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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Induction without the drip?

32 replies

Starbuck24 · 14/01/2023 16:13

Hi all,

I am currently 38+4 with DC2 and it is looking likely doctor will recommend induction at 39 weeks due to slow growth. Baby is not estimated to be tiny, but has dropped from 80th to below the 40th which I appreciate could mean there’s a problem (or one of the scans was just way off). I have another appointment this week when I will find out for sure what they recommend.

DC1 was spontaneous labour that went fairly fast. Wasn’t completely straightforward but I did avoid an epidural and any interventions which I am very keen to repeat. I have only ever heard horror stories about inductions so I’m a bit nervous. It seems from most people I’ve spoken to that things tend to go wrong when you get the drip.

Has anyone had a successful induction without having the drip? Do you know if I could consent to pessaries but no drip? I’m just wondering how much say I would actually have if I agree to the induction.

OP posts:
Sales88 · 14/01/2023 16:16

Hi, with my first DC I was induced but didn’t need the drip. After the pessaries opened cervix they were able to break my waters which put me into labour almost straight away. Not sure if this is standard or not but seemed to make sense with others I’ve talked to over the years too. X

Kindofcrunchy · 14/01/2023 16:19

I'd be interested to know if the pessaries cause painful labour too. I'm pretty sure I had the drip last time and needed an epidural and various other interventions, so would be nice to avoid all of that next time.

lking679 · 14/01/2023 16:21

Hardly any inductions I know had to use the drip, all kicked off either with pessaries and water broken. However just so you know it’s still not a usual Labour. Pessaries had me contracting 3 in 10 from the beginning with hardly any dilation. After water was broken it all started going so fast with contractions every minute.
I was very happy to get an epidural it calmed me and the labour down. It’s still an artificial Labour so don’t rule pain relief out.

ditalini · 14/01/2023 16:25

I just needed a pessary to get me started. Waters broke a few hours later and ds1 was born 4 hours after that.

I was 41+3 though so I suspect I'd have gone naturally if left another couple of days and it just needed a nudge.

DuchessofSandwich · 14/01/2023 16:25

I had pessaries and it took slmost 4 days. I'd have rather had the drip, that tends to go quicker.

I do hear from people with quick births that they had a lot of pain, but I'm unsure if you have less pain in total if it's more spaced out over several days. As in: a quick and painful birth might be preferable above less pain per contraction but being bloody miserable for days on end.

Just what I'm wondering after hearing other peoples birth stories, might be total bollocks for all I know.

TheMumLife3 · 14/01/2023 16:27

I had an induction on my last baby. Had a pessary put in at 1.40pm. Had absolutely nothing all day. My waters suddenly went at 10.30pm with full blown contractions and my DS was born 1hr 27mins later.

loveacupoftea18 · 14/01/2023 16:29

I had to have the drip with both inductions. However, the second birth moved too fast for any sort of intervention so you might be ok!

CastleTower · 14/01/2023 16:33

Of course you can consent to one thing at not the other - each new thing needs to be agreed to. So set your mind at rest there. You can say no drip, straight to C-section if the pessaries do nothing.

In my case, pessaries etc did nothing and I needed the drip. I requested an epidural beforehand, and so I just slept through it.

You will probably be luckier than me, especially if it's not your first time - most people I know of having inductions didn't need the drip anyway.

Reugny · 14/01/2023 16:34

I had an induction with just a pessary at 39+0 weeks. I had to have the pessary removed after 2 hours as my contractions were too strong and fast.

Pessary was put in at 1pm and DD was born just before 11pm.

Eatentoomanyroses · 14/01/2023 16:34

At my hospital they only gave you three hours to go into established labour before they put you on the drip. I don’t know the rights and wrongs of this but I was told they had to as there was a risk of infection once your waters are broken. I naively thought I wouldn’t need much By way of intervention as my first was born at 39 weeks and came super quick so when they said induce me at 39+1 I just said yes. My impression of the whole thing is they just wanted to get things going as quickly as possible to get me in and out. The drip certainly did that. You couldn’t have scraped me off the ceiling. Awful. I think you’re more likely to need the drip if you’re before 40 weeks. Would love to know if there’s any data on how many women need the drip

GagaBinks · 14/01/2023 16:35

I had a pessary at 3.30pm, started getting contractions at midnight, pushing at 9am and he was out at 11am. If I could guarantee that exact same birth again I would!

Mrsbclinton · 14/01/2023 16:41

I had drip on two of my labours, waters went at home.

On my third I had the pressary and then had my waters broken.

I had the epidural with all of them.

LG93 · 14/01/2023 16:43

I've had 2 inductions with no drip, first at 37 weeks for the same reasons as you, it took 3 attempts with prostin gel (you're allowed up to 4) and we decided to swap the 4th attempt for them breaking my waters, dd was born 4 hours later.

2nd time as had growth scans because of dds static growth which picked him up as too big 🤦 so was induced at 40 weeks with propess pessary. Had it in for about 20 hours with some mild contractions but no real progress, waters broke spontaneously during ctg monitoring and he arrived 9 minutes later!

bologneseandbabies · 14/01/2023 19:11

You can consent or not consent to any part of the process. Any time frame given in which that 'have' to do xyz is hospital policy and not the law.

You can always ask for more time and you can always say no.

bologneseandbabies · 14/01/2023 19:13

You could also ask to go home after the pessaries have gone in and wait for labour to begin at home. Then if it doesn't work, you can think about your next steps no pressure.

BabyMoonPie · 14/01/2023 19:17

I had a pessary at 40+1 and that was all. 12 hours from pessary to birth. I didn't have my waters broken for me and was only pushing a few minutes

AelinoftheWildfire · 14/01/2023 19:24

I had an induction with DC2 with no drip. I had two pessaries and once they eventually started working my labour was almost identical to DC1, albeit DC1 was around 2 hours and DC2 was about 40 minutes. Episiotomy and PPH with both (worse with DC2) but they put me on the drip after the PPH with DC2 to help with the bleeding, I'm not sure if that was why but my lochia was so much lighter second time round.

Labour with DC2 although faster was less painful I found, but that could be because I found it less traumatic than arriving at hospital 10cm dilated and involuntary pushing, with no idea what was happening

Reugny · 14/01/2023 21:39

bologneseandbabies · 14/01/2023 19:13

You could also ask to go home after the pessaries have gone in and wait for labour to begin at home. Then if it doesn't work, you can think about your next steps no pressure.

That isn't allowed in my area. You have to stay on hospital grounds.

They had previously allowed women to go on walks slightly further away including the large local parks, and ambulances would have to be called as they would go into labour.

It meant I couldn't go to any of the cafes just opposite the hospital nor could I go home which is 12 minutes walk away.

Original poster
Starbuck24 · 14/01/2023 22:28

@lking679 thanks for this, I didn’t realise pessaries could cause such intense contractions so quickly. I think I definitely need to be open minded about pain relief this time around.

OP posts:
RandomMess · 14/01/2023 22:30

4 indictions

1 needed 1 pessary
1 needed 2 pessaries
2 needed 3 pessaries plus ARM

No drop and no assistance with delivery.

Original poster
Starbuck24 · 14/01/2023 22:32

Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone, it’s really reassuring to know that inductions can go to plan and not be terrible experiences!

OP posts:
Mrs86 · 14/01/2023 22:37

I had a sweep, manually broken waters, nothing happened. The drip is what started my contractions pretty much straight away. Took me 6 hours to give birth. Walking around the room during labour with a drip on a trolley thing was really annoying!

Vinniepolis · 14/01/2023 22:42

My waters broke at 37w but I didn’t go into labour. Pessaries had no effect on me whatsoever, despite them trying a number of times over the course of 4-5 days. The doctor was pushing for me to start on the drip but midwives told me to refuse it because my cervix wasn’t in the slightest bit ready and said it would end badly - so in the end I had a C-section, which was actually lovely (mostly relieved!)

Hohohoholidays · 14/01/2023 22:50

I was induced at 38 weeks with my 1st due to baby stopping growing. I had the gel. Contractions started quite quickly and waters broke on their own, from gel to birth was 11 hours and I needed no painkillers other than gas and air and had no intervention

Eatentoomanyroses · 15/01/2023 08:34

There’s some good info here www.sarawickham.com/articles-2/induction-of-labour/