Induction/prenatal ward

[Lyndyloo123]

Hi all,
can anyone who’s had an induction please let me know how their experience was on the prenatal ward? My cervix is fully closed, so I’m preparing to be spending a long time on the prenatal ward - is it possible to get any sleep overnight (bit concerned about being awake for 2/3 days straight and then being too exhausted for labour), do partners generally come and go a bit (eg get showered/ fresh clothes)?

im being induced as the baby is showing as small on scans (6lb at 39 weeks, previously 5lb1 at 37 weeks).

TIA,
Linda

I had an induction. I was lucky I was in my own room. My induction took ages so I would be prepared for 3 days possibly 4. Because if emergencies come in they will delay you.

In the hospital I was in had bays and a few rooms. They kept the in patients away from those just coming in and out of triage
Take your pregnancy pillow, slippers and dressing gown and ask hubby to bring in fresh clothes daily.
Hope that helps.

I went from pessary to birth in 5 hrs but apparently am an anomaly. The speed wasn’t good, they managed my pain relief poorly as didn’t expect it to happen so fast. Broken coccyx as a result too (or of the forceps).

That's not small. Both my babies were born at 6lbs1 (40w) and 6lbs7 (41+5) and there was no mention of 'small babies'. I had home births!

I would seriously consider the risks of induction before consenting.

Are there any other risk factors for you or baby?

At the hospital I was in, everyone being induced had their own room during the induction process. Some had their own bathrooms too but I didn't and had to use the main ward loo. My DH stayed with me throughout (we brought spare clothes/toiletries etc for him with us). I'm sure it would have been fine to sleep there (depending on how bad the contractions were) but as it turned out, I wasn't there overnight.

My cervix was completely closed too (despite being nearly 42 weeks) so I was also fully expecting to be there for a few days before my DS appeared. How wrong I was! I had hyperstimulation so my contractions came on quick and fast and my cervix dilation just couldn't keep up with the pace. I ended up having an emergency c-section 13 hours after the induction process started and I got to meet my beautiful DS a couple of days earlier than expected. So my first night was actually on the postnatal ward (in a shared room).

I'm not saying this to worry you or anything, hyperstimulation is rare and it was actually a really positive birth experience and healing process afterwards, but just wanted to share my experience so you are prepared that it might happen a lot quicker than you think! Every birth experience is so different though. I thought we were in for the long haul and we took so much stuff with us, but didn't end up using or needing half of it (I didn't get to watch anything I'd downloaded to the iPad 😂).

Wishing you the best of luck for the birth!

thank you, this is useful - hubby seems to think he shouldn’t leave me at all, but I think it’s not quite dawned on him how long i could be there. Trying to convince him to go home for some zzz, and yes, clothes for me if it’s going to be days. Thank you xx

I agree 6lb isn’t esp small - there’s no other risk factors, they suddenly became concerned at 37 weeks because the growth scan showed baby has dropped from 20th to 10th centile. I have alternate day monitoring and ctg is fine.
we spoke to a dr about the growth (although not a consultant yet) and unfortunately he wrote in my notes that he’d explained there’s a risk of stillbirth if I go beyond 40 weeks. We don’t feel this was stated verbally tbh, I guess it must have been implied but it wasn’t explicitly said. But as it’s written in my notes now, I do feel quite pushed into the induction, would never forgive myself if something happened now xx

I had a Pessary went home for 24hrs back in for a check cervix was still closed went home for another 12hrs still closed after that and was put on the list for an induction I asked to go home because they couldn’t tell me when it would be the midwife said 3hrs or 3 days I was able to go home get some sleep and got a phone call 12hrs later asking to come in. Went straight through to delivery suite to have a drip induction. Definitely ask if you can go home because it was much nicer!

Thank you for sharing this, it’s good to know it can happen fast even with a closed cervix. It does sound as though the hormone drip can cause hyperstimulation. Im hoping by my next monitoring appointment on Friday that my cervix is open a bit and they can do the sweep just to maybe help things along, im not sure how likely that is to change in 38 hours though…
thats great you had your own room and hubby could comfortably stay with you if need be, it’s a ward at my hospital though, I’ve been warned to expect delays due to how busy they are unfortunately xx

I have had two op, both didn’t take too long. First baby was the longest and I had to get the tampon thing in then gel the following day which put me into Labour within six hours. Second time was just gel and she flew out 😅 first birth I needed forceps, second birth they didn’t realise I was even in Labour despite me politely mentioning I felt the head coming out 😂I didn’t want the induction the second time but still birth was mentioned and despite the risk being small I knew I would worry so just went along with it.

That’s great you could go home! I’ll def ask, I did ask at an appointment the other day and they said no, I think because the baby is on the small side. I’d had no examination though so they wouldn’t know if they’d use dilapan or a pessary yet, il def ask though 🤞

I had 3% baby, 5lb6 at 37+4. All healthy, they'd been small throughout.

Remember, you can ask to wait. It is your choice. They follow protocol and will advise based on that. It is research based, so I'd not delay too far to be safe. (I was booked for induction 37+0 but pushed back)

My hospital had no visitors after 6pm or 7pm, I can't quite remember. In the afternoon, one husband was watching footy on his phone with the sound audible. Twat. Bring headphones in case.

As you are the patient,you'll be monitored every 3-4 hours. Blood pressure, heart rate and Doppler on baby. It is possible to sleep around this.

Good luck!

It is small. Your 41 weeker was on the 4th centile. Out of 100 babies, 96 would’ve been bigger than them. Size is a concern as a very small baby may not be getting enough blood via the placenta, and may struggle with labour.

I was induced at 39 weeks, I was 1-2cm when they put the pessary in, had 12 hours of contractions which were pretty much back to back, so they took the pessary out thinking my body would just carry on, and it didn't, everything stopped. I was then in a queue waiting for a space on labour ward to have my waters broken. Sleep was an issue at night with women going into labour, so I tried to catch up where possible in the day, but most nights my Dd's heart rate was low, emergency cord pulled, moved me into a different position and all fine, so back to waiting, so I then was put on the monitor for four hours three nights in a row, from around 3am. I was on the induction ward for five days in the end waiting, and think it would have been longer had her heart rate not dipped again but stayed dipped for 8 mins. So emergency cord pulled again and this time rushed round to labour ward. Just bank sleep where you can, I was so tired during labour, but thankfully it was 5 hours from start to finish, so I was lucky in that respect. Would recommend ear plugs.

If the doppler is fine decline induction.

Honestly I didn't get much sleep, but that's because it was hotter than the fires of hell and I don't do well with heat so I spent most of the night wandering the halls in seek of air con (then i snuck out and went for a wander round outside and nipped to Tesco local for some provisions at 3am).

It wasn't that long a process for me though. Had the pessary inserted and waited 24 hrs, at that point they were able to break my waters which immediately kick started everything and 4 and a half hours later DD was born.

You should seriously reconsider. You haven't even had a discussion with a consultant.
This is your birth!
Your cervix is not ready for labour and if you end up in an emergency section because of this any subsequent pregnancies will then be at a higher risk.

Growth scans this late on are even less accurate than they are already. I'd bet my house your baby's head has engaged into your pelvis.

This is a big deal, so advocate for yourself lady! This is your body and your baby, and the safety of your future babies and outcome of future births.

Oh and husband was allowed in when I was having contractions as long as he was quiet and otherwise visiting was 10am - 10pm

My induction I had the pessary and they admitted me to the ante-natal ward. I was in a bay of 4. Me and another woman were both being induced and two women opposite were in for monitoring. It was noisy at night, take some ear plugs if you can. The woman next to me who being induced was hyper stimulated and refusing pain relief.

I had my pessary in at 4pm on the Friday and my cervix was closed. Nothing much happened overnight but I became quite swollen and the pessary had slipped. I asked them to reinsert it at 5am and was due to have it out at 4pm. Contractions started just before 11am. I asked for the pessary out at 1pm - my cervix was still closed. Waters broke at 2pm and I got admitted to delivery at about 5pm when I was 8cm. Baby arrived at 10.30pm with a vaginal birth with no further interventions and gas and air, and codeine.

The downside of ante-natal for me was because they didn’t offer pain relief beyond paracetamol and codeine. Trying to get on delivery was a bit of a nightmare as they didn’t think I was far along. Then when I got to delivery I was too far along for anything else.

Put a few bags in the boot of your car. So have a bag with a couple of days of clothes for you, your labour stuff and baby’s stuff. A bag for DH which should include snacks, drinks and painkillers for him. If you’re in for a few days, take labour bag and baby bag out of your main bag and get DH to swap your old clothes in the boot and bring the new clothes in.

I was in one of those rooms for over 3 days. It was hell. I was in with 5 other women and sometimes their husbands. Most people were induced and started labour, so I was surrounded by the noise of all that which was very unpleasant. I could hear all the moans even with my noise cancelling headphones. Mine didn’t work well so I was there for longer plus emergencies came in and I had to wait. Hopefully your experience will be better.

For my induction I was on a ward that had a section for women being induced there was 4 of us in the induction bay.
After I give birth I was brought back to the same ward but put in my own room.

Please remember that advocating for ourselves regarding labour and birth doesn't always mean refusing interventions. OP has already said she would be concerned turning the induction down and pressure from others to refuse induction can be just as stressful as the pressure from medical professionals to opt for them.

@DinkyDinos I stand by my comment.

Her words were 'I do feel quite pushed into the induction.'

Her notes do not reflect the consultation she had, that means the reg lied.

At best this requires a consultant appointment to discuss further.

She's 39+ she'll labour soon anyway.

If I was OP, I would want to feel absolutely certain that the very real risks that come with induction of labour outweigh the risk of doing nothing.

I'd hedge my bets and say that the reg didn't even discuss the risks of induction with OP?

@Lyndyloo123 My hyperstimulation was from the pessary alone, I never even got to the drip! It's crazy how everyone's body responds to things differently.

Things can change so quickly so fingers crossed things would have started happening for you by Friday!

I was induced and in full on labour in 2 hours 🤣 no one around as Covid but that was fine, baby came via emcs 10 hours later. It seems to go either v v fast or v v slow. They tried to induce me at 36 weeks due to suspected small baby but I held out and got to 42

I was induced with the drip and straight into my own delivery room, partner came and went as we had pets especially a diabetic elderly dog who needed looking after at home. Nothing happened for me on the first night before the drip was placed (my waters had already broken at this point) but I had IV antibiotics every 4 hours so was woken through the night and the delivery bed wasn't very comfortable
The drip placed the following day and labour started soon after, baby born round 11 hours later
I was really hoping to avoid an induction and declined initially but for me contractions just never started on their own more than 12 hours after waters broke so I accepted the drip
Best of luck!