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Childbirth

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

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Original poster

Positive induction stories please

14 replies

positivol · 08/08/2023 21:22

Being induced this weekend, I am petrified. I am so scared. All I hear is traumatising stories. It’s my first baby. Let me know, did the pessary work for you? If not what happened then. From the start of your induction to giving birth how long did it take? If you’ve went into labour naturally and also had an induction did you notice a difference in pain? I’ve heard induction makes contractions a million times worse. Let me know your stories, I need to hear some positivity! Thank you 💖

OP posts:

MrsBungle · 08/08/2023 21:24

I had an induction with dc2. I had meconium so went straight to the drip. Ds was born 1 hour 54 minutes later. No pain relief needed. All great!

Dresshelpneeded · 08/08/2023 21:27

Heard so many difficult stories of inductions but been lucky enough to have 3 smooth inductions. Induced at night and all safely arrived late morning. One was so quick I didnt even make it to the labour room!

Bumblebee112 · 08/08/2023 21:31

I felt exactly the same as you! All I’d read was horror stories. I was induced with my first at 39+5 and was convinced I was going to end up with forceps/ventous or an emergency section etc.
Personally, mine took quite a long time. I was 46 hours from first pessary going in (I had 3 overall) to baby being born. I started having contractions about 2 hours after the first pessary went in. After 3 pessaries I was 1.5cm dilated so they took me to the delivery suite to break my waters. I was put on the drip at that point.

He’s my only DC so far so I can’t comment on the difference between induced/natural labour. It was painful, as expected. But I found it manageable. I used gas and air for pain relief and had a very minor tear (2 internal dissolving stitches). Baby was born at 3am and by 3pm I was at home cuddled up on the couch with my new baby 😊

FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 08/08/2023 21:31

I had the pessary inserted then basically just waited around the hospital for 36 hours. It was hot and a bit boring but not bad.

Then they were able to break my waters, 4 and a half hours later and a bit of gas n air DD was born. Had a 2nd degree tear but that was because DD shot out at super speed in one push. They stitched me up then inserted a pain killer in my bum (yay dignity) which was actually fantastic no pain at all for a good 18 hrs.

I had to stay overnight because I had GD so they wanted 3 sugar readings from DD before releasing us. Left in a taxi at 8am the next morning.

saltrocking · 08/08/2023 21:34

I've had three inductions. First one I was found to be three centimetres dilated so they just broke my waters. 11 hour labour that built slowly. Second was with pessary, first one inserted in the morning, just got some niggles, second pessary was the following day and that really got things going. 6 hours labour. Third time I was VERY overdue. Pessary went in at 1pm, I had my baby just an hour later!.

Summer2424 · 08/08/2023 21:36

Hi @positivol
First pregnancy, i had an induction, i had the balloon. It was all good, i didn't need any gas and air, it started contractions a few hours later. Felt like trapped wind (sorry tmi!)
I had the balloon for 24 hours and dialated quite well. Unfortunately there was no labour bed available for 2 days so i was kind of having to start from scratch.
All the best at your induction, it'll be ok xx

WomanAtWork · 08/08/2023 21:51

Two inductions, second one was a breeze. Pessary inserted, midwife said I was low risk so I could I leave hospital for a few hours and walk round the local shopping centre with DH. Got some nice bits in the sales and then came back to hospital when contractions were starting.

It was quite a long wait - I sent DH home to make dinner for dc1 while I watched Clueless on download. Then I put my rainforest track on and did my hypnobirthing breathing etc. Time passed - at 00.30 I asked for 2 paracetamol and slept for a bit.

At 3.30am I asked the midwife to check progress as I felt things were progressing - she actually refused and said I was no where close she could “tell” by the fact I was speaking normally and smiling (turns out hynobirthing relaxation works!!!). At 3.45 I called DH and said he should get his arse down to the hospital pronto. He arrived at 4.15am and he also said I didn’t seem ready. I yelled at him “I have done this before. Get. The. Bloody. Midwife. Or I will be giving birth here in the induction ward.” He dragged grumpy midwife back and she took one look at my lady bits and said “oh actually you are right - we need a trolley NOW”. All went a bit mad after that with a mad dash to get to a labour room but my dc2 arrived really fast and I was all done by 6am! It hurt. Not gonna lie. But it was something I could face doing again, not unbearable. All the pushing and stitches done on G&A (grade 3 tear due to fast delivery but overall a good outcome).

It was a great experience. What made it good, for me, was having my headphones on the whole time I was in hospital induction ward, doing things to make me relaxed and not listen to the sounds of pain from the other women in the ward with me. Relaxation, not worrying - that’s key!

So be confident: believe you can breathe through the contractions, believe the pain will be bearable and your dream might come true.

BorneoBound · 08/08/2023 21:54

I had an induction (pessary only) with DD. She was born 8 hours later. Pain wasn't as bad as my first labour with DS (hypnobirthing really helped). It was all very straight forward. Best of luck for the weekend

LeoEisor · 08/08/2023 22:02

I was induced on due my date pessary at around 9:30pm and then my daughter was born at 5:45 next day and was leaving hospital at 10:30pm.

Stay positive try to stay calm and not to stress about everyone's negative stories xx

LeoEisor · 08/08/2023 22:04

I also practised hypnobirth

muddlingthrou · 08/08/2023 22:15

I got induced for my DD after my waters broke. They gave me the pessary and said it probably wouldn't work and they'd be back with the drip after a few hours. Contractions started pretty quickly and I progressed fast. Almost made it without any interventions, but baby girl needed forceps for the final push. Overall, I'd say I had a v. Positive birth experience. The few days after the birth not so much, but that's completely unrelated to the birth, so I wouldn't be afraid of induction for induction's sake. All will be fine I'm sure! Enjoy meeting your little one x

Starlightstarbright2 · 08/08/2023 22:18

I had peasary . I was 39 weeks. Waters broke about 4 hours after pessary - I told the nurse I was having period pains she said that was good . Within 2 1/2 hours of waters breaking I gave birth with just gas and air .

fourlambbhunas · 08/08/2023 22:23

If you haven't already- do a deep dive into hypnobirthing! All I did was learn the breathing techniques, I didn't really do the meditation bits and relaxation methods as my brain is too busy for all of that! But the belly breathing made a huge difference to my labour!

Raggeo · 08/08/2023 22:51

I had an induction for my 2nd baby, and like you I was reluctant after hearing so many horror stories. My experience was very positive though. I had the 1st pessary around 9pm, and despite some cramping there was no progress, they gave me a 2nd pessary in the early hours of the morning and my waters broke at 5am. Baby born just before 8am. Labour progressed quickly and I was barely in the labour ward before baby arrived so only got gas and air at the end. Baby was small and it was my 2nd so I think that probably helped.
I think there are probably more positive stories than negative ones but we just don't hear about them.

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