'd like to be at home until I'm in active labour ideally...I'll be in a room on my own given that partners aren't allowed in until the later stages.

I know home would be nicer OP but surely not worth it to take a risk with baby's health?

Your induction could well be very speedy!

I'll discuss it with the midwife triage tomorrow - we've got an app with chat function which is quite handy.

Thanks for the responses.

Could you maybe ask for a sweep to try and get things started before the induction? It might be a compromise and would at least let you know how close to labour you likely are.

Had one on Monday and that's when things have started to move in the right direction. I reckon if I could get a 2nd one that would get everything moving super quick.

I'm pretty wired tonight and probably drip feeding a little without realising as to why I'm worried about induction. I'm going to try and get some sleep, then hopefully have a clearer head in the morning to have a good chat with triage on what will happen Sunday.

YANBU. You can have a scan to check on the state of the placenta and have extra monitoring if you want to delay. I totally get the desire to avoid induction where possible, particularly if it's a box ticking exercise.