I may be induded using a drip in 3 hrs time, do I have other options?

[Jennylee]

My waters broke 6am Monday and I have untill 11.00 am today to go into labour, or I will be induced, the midwife said they will use a drip, do I have to agree or can I refuse? could I ask for more time? or can they not use pessaries to induce labour instead of the drip, as I understand that with a drip I will be monitored the whole time and the pain could be hard to cope with without an epidural. Should I just call the labour ward and ask them ?

Induced the title is meant to say

I would call the ward and ask them to explain why the drip and not pessary, If they explain it will put your mind at rest.

Try walking up and down stairs sideways,
or bouncing on birthing ball

thanks fiofio, I understand about the drip then.this sucks

I will end up calling them, I have had a feeling of impending doom all night

I thought you were usually allowed up to 72 hours from PROM to induction but I might be wrong
With DC1 my waters went Friday and induction was booked for Monday

Good luck

Prostin (the pessary) is basically used to dilated the cervix enough to break the waters; this is sometime enough to simulate labour. Since your waters have already gone, then syntocin is the only agent left. I have a feeling prostin is contraindicated if waters have broken; but I'm not entirely sure why; prostin is associated with hyperstimulation (which isn't funny).

When I was in your situation (2 years ago), NICE guidelines states expectant management (watch and wait ) could be offered instead of induction, up to 96 hours after waters going. This may not be policy, but it's your body, you can refuse induction if you want. I don't think the guidelines have changed; but you can look them up by googling NICE.

i was given pessary 24hours after waters broke, this went on for another 72 hours then drip induction (then cs oh dear hopefully not you). with hindsight i should have stayed out of hospital and walked around to get things going. being stuck on a bed for several days did nothing to help me.

your hospital will have some sort of protocol which they are following, ask them to explain all the steps.

oh and i had the drip with no epidural, make sure this doesn't happen to you! anyway, all this means the end is in sight, your baby will be here soon.

Certainly call labour ward or mw and put your mind at rest.
In my case they did pessaries first, then put the drip in. They then turn it up every so often until it starts to kick in (not turn it on full whack immediately)
They gave me paracetemol and codeine for pain then you can have gas and air if the pain gets too much and induction does not rule out epidural at all.
They do like to monitor baby's heart but the cables were long enough for me to get out of bed and they brought me a birthing ball to bounce on too.
You can ask for more time but they may want to monitor baby's hb in case, (plus once your waters have gone there is a possibility of infection). When is/was your due date?
Raspberry leaf tea & pineapple curry for breakfast then...! Good luck

hiya, they can only use tabs when your waters are intact.
I had syntocin drip as my waters broke on 16th and dd not budging by 18th!
went in at 10am to get prep'd, you do have to be monitored which is exactly what i DIDNT want, but can be helped .
Had canular in hand and had belts around bump.
started putting in the syntocin around 12.30 and kept topping it up to increase intensity of contractions..i had diamorphine around 2pm but just gas and air until then (i dont have a strong pain threshhold, so dont think im superwoman!)..diamorphine ran out at 4.30 and dd was born 5.49pm.
was pushing on gas and air, only about 5 hours in proper labour, extremely intense but managable..HONESTLY!..when they ncrease the syntocin, thats when the contraction increases..you can get up to toilet etc, they will try and get you to use commode, but i was having none of it, but it was just baby pressure..as soon as i laid back down and was belted back up i peed EVERYWHERE!..everytime i pushed i peed..was mrtified but also thought it was hilarious..dp's face was a picture as it was also my waters !...anyway, never considered an epidural and would be totally and honestly fine about doing it this way again.good luck

oops sorry maybe im wrong about tabs being given after waters broke?, just what i assumed!?

i had this.

i didn't find the contractions unbearable at first, but i'd recommend asking for an epidural when you find it getting too much. i waited as long as i could and then it was too late!

pinkchick that sounds much more promising than my experience. i was a bit knackered by then, had been awake for several days. also sadistic midwife wouldn't let me off bed.

sounds as though it is manageable without epidural, so if you can, do without!

well i was on bed for most of that time as they wanted to monitor contractions and dd's HB plus drip was new and they wern't sure how to use it!..i would ask for something like diamorphine and make sure that you WILL be able to be toppe3d up before baby arrives, however if labour is fast(like mine) they may not have time otherwise it will affect the abby..really though, it WAS intense and pianful,, but didnt expect any less and 5 hours was good for me

oh and i had several midwifes but one remained and she was the biggest old school bitch!..in the end when i was in full throws and shouting i couldnt do it..she shouted ofcourse you can your just being silly i shouted to her " why dont you just F*ck off, your not the one in labour"

and i dont swear as a rule

Jennylee

I don't have any previous experience to share with you but my NCT teacher gave us the NICE guidelines for induction from 2001. The recommendations depend on if you are pre 34 weeks, preterm to 37 weeks or term. It looks like the guidance has recently been revised (i.e. just last week)-:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/CG70.

Previously someone with pre-labour membrane rupture would have been allowed to go up to 96 hours before induction was consider absolutely necessary. The new guidance recommends 24 hours...I guess I'm just wondering if they would let you go a bit longer if you wanted to take a wait and see approach - depending on where you are in your pregnancy and if there are specific medical reasons that they need to induce you now.

From your first message it sounds like you feel you haven't been given all the information you need. The guideline emphasises woman-centred care to ensure you are comfortable with the risks and benefits of induction or waiting:

If a woman has preterm prelabour rupture of membranes after 34 weeks, the maternity team
should discuss the following factors with her before a decision is made about whether to induce labour, using vaginal PGE2:
? risks to the woman (for example, sepsis, possible need for caesarean section)
? risks to the baby (for example, sepsis, problems relating to preterm birth)
? local availability of neonatal intensive care facilities.

So, I guess, if this were me I think I would be asking more questions before going ahead with the induction.

Also worth bearing in mind that 86% of women go into labour 24 hours after rupture and then a further 5% per day so you have a good chance of labour starting naturally.

Sorry for the long message.

Good luck, hope all goes well.

Hi jennylee, I was in a similar sitution to you 18 months ago with ds2, my waters went 11pm sat and was told to be at hospital by 7am mon to be induced. I told them i didn't want to be induced by a drip as i didn't want to be laid up on bed, they were fine with this and gave me a pessary, ds was born 4 hours later. Good luck anyway, whichever way you go you'll have your baby in your arms very soon!!

thank you so much to everyone that replied, I have read all your replies and it has really helped, I also got a nice midwife on the phone who said they can give me more time and try pessaries first or whatever but I will have to talk to a doctor about the risks but that they can't do anything I don't want them to do, so just hearing that and reading your replies has helped so much.

I was really panicking when I started this thread so thanks so much to everyone for sharing their experience.

am not due untill 17th august so is about 3 weeks early

i guess you'ev gone in chick, so am wishing you well and hoping your little bundle is safe and sound and with you in a few hours

Will hope to see your birth announcement soon then Jenny

Baby came last night at eight in the evening. They used prostaglandin gel and baby was born within 5 hours, Contractions were a bit worse but just had tens machine gas and air and morphone injection, and baby came with no other intervention, no tears no stitches,so I still got the birth I wanted, continuous monitoring was irritationg though.At first they said had to be a drip as i have had another baby but then when they realised previous baby was nine years ago they sadi the gel would be fine so I avoided the drip.

Congratulations on the safe arrival of your baby - am glad the birth went well.

Congratulations!