Trying to avoid induction

[Teeganselina]

Hi all, I’m 35 weeks pregnant with my first and have GD currently diet controlled, they want to induce me at 39 weeks which I’d really like to avoid if possible as just feel as though it’s a long tiring process for my body, any experiences welcome!

my midwife have advised they will allow me to have stretch and sweeps from 37 weeks to bring on that way and my question is do you think this is likely to work being my first pregnancy, baby has been head down since 30 weeks.

are there any other tips I can try to bring on naturally along side stretch and sweeps?

thanks

@SlayTheJAway So it would appear. It’s interesting how many babies have been harmed because mums don’t understand the dire consequences of poor decisions.

I had a sweep at 36+6 and this put me into the early stages of labour although I had been having contractions since 32 weeks
I was induced the next day at 37+0 and baby arrived the following day after a relatively straightforward induction

Unfortunately from my experience nothing helped me to induce labour. I was eating 6 dates a day and drinking raspberry leaf tea from 36 weeks. I had sex past my due date, had a sweep on my due date, ate spicy curry, on my pregnancy ball everyday and walked loads. In the end I had an induction at 41 + 5 days. Baby arrived naturally with no further intervention 23 hours later after pessary was first inserted. Labour was intense but short. I went from 2cm to 10cm in 3 hours. (Maybe the dates/raspberry leaf tea did help) Obviously do what you can but don’t get too worked up about it. Baby will come when ready and my experience with an induction was positive.

You need to ask about your personal risks, to you and to baby, considering you have GD. Then weigh these up against risks of induction. No one on mumsnet can advise of personal risks to you, they don’t have your medical info.

@BeigeBanana What about the risk to the baby? Often individuals are not in the best place to weigh up risks when they won’t accept anything contrary to their wants when there were no risks present.

I mentioned risks to both mum and baby in my post.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner BeigeBanana has literally typed 'risks to you and baby'.

I think you've scared off OP with your suggestions that she is going to ignore medical advice and accusing other posters of encouraging her. Rather than sharing positive stories to balance the negative perception of inductions always being awful!

You do realise that an enormous amount of women used to die in childbirth?

I think most women want a natural birth, but the stats show that for women with GD it's safer to induce after 39 weeks rather than manage. Why on earth would anyone want to put their child at risk just so they can say that they've had a natural birth?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3403365/

If you have time to read, I'd recommend Sara Wickham's book on induction, it's not very long. It is very useful.

I had sweeps from 38 weeks as I didn’t want an induction, and my waters broke 2 days after the second sweep, then baby came 30 hours later in a very quick labour.

I did lots and lots of ball bouncing and walking, and also tried acupuncture

I think it's not that straightforward. I have had a prolapse, which luckily has improved, but for a while I had a glimpse of how utterly limited my life would be with one (I do a lot of outdoor activities incompatible with prolapse). As induction carries a higher risk of assisted birth, which in turn carries a higher risk of prolapse, I would personally do anything to avoid one, including accepting a slightly higher risk to the baby. This is my choice, because my life matters too (and the lives of my existing children, whose possibilities would also be curtailed if I was semi-incontinent and unable to walk more than a couple of miles, or lift them up, or roll on the floor laughing).

Some women would not find the idea of prolapse as terrifying as me. If I lived a 'city lifestyle' it wouldn't worry me so much. So it's very personal. But, whatever choice you make, it is not ONLY the baby you have to factor in. Women also matter.

@jetlag92 This advice from the natural birth brigade is increasingly being seen as not acceptable. It’s certainly led to baby deaths and some midwives are guilty too. I don’t think anyone knows what the majority want in terms of birth “choices” but as sure as hell, they want a heathy and alive baby! Yet we still find women should “get what they want” and not be guided by professionals who understand GD and other medical concerns. We have all this expertise available yet some women still tell others to ignore it. In some countries, having this knowledge, medical care and advice would be a luxury, yet we see women advised to turn their back on it here. Women with no experience of childbirth don’t know everything. How can they?