What’s an early induction like due to large baby?

[theprincessthepea]

Baby is measuring large due to gestational diabetes and I’m told I could be induced at 37/38 weeks due to baby’s size.

I really don’t want to but also don’t want to wait until baby is too big.

What is an early induction like? Is it painful? Is it different to a later one? Is it worth waiting for natural labour?

I was induced at 37+3 (suspected big baby and incredibly high BP which has followed me postpartum) and had an assisted birth with forceps with an episiotomy and a spinal in theatre as my epidural had failed when I was fully dilated. I also lost 800ml of blood too.

However, unbeknown to me I was already 1cm dilated before I was induced so this worked in my favour as I had the Pessary and a stretch and sweep which progressed me to 3cm and I then could have my waters broken.

I was given paracetamol and codeine throughout the process too as I’ve heard some women not be offered pain relief and this really helped me. All in all my induction was successful, the contractions were extremely unbearable once my epidural had failed and at one point they had to turn off the hormonal drip because I was contracting too much.

Although classed as a traumatic birth and I now have a few issues postpartum I don’t think I would change being induced. I gave birth at 38 weeks exactly after waiting quite a long time for a bed on the delivery suite to our little girl who was 8lb 10oz and not the 9lb 6oz she was estimated at 36+6

I've had two early inductions for pre-eclampsia that resulted in decent sized babies for their gestation (7lb5 at 37+1, and 8lb1 at 37+6).

The main difference is that your body is far more likely to be unready for labour, so your Bishop score (how ready your cervix is for labour) is likely to be low. The score is an indicator of how likely an induction is to work. Below 6 means the induction has an increased chance of failing (15% of inductions fail with a score of 6 or less). Bear in mind that it's not a guarantee. I started with a Bishop score of 0 and 2 in my respective inductions.

The induction itself is also likelier to take longer, and to need the drip to start contractions. I had the drip both times.

Despite all this, I found both mine to be positive despite my second sounding a bit crap when written down. My first really was brilliant though.

Try finding an acupuncturist who specialises in pregnancy. They can help you prepare your body for Labour which might make induction easier, or preferably help you go naturally without intervention.
Induction experiences are different for every woman, so it’s very hard to predict.