Going overdue concerns

[Hodge85]

Hi,

I'm 39+5, due date is Saturday. I've had on/off cramping for a couple of weeks but nothing for a few days. I lost my plug at 33 weeks and baby is engaged and very low down. I'm on my ball to try and bounce him out. I'm really worried about going over my due date, you hear stories about the placenta deteriorating and increase in stillbirth. I've got a sweep planned for Tuesday and we'll be discussing planning booking an induction. How quickly is an induction likely to be planned in? Will my concerns be taken in to consideration? x

You can request an induction earlier than 40+10/12 which is standard for most areas. My friend is an obstetrician and she's pregnant currently with the intention of induction between 39-40 weeks due to stillbirth rates. However, I would say she sees the very worst of births and due dates are all approximation anyway.
To answer your question though, if you go in armed with information about stillbirth and show you have some understanding of induction benefits vs risks, there should be no reason you shouldn't be taken seriously

Have a look at the evidence based birth website, which analyses all the research done into, well, births! Dates and all. There is a lot of reading there but worth it in my view. I've had the opposite conversation with my midwives (i.e. i do not want induction based on dates, the opposite of PP's friend I have seen the worst side of induction) and generally forewarned is forearmed. If you show why this is what you want it will help; though some may depend on the personality of who you're speaking with at the time and their experiences too. I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all design for labour and birth but obviously the system has to come up with something!

Honestly, I think it's worth looking into the stats a bit more if it helps to reassure yourself, but the chances of something going wrong because you happen to go over 40 weeks is tiny. There's also nothing magical about the 40 week point that varies hugely from the 39th or the 41st, very few babies are born on their actual due date, it's just an estimate.

You could also ask about additional monitoring of baby and placenta function if you have any concerns; and obviously being aware of baby's movements yourself, you can take time each day to do a proper "check". This is the route they'd take if you didn't choose an induction due to dates (and the route I'm going down, now 40+6, will start more monitoring next week assuming baby doesn't arrive of their own volition!)

www.aims.org.uk/journal/item/induction-at-term

Lots of interesting scientific evidence on this some of which suggests that later babies are actually at lower risk of still birth, although as with many human studies results are mixed.

Try not to worry, the placenta doesn't suddenly deteriorate overnight and first babies are, statistically, most likely to be 8 days overdue

How long are your cycles? There's some research to suggest that if you have longer cycles you will have a longer pregnancy

I had longer than average cycles and went into labour naturally at 15 days over, 7 days over with my first two, twins difficult to compare, fifth baby was on due date

Thanks everyone, I will take a look in to it and see what my midwife says on Tuesday.

@MissSmiley my cycles were on average 25 days long.