Is induction common and why?

[lilseb]

I gave birth last month and has to be induced with oxcytocin drip due to waters breaking first and infection risk due to group b strep. In my very small sample group of mums I know who gave birth around the same time - i think about 11 of us - all of us were induced. Only 1 other was in similar circumstances to me, most others were because of babies being late (we're all mostly FTM)

I would say I had a relatively positive birth and induction, although everyone else seems to have had a bad time. I'm just amazed its been so common? Is this just anecdotal or is induction pretty common now? And why- i understand stillbirth risk in delayed babies but if its that common for first babies to be born surely induction shouldn't be jumped to so often.

Induced both mine at 38 weeks.

Second DC I had the same as you except the oxytocin didn't work after about 48 hours, turned out there was still waters to be released so they released with a crochet hook thing and it hurt like worse than any of it, and then contractions went nuts because they'd pumped me so hard with the O for so long. I then needed this dialled back and other meds to counter the O to the point where I was in total shock and throwing up all the time ...it was a real balls-up on the part of the hospital tbh.

First DC was induced due to Obstetric Cholestasis and really bad bloods and I do think we had a chance of a still brith has we not agreed to the induction. Second DC, I just wish they had known what they were doing it would have saved a whole lot of time and trauma.

I think inductions and all interventions on Labour are getting to be way too common these days. Including c sec for no real reasons.
I understand electives are a choice and thats fine, as can epidurals be as helpful as they can be a hindrance sometimes. however I think they are so fast to be chosen or pushed toward by hospitals these days that women aren't allowed to actually be strong and capable in labour anymore, to the detriment of the woman and having to suffer unnecessary birth trauma.
All this to say, some people obviously very much do need the extra assist in birth, or Cs.
But I think it's mostly just a conveyer belt issue, and needing women in and out as quickly as possible.
I almost had to kick a doctor away because he was insistent that I needed an episiotomy and forceps delivery. I did not. She was born no tears not even 2 minutes later. This is also the child that doctors insisted needed a c section booked early due to things they didn't even have actual evidence for.
My sister gave birth a handful of months ago, and was on an oxytocin drip almost as soon as she got to the hospital after spontaneously going into labour. Its mad to me! But perhaps I just have a skewed view on it 😅

I had inductions for both of my births and in my NCT for my first born the majority were also induced. I think it’s because policy within the health service is based on overall statistics and aimed at reducing the total number of fatalities across the whole health service. So if you have any kind of condition or characteristic where the risk of stillbirth increases progressively in the late stages of pregnancy, even if only by a tiny amount, they will recommend induction. I imagine that policy probably does save some lives when taking into account the thousands of babies that are delivered every year. However, for many individual cases, the increased risk associated with not inducing are actually really small.
That’s how I understood it when I was pregnant anyway. I didn’t feel that I was forced into having inductions at all, but I was very anxious about the births particularly in my first pregnancy and didn’t really dare go against the official advice.

Seems to be very common, as well as c sections. I remember when I was giving birth there was a board and it said c section and vaginal were 50/50. They don't want to take any chances so they'll induce or c section to speed things up in most cases

Yes I did NCT and despite everyone wanting a natural birth and coaching on approaching induction we were all induced. Although advice from classes to ask to wait between gels/balloons seems to have helped others.
It's hard because its posed as a choice but very hard to say no if doctor says you're taking risks, no one wants to harm baby. With mine I suggested delaying induction because I was already 2cm dilated and having contractions, suddenly got doctor and head midwife in my room steamrolling me and scaring us.

That sounds utterly horrible 💐

Failed induction. Doctors encouraged me to have a c-section as soon as they saw me, each day I was there. Midwives said to wait & see what happens. EMCS in the end. Knowing what I know now… I would have had a c-section on day one. But, everything worked out. Induction was age-related, for me.

With my first baby I was told the baby had stopped growing/low birth weight etc.. I feel I was pressured as a first time mother into having induction. It ended up that induction failed, baby in distress and EMCS. Baby weighed 6lb 10oz and both myself and her father are small. One of the health visitors I saw after she was born commented that the hospital had a high rate of c-sections.

My two labours were induced, 21 and 19 years ago. Both were 42 weeks + and I showed no signs of going into labour with either. Sweeps didn't work, nor all the usual advice. I had gel pessaries with both, labour started within 12 hours, DS1 (8lb 12) born about 18 hours after induction, DS2 (9lb 13) around 16 hours, he was a water birth which was brilliant. Induction led to safe deliveries, healthy babies. Both waters had to be broken.
I can't know what won't happened without intervention, but it felt like the right decision.

I asked for an induction at 41 weeks. “A few extra stillbirths” per several thousand doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s beyond horrific if it happens to you.

I loved my epidural and it made me “strong and capable” to no longer be lying in a crumpled heap screaming my head off in agony. I only had the pessary, but my daughter was back to back and the pain was indescribable.

My grandmother had life changing injuries from giving birth to my mother at home (hospital was not a choice where she was). I’m hugely grateful for the interventions that are available to me in a hospital and weren’t available to her then.

A summary of the Swedish study on inductions at 41 weeks vs expectant management. I remember it well because my husband chanced on it as I was being induced with my daughter.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/20/induction-recommended-for-women-still-pregnant-at-41-weeks

I hadn’t read this when I requested my induction, but I was 37 and felt very strongly that I wasn’t waiting beyond 41 weeks.

Even if the risk of not inducing is small, it's the consequences that are devastating. Who's taking on that responsibility? That's how I look at it. I don't necessarily agree, and wish it were different. I feel like pregnancy and birth is going to be 100% medicalised in the future, and we'll have lost all faith in nature and our bodies. Sounds so clinical and uncaring, but we live in a litigious society and I do think that is the driving force behind medical staff's decision making. Not sure what the solution is.

I would hope the driving force is trying to keep as many babies as possible safe, and no one has more of a vested interest in this than us, the parents. The most devastating consequences of the loss of a child are for its parents - never mind the medical litigation.

I don’t think nature or our bodies are made particularly for every baby we carry to survive. If you look back to a time before these much maligned medical interventions, it was pretty common for women to lose babies (one or several) to stillbirth- or lose their own lives. Thankfully this level of infant and maternal mortality is no longer acceptable to us as society, hence why taking that level of risk isn’t acceptable either.

I agree the driving force is to decrease stillbirths. While the overall risk may be low for many people being induced the effect of a single stillbirth is obviously devastating.

An increase could also be due to increasing number of pregnant women with risk factors for stillbirths (being older, high BMI etc).

Hi, with my eldest I was induced at 38+2 as I had lots of episodes of reduced movements. He had an infection when born and was in NICU for 3 days!

Obviously it’s important to remember that induction can only be done if the woman agrees and gives permission, so more women being offered induction isn’t a bad thing- choice is good.

One thing that’s taken me by surprise (as someone who had a baby in 2011) is how prevalent c-sections are now. Recently it has felt like every single friend/family member/acquaintance who’s give birth has had a c-section. I looked up stats and it’s 42% of births! So creeping up to half of births. I’m sure when I gave birth it was something like 20%. If the pattern continues it will soon be the main mode of birth.

I recommend listening to the midwives cauldron episodes on induction to understand more about the significant increases in medicated birth over the past few decades.

There are several episodes, I particularly enjoyed the one from the baby's perspective.

https://themidwivescauldron.buzzsprout.com/

Rachel Reed wrote a blog on PROM too, which may interest you given that is the reason you had one.
https://www.rachelreed.website/blog/prelabour-rupture-of-membranes

Another interesting read:

https://www.sarawickham.com/research-updates/routine-induction-in-healthy-women-not-supported-by-evidence/

I was recently induced. I was told they wouldn’t advise me to go past my due date due to it being an ivf pregnancy and a slightly increased risk of stillbirth. It did result in a horribly quick labour with no time for any pain relief but I wouldn’t change it to be honest. There is no way I would take the risk of not getting one when it is advised by doctors, but that’s just me.