Induction or C-section second birth

[Mamadrinkscoffee]

I know there are various threads around this topic and there's no way to know how it's going to go, but I'm so torn what to do with my 2nd pregnancy.

I was adamant to wait for spontaneous labour during my first pregnancy to give myself the best chance to deliver with minimal medical interventions. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards for me, baby went overdue and although labour started on its own it never progressed and I ended up getting induced, had bad post partum hemorrhage, blood transfusion and a long and painful recovery.

Here I am again with baby no 2 on the way, currently no major complications baby measuring 90 percentile at 33 weeks, head down all looks normal, except for slightly raised amniotic fluid. Getting glucose test tomorrow to rule out GD diabetes. Hoping it will go okay, but obviously that might limit my choices.

Assuming GD is not an issue and everything else is fine, what would you do? Hope for another/ better spontaneous labour? Get an early induction? Get a planned C-section? Appreciate there are risks and benefits to all options and it's hard to know, but I'm so stressed at the moment and can't think what would be the least risky option for me and the baby...

I haven't had a vaginal birth so can't comment on that part. I had an emergency section and would 100% have a c section next time. Wouldn't consider VBAC. I like the idea of knowing when my baby's coming. First time I went in to be induced but ended up breaking my waters instead, long labour lots of complications ended in c section anyway. The recovery is hard but as long as you have support around you it's ok

I am in pretty much the same situation, was induced with my daughter who is now 1, needed episiotomy & forceps, also ended up with a tear & a big PPH & was on sepsis pathway. It certainly wasn’t the birth I wanted but I do consider myself very lucky that I actually didn’t find the recovery too bad despite all the issues, at least not as bad as others have found it.

I’m now 4 months pregnant with baby number 2 and my midwife asked me if I would prefer an elective section due to a really quite traumatic first birth, I am high risk this time for various reasons which mean I’m unlikely to be allowed to wait and go spontaneously so it will be a choice between a section and another induction.

Despite the bad experience the first time personally I would choose another induction over a section. I had a birth debrief which looked at the potential “what went wrongs” so I feel more informed this time to make better/different decisions, I have done a lot of research and because your body has done it once before a second induction is typically quicker & easier, and I accept that even if I ended up having exactly the same experience again I would still prefer that to a section. My logic there though is that for me personally my recovery was manageable, I was really quite unwell in terms of sickness/exhaustion, but painwise it really wasn’t too bad, I was out and about a few days later and I am confident I could still pick up my 1 year old. A section would be my absolute last resort purely because of the recovery and the impact it would have on my ability to look after and carry my eldest. That may be different for you if you have an older child or had a more difficult recovery though x

Planned section. My first was an induction. Fairly large baby, 2 weeks over and very long and difficult labour. It was awful. 2nd baby was IVF (after multiple rounds). I was much older and baby measured big throughout pregnancy (ended up being 10lb). I asked for a planned section as I wanted to feel I had some element of control and couldn't face another induction. My section was great, it was definitely the right decision for me. I didn't actually find the recovery that much harder.

Thank you that's really helpful. What sort of things would you do different this time round?

Sorry the question was aimed at Mrsttcno1

Induction has a very rate of ending up with a c-section, so maybe talk it over with your midwife, that you would be ok with going into labour naturally but if you are overdue and they want to induce you , then you would prefer a c-section ?

So for me personally I’d have made a few different decisions.

I was already having some irregular contractions when I started being induced so when I was given the gels to start off that caused hyper-stimulation which sent baby into distress- that distress was a huge factor in what forced everything that happened after that. I now know really I shouldn’t have had the gels, they are known to cause hyper-stimulation if already contracting, I didn’t know that at the time, this time with that knowledge I’d be able to make an informed choice. I’d have the rods straight away instead and stay at home as long as possible- I had the rods after the gels and waters broke within the hour.

I was started on the drip very quickly after my waters broke, wasn’t phrased as a question by midwifes it was more a “we’re going to do this now”- wasn’t until my debrief when she asked why I’d had the drip started so soon after that I realised I had a choice! She said she would always give 2-4 hours after waters breaking before starting drip to give your body a chance to do it yourself, now I know that I’d do that this time. The drip sent baby into really severe distress, her heart rate reached urgent point which was what forced the cut, tear & forceps, she had to come out ASAP, maybe if I’d been left to give my body a chance that wouldn’t have been needed.

I was restricted massively during my labour by the monitors being on so was stuck on the bed a lot more than I’d have liked- I never knew until my debrief that the hospital have bluetooth wireless monitors and so I could have been up & around- would do that next time!

There’s lots of other little things I’d do differently now I have more knowledge, maybe none of it would make any difference whatsoever and I could have the exact same experience again. That’s the risk I’ll take though, as I say I’d still choose the recovery I had again over a c section recovery. It’s a very personal decision x

Thank you that's really helpful! I can't totally see how these changes could make the induction experience a lot more pleasant and it does feel like they were rushing you without informing you and giving you a choice at that point. Hoping the second birth will go a lot smoother and you can be more in control! Thank you for the detailed feedback! X

My consultant midwife told me that the second vaginal delivery (if you had a vaginal delivery 1st time round) is the easiest birth you'll ever have. In my case, it was true. First contraction to birth around 4hrs, active labour 1hr whereas my eldest's labour was around 14hrs. I have friends who had an even shorter active labour. I nearly had a c section with DD2 as she was breech - i went into spontaneous labour, rushed to the hospital for a section and she had turned herself at some point in the previous 24hrs. I had a vaginal delivery and the recovery was very easy.

Having had a toddler and a newborn, I'd also say avoiding a tricky c section recovery is absolutely a bonus. I remember climbing over our bed to get something for DD1 and my dad making a comment about how I wouldn't have been doing that if I'd had a section. And it would have been so true!

You could also ask for a birth options session with the consultant midwife. Mine was 90mins long, she went through my whole history of my first pregnancy, then issues in my current pregnancy and helped me come up with a plan. Our plan was book the c section but me doing all the things to help breech babies turn (except for ECV which i declined). My choices were also impacted by the fact I had high BP which turned into preeclampsia. For you, for example, you might say that you want to try spontaneous labour up to 40w but you don't want to go overdue so plan a c section for 40+2 or something (just as an example - not my advice!). But talking it over with someone independent and knowledgeable was so helpful.

I think that's what I was thinking and when I spoke to the consultant not long ago, they were ok with that and said that ultimately the choice is mine and gave me some more information around the cesarean section to read through. Which obviously has some pretty scary risk factors listed. I understand that they need to highlight risks, but it does feel like they don't highlight the risks of inductions as much 😅

I have had two inductions.

No 1 - first pregnancy, induced for pre-eclampsia. Pretty straightforward. Induced Friday night, baby was delivered by ventouse early Saturday evening.

No 2 - third pregnancy, induced for large baby. Induced Friday afternoon, baby delivered by emergency c-section early Tuesday morning - after getting to 10cms dilated and pushing for ages. 5 days of induction was exhausting. I wish I had just gone for the c-section! Recovery was a breeze, almost less pain than my second vaginal birth where I had stitches and felt like I'd been in a car accident as every muscle hurt.

I would only be having a CS if I or baby absolutely needed one. The second you get hime you will have not one but two very young children to care for, the eldest of which will be harder than the younger. They will need lifting, changing, playing with, they will jump on you, they will want you to come to their rooms and you will not be able to take 10 minutes to get out of bed to do it!