Induction experiences first time mums?

[Mama2b99]

Any stories to share? Have mine booked in for saturday due to gestational diabetes ill be 40 weeks. Not sure what to expect and a little nervous..

I had the pessary and a sweep at the same time, 41+6 days though so think baby was more than ready. I kept moving throughout on the bouncy ball, all fours which helped baby descend. Try to keep moving if you can. My pain was all in my back! So water helped. Keep focussed on the end goal- keeping your mind strong is the main thing, your body can handle it!! Tell yourself you are built for this and trust within your body.

I had an induction with my first I was 36 weeks (medical reasons) & honestly I was so terrified after hearing horror stories, I had pessaries which did a little but I wasn't in full on labour. I was put on the drip & my waters were broken, the drip was painful I won't lie but I managed for hours on gas & air, I did eventually get an epidural. I had some complications with the drip affecting baby but they turned it down & all was ok. Baby made a very quick exit in the end, 2 pushes & he was here. All in all it was 20 hours & not horrible at all. I was induced with my 2nd as well & honestly that was great,a lot of laughs,smiles & nice delivery.

I was induced with the drip and hind waters being broken at just under 40 weeks, the drip was a shock I found it really painful so after a few hours asked for pai relief and went for gas and air. After several more hours with very little progress, despite having 3-4 contractions within 10 mins so very little break in-between, I had an epidural which was in place a few hours later. That worked well as I was still able to move my legs but fell asleep for a bit, woke up with pain coming back a couple of hours later but was manageable then had a very fast pushing stage and baby born fine, no interventions and very quick recovery. So overall it was positive, my main issues were the lack of movement (as I also had IV antibiotics in my other hand and the drip in the other so could only move around the bed, and monitor on my stomach which wasn't happy on the ball so I kept being asked to get back on the bed) and no option of water birth. I also had to have the injection to slow things down and drip turned down at one point.

I had the foley balloon induction method and it was very good in dilating me to a 4cm, where my waters could be broken.

Once you've got the pessary or foley balloon, try to keep as upright and active as possible as it helps you dilate quicker. I found doing laps of the hospital and stairs v good in dilating quicker!

Good luck lovely x

I had an induction with my 1st at 40+5 weeks. It was a pessary. They put the pessary in at about 11am in the morning and my waters broke at about 5am the following morning. Labour contractions quickly followed. I’ll be honest, there was no slow build to the contractions and they hit me like a truck. The pain felt the same at 2cm as it did at 6cm dilated, which is when I got the epidural- I think this was around 2pm. I was also vomiting a lot, however I am a sicky person and I can’t say that was caused by the induction. The epidural was absolute bliss and I then slept my way on and off until 10cm.

My baby arrived via failed forceps and an EMCS. However, I had some mild complications that couldn’t be helped and my baby had an absolutely massive head which got stuck (99th percentile head!).

My second baby is due any day now. I’ll be honest, I really don’t want to go through another induction. I have one booked for 41+3 weeks if I don’t go into spontaneous labour though.

Wishing you all the best! It seems like lots of people have a varied experience with inductions. It might be worth getting your cervix assessed and looking at your bishop’s score if you’re having any doubts about being induced at 40 weeks.

I was already 2cm dilated at 35+5 when I went in for mine. No pessarys or sweeps. Straight over to a Labour ward. Waters broke. They gave me a couple of hours to see if labour started naturally. It didnt. Started the drip and DS was born 6 hours later.

I was induced for medical reasons (pre-eclampsia) which made the induction a bit more intense.
I was told with pre-eclampsia the birth can happen quickly, although the midwives on the labour ward said because I had opted for the pessary, it could take up to 3 days for DD to be born!

They placed the pessary at 1.30am and by 5am I was having mild contractions.
6am the contractions were stronger but ill be honest, I thought it was just cramping from the pessary as the midwife wasnt fussed!
7am my waters broke naturally and the contractions were constant with zero break between them.
Midwife gave me paracetamol and laughed saying I wasnt in real labour and would struggle with the birth.
Eventually the midwife checked me and I was already 5cms dilated so rushed to delivery and baby was born at 8.50am!
I did have an episotomy due to babys heart rate dropping and other issues post birth.

It was ridiculously quick for me though, probably too quick if Im honest!
But I learnt that I should trust my judgement and should have been more forceful with the midwives when I felt something wasnt right.

I’ll spare you the details of why I’d never never agree to it again……
But I was induced with my first because my waters broke at 37+5 and nothing happened 🫠 not even a twinge of a contraction.
I was put on the drip 2 days later and it was thick and fast from there. She was born within 3 hours of the drip starting.
I am completely grossed out by the idea of an epidural….but it was glaringly obvious why my midwife said “we usually recommend an epidural at the same time as starting the drip” because good god 😵‍💫😵‍💫 I’ve experienced two spontaneous labours after that and spontaneous labour is nothing compared to induced labour!!! In hindsight? Should have got over myself and got an epidural 🫠🫠🫠

with my first I had the pressary at midnight. Contractions began about 8am. Waters broken at 5pm but he got stuck and had to have forceps. He was born at 8pm.

my second I had the pessary at 2pm. Nothing happened at all and had my waters broken at 7pm the following day. Baby born and a difficult labour with his heart rate dropping and he was born at 2:30am.

Hi OP, hope you’re feeling OK.

All three of my babies have been induced, so it’s all I know! First supposedly had a big head - though he actually didn’t, and with numbers two and three my waters broke and then nothing happened so there was an infection risk.

All were slightly different experiences in terms of how the induction happened, but all were essentially fine! Number two especially was great. I’d definitely recommend some strong pain relief like an epidural or remifentanyl if you need the hormone drip.

Wishing you all the best!

Honest answer...

I was induced at 39+2 for medical reasons. Pessary, then waters broke naturally a few hours later.

Nothing then for 24 hrs so was put on the drip which was awful tbh. I found I was stuck on the bed and couldn't move as I had the drip, and monitors were on baby, so wires both sides. Worked my way through gas and air, some sort of other painkiller, then epidural after having 4 min contractions. 2 failed epidurals then the consultant managed to get the third in.

Got to 9cm eventually, but then had to have an emcs as baby's heart rate kept dropping when they cranked the contractions up. Luckily that went smoothly and me and dc 1 both ended up well.

Decided against induction for dc2 and had an elective section, which was much less stressful.

I wish i had had a midwife coach me through breathing techniques etc when contractions on the drip started, as they took me by surprise being so strong from the start, and then i felt out of control. More info beforehand would have been helpful - i had no idea what to expect amd the midwife was completely uncommunicative.

I heard others with more positive experiences of induction than mine though - good luck OP!

I had a pessary at 40+5 with my first - my waters had broken a few days before but contractions were only every 10-20mins. I was 1cm dilated at about 2pm and the pessary acted instantly. I couldn't lie down and stay still for monitoring because the contractions were so strong so I had gas & air until they managed to get a read. Midwife then told us it was going to be hours yet, recommended we went for a walk, made it off the ward but I just couldn't go any further.

We went back and DH got the midwife. She told me the next morning that when I leaned over the bed to reach the g&a she saw the purple line on my back so offered to check me again. I was fully dilated so suddenly everyone sprang into action and I was taken to a delivery suite. 39mins of pushing and I had an episiotomy because I was tearing. DD was absolutely fine and we went home the next day.

Tbh it was a shock to my system and probably took longer to get over because of that. My notes have a total labour time of 1hr 40 although I'd been having contractions for about 24 hrs before that. A positive is that it was all over before I had time to think about it so just had to go with the flow!

I had an outpatient induction at 41 weeks at 8:30am, pessary was inserted. I was told that if it was working I would feel cramping and an appointment was booked for the next morning and midwife told me she would ring at 3pm to check on me.

At around 10:30am I started to get cramping as I was walking around the shops, I went home and tried to stay active as advised but the pain was getting worse and I wanted to lie down but couldn’t stay in the same position for too long. It then got to the point that I was questioning whether I was having contractions (first baby and I had no clue). The pain was intense and very close together. Timed and was every minute and a half. Rang the hospital who told me that the pessary was probably overstimulating me, asked if I had had paracetamol and to come in to be checked.

My waters went in the car as we entered the car park just before 4pm. We went to triage and were made to sit and wait in the waiting room, I was in lots of pain, sweating and couldn’t sit still, I told my partner to go and explain I couldn’t wait anymore and needed to be seen right away. I was then seen by a midwife and wad 6cm dilated and baby’s heart rate was low and dropping. I was then wheeled down the corridor to a delivery room. A minute later 12 people came into the room and told me I was going for an EMCS due to baby’s heart rate. I was then wheeled off to theatre. Just as they were about to put me under I got to 10cm so they abandoned the EMCS and were going for an episiotomy and forceps. The midwife closest to me told me to push as well as I could. I delivered DS after 3 minutes of pushing and had the episiotomy but avoided the forceps. DS was delivered at 4:59pm and was luckily okay after some oxygen, we just had to stay for monitoring.

I would personally have an induction again but not an outpatient induction. The pessary reacted really quickly with me and I ended up doing most of my labouring at home, but as a first time mum didn’t realise what was going on and I was told the process would be slow. Everything went from 0-100 after my induction and in the future I would feel better staying in the hospital.

How did the drip affect the baby?

It all happened pretty quickly for me to start with. In at 40w and had a pessary at about 6pm. By midnight I was pacing up and down thinking I needed the toilet and when I was checked I was 10cm dilated!! I was able to walk to the delivery room but things got a little slower and they gave me an oxytocin drip to speed up contractions but that made them more painful as I didn't get the chance to build up gradually (no pain relief) and they kept upping the dose. My son was born at around 9am.
I still think that if I had been left alone when I thought I needed the toilet I'd just have had the baby there and then!