What happens if baloon induction doesn’t work?

[RhubarbandCustardYummyYummy]

So I’m in the process of having a baloon induction but due to NHS staff being so stretched no one is properly telling me the next steps/failure rate/what happens if the induction doesn’t work/etc. I feel as if when I ask a question they give a brief fob off type answer whilst holding the door open for me to leave (I recognise this isn’t personal and that it’s just a sign of a creaking system). After a very traumatic and drawn out first birth during September in Covid I was really hoping for a better experience this time but now I’m told
baby is measuring large and all these extra risks and I’m getting super panicked and need some information and experiences to help to calm me down!

Please help!

I had a balloon induction that had to be removed after a few hours as my uterus went into hyperstimulation and baby was distressed (this is not common.) They took me straight to the delivery suite after they removed it and broke my waters. A friend also had the balloon and when she didn’t progress they took her in and broke her waters. Don’t worry there are other options to get your labour started if the balloon fails. They broke my waters, had me bounce around on a ball for a while and when things slowed down started me on the syntocin drip. This was for my first, straightforward induction that lasted only a few hours and not an unpleasant experience. My second induction was not the same experience but no balloon was involved with that one! Good luck! For what it’s worth, I liked being induced with both my pregnancies as it gave me a date to prepare for.

thanks for the detailed reply!

Having a date to prepare for was one of the positives I was looking forward to but it was delayed then got called in super late in the day so now it’s out everything back AGAIN. I thought the balloon was only when they can’t break your waters?

How did they know baby was distressed when you had the balloon induction? I’m home with no monitoring, did you get symptoms like strong contractions?

In my first pregnancy the balloon didn't work, so they just went to the next step which was the pessary for me. I wasn't dilated at all so couldn't break waters.

Second pregnancy was following a c section so could only have a balloon so they scheduled me for an elective section the following week.

Mine did not work had to have an emc s

I was being induced early due to my baby having IUGR, it was a high-risk pregnancy and delivery so I was heavily monitored. They knew she was in distress due to her heartrate continuously plummeting and not recovering as it should. This was happening because my uterus had gone into hyperstimulation and I was having extremely intense back to back contractions with no break between them from soon after the balloon catheter went in. When they put the foley balloon in they said my cervix was sealed shut (as it was my first baby and I wasn’t full term yet) and when they took the balloon out after a couple of hours I had dilated a tiny bit but just enough to have my waters broken in the delivery suite