Induction stories please :,(

[lovefromplum]

Hey mamas, we had a chat with our consultant today and as baby boy is measuring big and I had a previous shoulder dystocia with my first son, they are inducing me next week!

I'm absolutely heartbroken. I really wanted a home birtn but was told no due to my history. So settled for the birthing centre. Now I'm scared I'm going to be strapped to a bed with tons of medical intervention. The opposite of what I'd hoped for.

I'd really like to hear UK NHS induction stories please (good and bad) so I can prepare.

Thanks x

Hmmm. I will give you an honest experience and the reasons I think it happened. I do not wish to scare you but an informed decision is a sensible one.

I was induced due to reduced fetal movements. I was approx a week overdue but no LMP so we don't know. It was a first baby so no previous birth and my cervix had only experienced smear tests.

Pessary in on Tuesday 5pm. Contractions lasting 1 min 3-5 mins apart started wed morning 5am. Started small and grew in size/pain but always the same timing. Pessary taken out and Waters broken manually at 5pm (24 hours). Lots of meconium. Followed by decels so monitoring with the band and thing on their head and after 20 hours I had only got to 4cm. Ended in an emergency section. I remember them shouting "code blue, crash team" and rushing me to surgery. They didn't have enough time for an epidural.

I believe this happened because my body wasn't ready. I was contracting as the Pessary made that happen but it didn't kick start any of the other stuff that comes with that. I've had friends who have been induced for a second baby and one was fine with no worries and one had an amazing first birth but struggled with the induction.

If you have had one baby naturally, I think you have a much better chance of it going well. However, it sounds like this is a better option solely because the baby will be smaller? Is it not safer to allow the baby to fully develop and have a c section?

Pessary entered at midnight.
a very boring day/night. They went to change the pessary then realised i was already 4cm

all my contractions were in my back(this can happen with induction) so I just thought i needed a poo.
i’d asked for some pain killers but the drs were busy. They were ready to break my waters but they broke on the walk to the delivery room. Too late for any pain relief apparently so only had gas and air.

6 hour labour, 1.5 hours of pushing.
Baby had to be on constant monitoring as I GD so I wasn’t able to move around much.
I barely remember it just the relief of baby coming out
nothing to compare it to as it was my first birth. It could have been worse!

I was induced with my first and I can honestly say it was a wonderful experience. No, it wasn't what I had planned, but it was still a positive experience. I hate the blanket statement that all inductions are terrible.

I had a the pessary, which did nothing. Then I had my waters broken, which also did nothing. I ended up on the drip which gave me almost instant back to back contractions.

I had a great induction experience. Pessary in, baby in my arms less than 4 hours later, vaginal delivery completely straightforward and only a tiny tear. Good luck!

Induced with 1st, could walk around but I was attached to a drip so I guess a little restricted. Ended in section but not because of the induction. I think in these situations you need to trust the experts. Mums on here have laboured 1, 2, 3, maybe 4 or 5 times. The nurses and doctors see that many a day, every day of their working lives.

Make sure you are induced at the beginning of the week so that you don't give birth at the weekend.

Induced with my 2nd due to SGA.
Because she was my second they didn't try the gel, not sure why. So they went straight In with the balloon, waters broke within 5 mins (they said this was record speed), midwife them removed it and let me sit for a bit, maybe an hour, she came back and examined me and did a very cheeky unmentioned sweep at the same time! This was about 2pm in the afternoon, it wasn't painful at all, just a bit uncomfortable, then left me to hopefully start going into labor, I was having very far apart contractions so it got to about 10pm and they said that because my waters had broken they'd need to put me on the drip when there was space on the labor ward, there wasn't space until 4am so I had had a small amount of sleep.
Had the epidural, went on the drip and baby was out at 10am after 6 pushes, she was small bless her, this was at 38 weeks she was just under 6lb.

This birth was a million times nicer than my first birth which was spontaneous and I had no pain relief after getting to the hospital late at 9cm dilated.

If I ever had a 3rd baby I would totally go for an induction again. Best of luck OP, you will hear bad and good stories but remember the best part of an induction is that you are in the safest hands at all times.

I was induced 5 days early due to dd's size (small) and consultant unhappy with heart rate. I got to 10cm within 8 hours and very straight forward birthing stage, out in two pushes. Dd was absolutely fine despite worries during pregnancy. The only battle I had was the midwife basically didn't believe that I was progressing as fast as I was and tried to get me to breathe through contractions, and rolled her eyes when I asked for pain relief telling me that it was only for those in 'established labour'. I insisted on her examining me and she was quite surprised I was 5-6cm! I did get my gas and air after a while. I think the issue was I was on the post natal ward to be induced as the labour ward was full.

I was induced with my second and it was really positive. I had the gel and that was literally it - nothing else needed. Had a walk around the beautiful hospital garden (which I admit we were lucky to have!) while it kicked in and it was great being out in the sunshine.

Then I returned to my room with my music and birthing ball and when it got dark the midwives dimmed the lights so the room was nice and relaxing.

I pushed for 20 mins In a natural, upright position then my dd was born. She was passed straight to me and it was magical. All I needed was gas and air.

The only shit bit was when they manually broke my 'hind waters' but that was over in minutes and I got a second degree tear. Other than those 2 things though it went great and I'd do it all again tomorrow if I could. I appreciate not everyone gets this experience but I do think it's worth sharing as it can give some hope and show induction doesn't always equal scary. Good luck op

Forgot to add that at no point was I stuck to a bed or told I can't move around. I didn't need the drip though, only the pessary, so that may have changed things for me

Hi, OP

I was I induced due to the size of my baby, she was small. In on a Monday and given one pessary and had mild contractions. On Tuesday l asked for another as absolutely didn't want it dragging on for days. Second pessary in at 11am which really kicked things off. Dilated to 4 cm ( established labour) no time for anything other than gas and air. Baby born at 2.19 in the afternoon so 3hrs of labour and 19 mins of pushing and she shot out!!

It is your choice. You don't have to be induced if you don't want to. And you have the right to a home birth against medical advice too if a home birth service available. I'm not saying you should do that but it is worth doing your own research and making sure you are happy that induction best course of action.

I had shoulder dystocia with my first child (average sized) - I feel that induction was part of the cause. Second child I was offered induction so baby didnt get "too big" but felt confident to refuse. I had a very straightforward birth in Birth Centre.

Oh but to add in the induction with my first I wasn't strapped to bed - I could move around but not too far. If you go for the induction worth asking about different options for monitoring and thinking what you would be happy with and how to stay mobile.

And don't let anyone bully you to lying on your back if you don't want to.

Induced with second baby due to measuring small at 38 weeks. Pessary Monday. Slight contractions Tuesday that went away. Waters broken on midnight wednesday night. Nothing happened. Syntocin drip and then epidural about 02.00 ....( had had syntocin with first labour and no epidural, which wasn't great) so once contractions ramped up I had an epidural. Absolutely fine, few hours chill and baby born by 06.00 Thursday.

I had induction due to reduced fetal movement. Within 30 minutes I was in agony with contractions and was 6cm within the hour. Had to have waters broken. Labour lasted more than 24 hours and ended with all interventions short of an emergency cs. I won't lie it left me traumatised.

My son was born after a pessary induction for preeclampsia, it was a long, drawn out induction that took 29 hours total. Generally would not recommend but it wasn't awful by any stretch of the imagination. Had the epidural before they started the drip and I genuinely believe it did slow things down.

My daughter was born after a gel induction for the same reason. It was exactly the opposite of a pessary induction! They don't do pessaries in my trust anymore because it's such a low dose of hormones and has a high failure rate. Gel was a completely different ballgame. I don't think my experience is typical because the midwife said she'd come back and check my progress in two hours... My daughter was born an hour and 25 minutes after the gel was administered. She literally flew out! No time for any pain relief and actually, even though it was incredibly intense, it was nice to have it over and done with quickly.

Second degree tear after both, was released the day after my son's (epidural needed to wear off and I needed to be given blood clot medicine and blood pressure meds) and 3 hours after my daughter's birth but we stayed for 5 hours because 3am was not a suitable time to go home 🤣

Good luck, I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine ❤️

I was induced for a large baby for my second and it was actually a really positive experience. I had a sweep two days earlier and that got me to 3cm so I didn't need the pessary. I had to wait around for a free midwife for a while to break my waters, which didn't do anything, but once I'd started the drip I only had about two hours of contractions and three pushes before she was here.

I was on mobile monitors so able to use the ball and move around, and would have been able to use the pool if it hadn't gone so quickly I didn't have any time.

Good luck, and do see if you can get hold of the mobile monitors - my hospital only had a couple of sets so I made it really clear from the start I wanted to use them.

2 inductions here. First one was a gel induction as my waters had already broken but no contractions. Went from 0-100 within a few minutes. The gel caused me to over contract which wasn't ideal. Baby did get a bit distressed and my heart rate went very high (probably because of the shock, no build up etc) but it was over fairly quickly (6hours) and baby was born via ventouse and episiotomy. Couldn't have an epidural because of my heart rate so did it all on gas and air.

Second baby I was hopeful for a completely natural birth but baby had other ideas and needed to be forcibly evicted when I went overdue. I was very anxious about a repeat of the first induction. Didn't need the pessary as they said they could go straight to breaking my waters and the drip after 2hours if no contractions started. I asked for an epidural before they started anything and they agreed! It was a lovely pretty much completely pain free experience and baby was born no problems after only a few minutes of pushing. Complete opposite to what I had hoped for but I'm so pleased with how it panned out. My recovery was an absolute breeze second time as I didn't feel like I'd been hit by a bus and I was up and about straight away.

2 great inductions here.

With DC1 I was 2 weeks overdue and he showed no signs of coming out. I had the gel in the morning and told to come back in 24 hours as I’d likely need another dose. About 3 hours later contractions started (at home) and DC1 was born less than 3 hours later. I just about made it into the birthing pool to push and he was born 20 mins later. Only pain relief was gas and air for that last 20. It was incredible!! He was just under 9lbs.

I wanted a home birth with DC2 as DC1 had been so speedy, but they tried to dissuade me as DC2 was measuring big. My waters were broken during a sweep on my due date (I feel like they did it on purpose!) and they kept me in to see if I went into labour naturally. I didn’t after 12 hours so they gave me the gel again. This time contractions started about an hour later and baby born in the water about 1 hour 10mins after first contraction. She was 9lbs so not that big and I could totally have had her at home…

Anyway I just wanted to give a positive side. I had my dream water births both times. Best of luck!

Iv had 2 fast inductions at 37 weeks

First - 2 pessaries 6 hours apart; no pains until they broke my waters and baby born 2 hours later.

Second - they broke my waters then I went on the drip; 48 minutes worth of pain and labour and baby was born.

2 inductions here, both big babies over 10lb 1st one was long and drawn out but got there in the end, got an epidural as was so so tired as it was 36 hours. The second absolutely nothing happened in 1st 24 hours but they were then able to break my waters, gave me the drip which I then asked to be turned off as it was all too intense and had the baby a few hours later with no issues.
Hope all goes well

I was really hoping for a midwife led unit water birth, but ended up with an induction

I went straight to the drip and had IV antibiotics in one hand and the drip in the other, I asked for the mobile drip/monitor but was told it was broken. I had the stomach monitors on. I could walk around the bed but that's it, they did bring a birthday ball but I was regularly asked told to lie on the bed as the monitors were slipping.
It took a few hours before anything happened, but then contractions were quickly coming strong and close together, I was having 3-4 in 10 mins. I was struggling and after 6 hours I was still only 2-3cm. Due to the length of time since my waters broke a c section was mentioned and recommended I have an epidural to relax and in case any interventions were needed, I'd been avoiding it up until then as was worried my risk for forceps etc would go up, but I agreed. A couple of hours later the epidural was done and I could still feel and move my legs but most of the pain went and I was able to sleep propped up, I then felt a huge pressure and found I was pushing and mooing away, midwife came and could see baby's head. Baby was born after 20 mins pushing phase and only internal grazes/minor tears which were stitched, very quick and easy recovery. So overall I still found it to be positive!
Best of luck

The labour/birth was fine once I was attached to the drip. The gels didn't make me dilate even though I was in pain. It was a relief once I was on the drip and delivered my baby that night. I used gas and air and gave birth lying down but on my side. No forceps and didn't push for long. The labour was long - my first baby though and she was in a bit of a weird position.

I was induced with my baby 3 months ago and had no chemicals at all. I had the balloon to soften cervix, it fell out itself within an hour or two and then just had to wait until a midwife was free to break my waters. Once waters were broken, baby was here within 3 hours! Good luck but be prepared that I’ve heard a lot and experienced myself that even if your waters are ready to be broken, due to staffing and demand you can have to wait days to have them broken which can be very frustrating.

They inserted the pessary at 5pm, four hours later I started contracting, but only in my back. Eventually they got worse and worse until they were 2 minutes apart and unbearable. They checked me, took the pessary out, saw that I was 4cm. Taken to labour and delivery where I had the epidural (absolute lifesaver), and after that I had a very painless and chilled out labour, listening to music and chatting to my partner. Ten minutes of pushing, and little one was born at 11am the next morning. Had a lot of blood loss after the birth (2 litres) and needed two blood transfusions. But in terms of the actual labour, it was a good experience. Pushing her out was dead easy, even with the epidural.