Being pressured into induction

[LCF2021]

Looking for others who have been in a similar position. I’m currently 37+5 and yesterday was at hospital for a growth scan as my bump measured small. During the scan they flagged that baby’s head was oblique so there was a load of drama about that with a doctor saying I’d have to be admitted to hospital now and stay there until I went into labour. Cue lots of tears from me. Then the doctor felt my bump, said she felt baby’s head was in the right position, scanned me again and baby had moved into a better position so that conversation ended. During the scan the midwife sonographer said baby looks on the bigger side, certainly not smaller and on the 90th centile. Given my DS was born at 38+3 on 88th centile she wasn’t concerned and said she thinks that I just naturally carry slightly bigger babies. The doctor though started saying I must be induced at 39 weeks, I’ll need to be tested for GD and that she would bring a consultant to speak to me about the induction. I have very negative views of inductions, know a lot of people who have gone through them and none of them have had positive experiences. The consultant was trying to scare me and pressuring me into booking one for next week, said I shouldn’t leave the hospital until I’d booked one. I was on my own and felt very uncomfortable with the position I was being put in as I refused an induction and said I want to give baby a chance to come on her own. I had a fantastic labour and birth last time, and although I know there’s no guarantee of that again, I want to be given the chance. Has anyone else had this and been pressured into being induced for supposedly having a big baby, even though those scans are NOT accurate? I’m standing my ground for now.

Big babies arent grounds for inductions. Im guessing you havent have a c section but theres a group on facebook called vbac support uk and they talk loooads about induction. Pros and cons. Also look at nice guidlines, they cant force you to do anything they an advocate for you. If your consultant is pressuring you then say you want to see another one, or if you can always have someone with you for support at appointments. For me inductions havent worked and ended up wity two emcs. Im currently houng for vbac2 and will be declining induction. Also them scans are known for not always being correct

Don’t let them bloody induce you. Shudders my induction was vile. Last last resort. I’d rather have a c section

Please please do not let them induce you. I was and it was horrific. It’s my biggest regret ever. I have been left with crippling birth trauma, anxiety and PPD from a bad induction.

In the interests of balance, I’ve had two inductions and they were both great. Ultimately the most important thing here isn’t whether you have a natural birth it’s whether you get a healthy baby at the end of it - that should be your priority.

I wasn’t pressured, I went along with it when the midwife suggested after what looked like a massively long labour.

I’m grateful for the suggestion, if I had not been induced I wouldn’t have had an epidural, and DS heart beat wouldn’t have been monitored.

It wasn’t until they did all that that they realised DS was in distress as he had got stuck in the way out. Looking at the drama that ensued (6 doctors, three midwife and a resuscitation team), I’m pretty sure we would have lost DS if I had not accepted to be induced.

My recovery also took a while, I lost a lot of blood, and there was quite a lot of damage done by the forceps, episiotomy.

Interestingly, all along the pregnancy I had told my midwife that babies in my family are mostly induced at 8 months as we tend to have big babies and a narrow canal. But I was ignored repeatedly, apparently I was going to be ok because I’m tall.

I'm currently 37+5 and having growth scans as baby is large, EFW already >8lbs. My last baby was 9lbs 1oz at 42 weeks so I'm not too worried, but I am SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE. I asked specifically about early induction for anticipated large baby at my last appointment and was told that this was not longer accepted practice unless there were other underlying concerns (eg GD), so maybe do some googling for NICE guidelines etc and go to your next appt armed with evidence? Don't let anyone push you into anything you're not comfortable with! Having said that I did finally accept induction with my first and it was absolutely fine, even managed a water birth so don't assume it means being tied to a bed with an epidural.

If they wouldn't let you leave without booking, just book it in and then call up to cancel.
I went to 13 days over, according to their dates, with my son. I went into labour naturally and he was absolutely fine.

Sarah Ockwell Smith writes a lot about induction. Worth reading up on her blog articles.

Big baby no but induction yes.

Can't say there was pressure as I didn't resist however I was told it's the only option!

It was awful/ painful and went on for nearly 3 days- and failed.
At that point a dr advised a csection. Then midwives pressured me for a second induction- it was a big debate (dh not me as I was weeks of little sleep) eventually they stopped pushing.

Stand your ground. Women give birth to 10lb babies. Might be worth prepping dp or birth partner on what you want as it seems hospitals often pressure women nearer the end- hormones and emotions make it difficult to think clearly/ stick to guns sometimes.

I had a consultant trying to insist on indiction at 38 weeks after telling me everything was fine, and that she was just on the big side. I decided to talk to my GP and get a second opinion as this was not what I wanted, and that helped a lot as without her opinion I may just have gone along with it. I had a really quick birth literally at 42.1. I'd get any reassurences you need but from another source if possible, I'm certainly glad I did.

Yes had exactly the same thing in Feb, growth scan could be big at 40 weeks. Felt totally pressured during what I was led to believe was just a conversation with a consultant to have a sweep there and then and book an induction for three days later. Left the appointment in pieces and feeling really uncomfortable about the whole thing.

I did go for the induction because they made me worry so much about still birth etc and I am a FTM. Had the pessary but refused the gel when I asked about the risks. Consultant at the hospital seemed surprised I had not been given a list of risks associated with inductions. Thankfully was able to have waters broken after the pessary and labour was only 2hrs with no pain relief. He weighed 9lb which I know is larger but I do sometimes wish I’d been given an extra week to see if he’d arrive naturally. The last five days of my pregnancy were so stressful and it’s even worse having to do everything without support of a partner at appointments. It’s difficult to advocate for yourself when you have a consultant and midwife telling you to do something!

Ultimately I’m just really grateful he arrived safe and well but about a month after I did get really upset about it once I’d had time to process how it was handled.

My induction was horrific.

I was told big baby one moment, two weeks later he apparently wasn't growing properly to being induced a week later and out he popped 2lb heavier than the estimate 🤦‍♀️

Get all the facts before you make a decision as they never tell you the benefits and risks of both options. Inductions do have risks and without all the information you can't make an informed choice.

You are allowed to pick which ever option you think is best and can decline any and all tests, procedures and inductions you want.
Also if they want to test for GD then a GTT might give a false positive at this stage in pregnancy so it should be finger prick multiple times a day.

Even NICE guidelines say that a larger baby should not be a reason alone to induce.

I understand some people are saying monitoring during induction helped pick up emergencies but it may be that the induction made that occur or caused the distress picked up on the monitors as all the drugs come with risks. We can't know for certain if that would have happened without the induction or not.

Thanks all for your replies. I’ve got a GD test booked on Tuesday but apparently as I’m so far along it’s only a simple fasted blood test, no hanging around for two hours having had a glucose drink as the midwife said the result would be inaccurate this late into pregnancy. I’ve got a phone appointment with a consultant next week too so I’m going to get as much info as possible about exactly why they want to induce me. If it’s purely down to baby possibly being too big then I’ll maintain that I want to leave her there until she’s ready and I’ll go for monitoring for them to keep an eye on things. If it’s a case of my placenta is failing or there’s a genuine medical issue I’ll, of course, take their recommendation but to purely be basing it off “baby is big according to the scan” isn’t too compelling an argument for me. In the meantime I’ll be willing baby to make her entrance!

I was induced as baby was measuring big.
I have nothing to compare it to, but I would not wish to be induced if I ever have another baby.
It was long, drawn out and I felt like I was pumped full of so many drugs.
I ended up having an emergency c section as he was not in the right position (which the midwife had said when I was first being induced - so it felt like I had gone through days of being induced when they knew it would end in a section!)