Induction tips

[Millenialmom96]

I have an outpatient induction booked for tomorrow due to being overdue. I am nervous as I've had 2 failed sweeps but at the last one was told my cervix was softening.

Any advice?

Walk, walk, and walk some more. Keep upright and walking (when not being monitored, of course). And bounce on a birthing ball.

I was induced at 3pm (one lot of gel) and that was it - in labour by 6pm and had her by midnight. So many around me stayed lolling around on the bed when not on the monitor. I truly believe that keeping upright and active does wonders

I agree with pp keep up and keep moving, bounce on the birthing ball and go for walks. Good luck!

I had my pessary inserted at 6am, went back to sleep for 2 hours, at 8 I got up, showered then started walking! Round and round the maternity ward, up and down stairs. Contractions started.

At 1pm I was 1cm. Very unhappy.

Kept walking. At 5 I felt very "heavy" down there and went to delivery. I was ready to push, and dd2 was born at 6pm.

I think the walking was pivotal, but also that 2 hour nap from 6-8am let the pessary really work against my cervix.

I was also only 36+6 (induced as I had a kidney problem caused by pregnancy) which makes induction harder, but I had given birth vaginally twice before and the midwife told me your body kind of remembers what happened before.

Hope all goes smoothly and you have fun getting to know your wee one xx

How pregnant are you? If it's literally just for the date on the calendar, don't bother. You won't be pregnant forever. Baby releases something from their lungs when they are ready to be born that sets off labour. Sweeps only 'work' if you are going into labour on your own anyway.

Maybe she is overdue. Better out than in

All well and good but overdue on the NHS is getting closer and closer to 40+1! Which is ridiculous. I don't believe upwards of 60% of women need inducing. You aren't overdue until 42 weeks. 41 weeks is your due date in France I believe.

My NHS Trust won't let you go more than 10 days over, which is good. 42 is ridiculous in my eyes. Dangerous

Statistically no more dangerous than 37 weeks

Echoing the walk, walk, walk message.

I went round and round the hospital so many times while I was waiting about.

Take chargers for when you want to just lay down and watch something on your phone or tablet. Take cards/cash so you can go to the little shop for snacks and magazines to give yourself somewhere to walk to and walk round. They also don't really feed you in the hospital so it's good to have access to snacks.

Pessary inserted, alternated between walking and snoozing for 24 hrs, then I was checked and they were able to break my waters. DD was born 4 and a half hours later

I've had three inductions. Walking up the stairs sideways seemed to do the trick!

OP hasn't been back to the thread since this morning, so hopefully in labour!

I had two inductions. Walk sideways upstairs yes! stay calm honestly inductions get a bad press, but my second was a breeze and i did on 2 paracetamol and gas&air. If you believe it won’t be awful it is less likely to be!

Also I downloaded some funny movies and also some rain/birdsong soundtracks on my phone and took earbuds so when I wasn’t walking I’d didn’t have to listen to people screaming in pain in the other 3 beds of the ward, I could zone out and focus on breathing.

I was induced at 38+2 for slowed growth and reduced movements. Told to pack for five days. Pessary in at 5pm, contractions an hour later. Only thing with me was that my uterus was hyper stimulated and contacting too much. Initially the staff rely on your feedback about the contractions, but when I said how frequent they were I was then on the monitor with one to one care while they tried to slow them down. So my main tip would be that if they are coming faster than three in ten mins tell someone! It's serious. Mine were six contractions in ten mins for reference.
All ended fine though - just as it was looking like a c section for fetal distress they managed to break my waters and she was born 40 mins later, six hours after arriving at hospital. Didn't even get to read my trashy mags!

Hi all, no baby yet I've spent today doing lots of walking and crocheting trying to zone into a positive mindset. But I really appreciate all the tips and it is making me feel a lot more prepared for what is to come tomorrow.

You will only go into labour if you let your natural oxytocin flow. So do things you love, relax, be happy, be pampered and good luck!

You don't sound very informed at all. What a shame.

How do they “not let you” go over that gestation? Arrest you at home, take you into hospital, tie you down?

they may recommend you not go over T+10, but that’s not the same as not letting you. 🫤

I was induced with the drip and wasn't able to walk far at all as I had the drip IV on one side and I've antibiotics on the other, plus the stomach monitors so I felt quite tethered to the bed! I could stay on my feet though and they brought a ball to the side of the bed
While I was waiting for it to kick in I did lots of movements on the ball but also tried to relax
I agree with a pp I had 4 contractions every 10 mins and finally after 6 hours of that they turned the drip down

Breathe in for 4 out for 8 during contractions. Can't tell you how much this helped me during my second labour. Also inductions don't always take ages, my first was 2 hours my second was 48 mins from first pains.