How long will it take for the induction drugs to work?

[srv]

This is the first time I have posted although I have been reading Mumsnet everyday since I found out I was pregnant in March. It has been so helpful and reassuring, I was going to post a thank you message after the big event but after seeing my midwife this morning could do with some advice.

I've been booked in for an induction next Friday when I will be term + 12. Obviously I'd rather it all happen naturally but am not too stressed about being induced if necessary. What has upset me is that for the induction I will have to go to the hospital at 9 o'clock at night. They will give me the drugs then and I will have to stay over on an ward on my own - my husband will be sent home. The thought of him not being there when it all starts terrifes me and I have got myself all worked up.

How long will it take for the drugs to work? Will it be a case of me going to sleep and nothing much happeneing until the next day (which I could cope with) or am I likely to start getting contractions on my own in the middle of the night? I am really worried that they wouldn't call my husband when the contractions start but will wait until they transfer me into the delivery room a few hours later where partners are allowed. I don't want to be without my husband when I am having contractions.

Any positive induction stories would be nice too!!!!

oh i am so sorry you are so anxious, the hospital local to me starts inductions for primpips in the morning.. can you ask to change to the morning? if you are ripe, and have a good bishops score, then it might not take long at all. and of course you could well go into labour before your induction, furthermore, you do not have to agree to be induced , you can ask for expectant management.

what will most likely happen is, you will be given a prostoglandin gel which is inserted into the vagina, and helps ripen the cervix, and get it soft and dilating. it might take more than one dose, and htey are given 6 hours apart, you will be monitored after each dose.

once you are dilated enough, you will be transferred to labour ward for your waters to be broken, which should help stimulate more contractions.

if that does not get you going or your labour is not getting established, you will be given a drip of a synthetic hormone to strenghten the contractions.

have you been offered a stretch and sweep? that can help get you into labour.

there are no set answers, a friend delivered 2 hours after her induction started , another took 24 hours, so there is jsut no way to tell!

best thing to do, is stay as active and upright, mobile as possible once hte process starts, remaining on the bed, lying down does not allow gravity to help you

unfortunately, once oyu are on the ante natal ward, there will be other women there being induced, and other women in for monitoring etc, so once visiting hours are over, partners do have to leave, so that women can rest, also, the ward would be crowded and noisy if everyone's partner stayed.... it is not nice, but once your labour is established , your husband will be called immediately.

It can be anything from "almost immediately" to "don't work and you end up having a c-section". I can think of first-time mothers I know who fall at either end of that spectrum.

The most likely scenario, if they put the gel in at 9pm, is that nothing much will happen until the next morning.

the answer to how long it will take is "how long is a bit of string" there really is no knowing!!!! Once things start happening you can ask them to phone your husband to come in.

I have had 4 inductions they have all been very different experiences!

Please do ask for a sweep before your induction date - the day before to give it the optimum chance of working.

Hello srv, Camilla's advice is spot-on (as usual!) The only thing I would reiterate is to ask to change if possible to morning rather than first dose at night. I can only go by my own experience and like Camilla says, everyone is different, but my prostoglandin pessary worked pretty much straightaway. This meant I laboured all night therefore getting no sleep. When it came to pushing the next morning, I was absolutely exhausted. Of course, with going into labour naturally you don't get a chance to pick your time either but it is worth thinking about.

Fingers crossed you may well start naturally and whatever happens you will have a gorgeous baby at the end of it! Good luck and looking forward to your birth announcement xx

xposts with lemonaid and cargirl!

srv, call the labour ward and ask them what the hospital procedure is there. You might go straight onto the labour ward in which case your partner can stay with you.

I had my DS2 2 weeks ago and we went in at 7pm, straight onto the labour ward where they monitored baby, then did an internal exam. My cervix was 'favourable' (it had started to soften and open up already) so the mw broke my waters and did a vigorous stretch and sweep manouvere to get as much fluid out as possible. My contractions started straight away, 3 and a half hour later I was pushing, 15 minutes after that he was born. Brilliant! As we were on the labour ward throughout DH was with me all the time but went home once I was transferred up to the ward. We came home that afternoon. Much quicker and calmer than bringing DS1 into the world which involved 23 hours of spontaneous labour and a ventouse delivery.

Good luck

With dd I was induced at 7pm. DH had to go home, I too was BUT NOTHING happened. Not a movement, nothing. The lady in the bed next to me was also induced at roughly the same time and a couple of hours later was sent to the delivery room, I was very . I had a second lot of the gel at 7am the following day(ie 12 hours after the first lot) Then they had to wait 24 hours after that if I needed a 3rd lot. I had some contractions after the 2nd lot but i'm pretty sure they were just false ones and insisted I be let home at around 8pm when nothing had happened for a while. then my waters broke at 11pm and I started labouring 'properly'

I just really wanted to reassure you that, yes you will be alone, BUT i'm sure IF something happened after the 1st lot that they would call your dh and let him come in.

BUT be prepared for a long wait with not much happening.

I thought it would all kick off straight away and i'd have my baby the next day

Good luck fingers crossed it all starts by itself though

oh and definately ring the labour ward BEFORE you go in. You need to check that they have room for you. A fact my MW failed to enlighten me with I turned up at 6am to be induced with ds(my babies don't want to come out) and they sent me home as they'd had a busy night so no room for me Turned out for the best though as I went into labour that night anyway

But definately ring before you set off out for the hospital. I'd got myself all ready for induction and was SO annoyed I had to go home.

As other people have said, this is a "how long is a piece of string" question. The prostaglandin can work immediately (I started having contractions straight away) or it might not work at all, or it might take a few hours.

Yes, I'm afraid they will send your dh home, and yes that might mean you spend the night having contractions on your own, which is not much fun, but that's only one possible scenario. They will only let your partner stay with you outside visiting hours if you are judged to be "in active labour", but for most midwives this means after you have reached 3-4cm dilated, so even if you are having regular painful contractions they will insist he goes home.

The best thing is to be mentally prepared - it's an "anything could happen" situation but then that goes for most births. Take lots of magazines with you as you could have a long wait - then again, you could be holding a baby in your arms just a couple of hours after entering the hospital door! Good luck, and let us know what happens.

Thnak you all so much for your replies.

Unfortunately it sounds like it's something that I'm just going to have to get used to - I asked about going in in the morning or going home once they'd given my the drugs but apparently can't do either.

I'm having a sweep today so hopefully it will all be irrelevent and happen normally before then but if not I suppose I'll just have to grit my teeth and get on with it.

The ironic thing is that all through my pregnancy I've tried to be really laid back and flexible about what the birth would be like and what could happen so that I wasn't disappointed (or worsse) if it didn't go according "to plan". I've tried to imagine most scenarios and prepare myself for them so that there were no great shocks. Sods law that the only thing I didn't even contemplate was that my husband wouldn't be there and I'd have to do part of it alone. Just seems so scary. Hey ho!

Thanks again for all the lovely messages and advice. I'll let you all know what happens.

Hi there

typing one handed with 12 cday old baby...

I was induced at 41+6 and stressed just like you... but it was fine: I had the gel at 3 pm and was in labour by 7. Partners were still very much around at 10 when I was dashed into theatre for a section. Noone seemed to be being thrown out - it was a special induction room and there were three of us in there, plus partners.

I know it's hard but try not to worry - I cried a lot before mine as was so stressed about contracting alone but I think your partner would be allowed back as soon as you were in pain/distressed.

Tip from me: my labour didnt begin with contractions but with prolonged pain and I didnt think it was labour - but it was.

GOOD LUCK!

Hi
I too would not be keen on the 9 pm bit (there will be fewer staff)I guess they are doing it because they will think it will be quiet but as we all know babies like to come during the night .
FWIW I was induced with my 3rd a complete surprise I found myself sitting there realising that I probably wasn't going home again without a little baby at that stage I was somewhat unprepared!! (Except for the mounds of stuff I had left over from the other 2), it took less than 4 hours from start of drug to cuddle and wasn't that bad! However I do have a history of quick labours. The only thing was I did look sideways at the midwife when she suggested paracetamol for labour!

Sorry to hear you're being induced at night - I would think you would need a good nights sleep, not to be induced at the end of the day! I was induced 3 and a half weeks ago and had my own room so dh could stay with me (I think this is standard in NZ, but obviously not in UK). I had first gel at 8am, nothing happened apart from mild "tightening" feelings, like Braxton Hicks. Had more gel at 2pm and got contractions but only mild ones. At 6pm was still 0cm dilated so they told me theywould give me a mouthspray to STOP the contractions! And that I could sleep, they would try the gel again in the mornign and DH could stay overnight.

The mouthspray wasn't that effective as an hour later (7pm - so 11 hours from first gel) my waters broke and I went into "proper" labour. Dd born 11 hours later (by em c/s due to foetal distress, but that's a different story!).

Try not to worry about being induced, I was absolutely terrified about it and it was FINE, I have nothing but positive feelings about the birth, despite induciton, emer c/s etc etc etc. It was a wonderful amazing experience, dd is 3 weeks old and I'm already wondering when to have child no 2. Induction/labour etc nowhere near as bad as I was imagining (I did have an epidural tho!). Good luck - you'll be meeting your baby soon and it's the best thing in the world!

Hi srv, it's so unpredictable. I went in to be induced at 8 am, had first dose of prostin around 10 I think and was with dp all day, nothing happened, then started getting contractions after the second dose in the evening which was when dp had to go home! So there's no guarantee he could stay with you the whole time even if they started you in the morning (but of course it does depend on the hospital's policy). As it happens I would have been better off started in the evening and getting a night's sleep then. Try not to worry too much, OK it wasn't nice being on my own (or rather in a room with 3 other very pregnant women!) overnight with pains - they kept checking me but it was all going v. slowly - but I managed OK with them, then got transferred down to the delivery suite the next morning. And yes, that night isn't my favourite memory but it wasn't too bad, there were always staff around I could talk to if I got worried. Hope all goes well for you!

It depends on how ready your body is forlabour. I was induced 16 days ago but was 3cm dilated, so they skipped the gels and put me straight on the drip - labour started within the hour and I delivered 9.5 hours later. I totally understand how you feel about your partner not being there - I was also faced with this prospect and got veyr upset, but as I didn't need the gel they sent me straight to the delivery suite and dh was allowed to stay with me. The gels can take ages - they give it 6 hours each and can give you up to 3 doses, hence your partner being sent away (it still sucks, though). As for a positive induction experience: my experience was great. Midwives allowed me to get off the bed throughout (I couldn't sit down cos of the pain!) and I gave birth standing up, which was exactly what I wanted. Don't let them talk you into being in bed if you want to be active: my midwife team ensured I could move around, kneel, get up and down off the bed, go on all fours and then encouraged me to stand for the final bit. One of themidwives even held the monitor belt on to my tummy so that I could wriggle around as much as I liked! They also turned the drip up right at the end when I was pushing and contractions slowed down, which was a brilliant idea. All in all, it was a fantastic birth and I felt really empowered by it - after reading all the horror stories about inductions, I'd been prepared for the worst (and it can happen), but I also wanted you to know it can go really well, too. Good luck!