Is induced labour more painful/prolonged than natural labour?

[jen992]

I'm now 40+ 4 and hoping I won't need to be induced. BUT I've been reading up on induction (just in case!)... just wondering from other's experiences, is an induced labour more painful or prolonged than a natural labour?

How long does it tend to take from being admitted to hospital to giving birth? Is it longer than a 'natural' birth?

Are you less mobile due to IV lines etc??

...really hoping I don't have to be induced!!

i wasnt induced but received syntocinon due to failure to progress. in an instant the contractions were much stronger and much closer together. i asked for an epidural as i really couldnt manage on gas and air. so i was immobile, but although i dont have two labours to compare the difference once the drip was in, was considerable.
By the way i was 40 + 11, i chose continual monitoring as i didnt want to be induced and ended up drip, foetal monitor anyway!

Hi jen, I was induced with DD. To be honest if I was told I was to be induced again (currently pg)I would try to delay it. It's hard to say whether it is longer or more painful as I have nothing to compare it to, but it was more 'medical' than I'd hoped for and felt forced. It depends how your body responds - mine didn't so had every intervention going! I was admitted on a Wednesday night (at 42 + 1), DD was born at 2am on the Sunday. Proper contractions didn't start until Friday afternoon though. Mobility was an issue as I had a drip and then opted for an epidural as I was bloody exhausted. But some people respond well to the intitial pessary and don't need anything else.

Thanks!!

So it it standard practice to have a pessary first (which allows you to stay active?!)? Then if that doesn't work you're on the drip?

This is my second pg - first I went 11 days over, following 3 membrane sweeps. DS was born the day before I was due to go into hospital to be induced! (had a home birth)

x

In my case yes, the pain was much more intense. And while the labour itself wasn't longer, it took a long time to get started - the gel didn't work, then the ward got really busy so I was sort of parked on hold, then they broke my waters and nothing happened, then they put me on the drip and it was all quite speedy after that. But I was in hospital 36 hours before DC3 was born.

It was certainly by far the most painful of my 4 labours - hold off if you possibly can, or think long and hard about an epidural.

My friend was induced last week at 40+12, she went in at 7pm, they gave first lot of gel at 8pm, went on the drip at 9am & had her baby at 2:30pm. It was all very straight forward in the end, managed to rest during the night until about 5am, she has said she'd do it again - though it's her 1st, so couldn't answer about the pain being different. They took her IV lines out within half an hour of the birth too, when I saw her 4 hours later you wouldn't have known she'd just been through labour (

It certainly sounded a lot better than my 1st natural labour of 3 1/2 days, IV's everywhere, soo much intervention & a baby in scbu for a week!

So although induction isn't ideal it doesn't mean it's going to be bad!

Pessary first, and I beleive they usually try 2/3 applications of this before moving on to the drip. I only had the pessary, but was still continuously monitored, which reduces mobility considerably....although DH badgered mw to allow me to kneel over bean bags etc which helped a lot. I only had gas and air....but regretted this in the end, as a high forceps delivery with no pain relief (they had taken the gas off me) is really not much fun.

That said, we were all safe and well in the end.

Make sure your dp (or whoever will be there) is fully prepared to fight your corner if you are tired/out of your face on gas and air.

I was induced by drip with DD but not with DS.

The main difference I found was the build up of pain was gradual with DS but when I was induced it was like going from 0-60mph in 0.1seconds! In both cases though I just used a TENS machine and gas and air.

My labours were both fairly quick (2-4hours) but with the induction I struggled for longer at the pushing stage. When I wasn't induced it all seemed to flow much more naturally, each stage seemed to be more manageable (although that might be more to do with it being by second birth so I may have been more relaxed??)

I had the pessary thing to be induced and although it did't work for a while the pain came on thick and fast when it did and DS was born in record quick time.

WOuld have preferred to go through 26 hours of natural labour with all available pain releif as I had with DD.

I've had a normal labour (long), an induction (by gel)- long but manageable pain-wise and an induction by having my waters broken, this didn't get things moving fast enough so I had to have the drip- very fast and very painful, I had to have an epidural for this one.

I was induced and had two pessaries then the drip when it all slowed right down again
I found the drip made it too fast and intense for me to go without pain relief. I could have kissed the anaethsitist who gave me my epidural.

Having no other experience, induced with all three of our dc's I can't compare but for me labour was

1st dc drip inserted 9am first contraction 9.30am baby delivered 3pm

2nd dc drip in 9am first contraction 10.30am baby delivered 12.30 so 2 hours tops.

3rd dc had niggles for an hour which stopped. I was in hospital ready to be induced the following morning and a lovely midwife asked if I wanted my waters broken at midnight, baby born 6am.

I had pethadine but no epidurals.

The way in which you are induced depends upon how favourable your cervix is at the time and whether you are already starting to contract. When the cervix is still closed the only option is to insert a Prostin hormone pessary or gel to soften the cervix and get the uterus contracting. Once the cervix has started to open then there is an option to progress with the induction by 'breaking the waters'. Sometimes this in itself will be enough to get the labour going (more likely if you have laboured previously).If within a few hours of the waters breaking the contractions still have not increased then the last step of the process is to start the hormone drip (syntocinon). The rate of this drip is then increasd every 15-20 minutes until the uterus is contracting strongly and regularly! Most mums reveal that this is the most painful part of the process because the contractions can suddenly become very strong and frequent.
The hormone drip however cannot be starte unitl the waters have been broken which is why the gel is often needed at the beginning of the process. The process is designed to step up at each intervention to try and get the labour going. As a result it does feel much more like a one way process and understandably parents do experience feelings of not being in control of the process.
In my experience it is better to prime the cervix and get it as favourable as possible before breaking the waters (ideally with 1 or 2 prostin gel insertions) and hopefully get the labour kick started by that means alone rather than having a difficult examination to break the waters when the cervix is still very posterior and relatively long and closed. Starting the hormone drip in such cases often results in a rigid cervix which does not dilate despite regular strong contractions and this invariably hen leads to delivery by CS for a"failed IOL" or "failure to progress". The problem with the prostin is that occasionally you can risk overstimulating the uterus and cause the baby to get tired. Unlike the hormone drip which you can stop if this happens you cannot effectively remove the gel once it is in!

Hope this sheds a bit of light on the process for you all!

I don't have a non-induction labour to compare it to but I was induced with DS as my waters broke and I had contractions but they were irregular and not very strong. I gave birth about 8 hours after syntonicin was started and had gas and air for pain relief. In my case G&A was more than sufficient pain relief for all but the last couple of hours (and then I kind of forgot to ask for anything stronger and ended up having a ventouse delivery - ouch).

I had been hoping for a very mobile birth in a low risk unit but ended up being very restricted due to iv lines, monitors etc. This was probably the most frustrating part of it as it was really hard to get in comfortable positions without all the equipment getting tangled up or falling off!

My birth plan seemed to go out of the window completely but somehow we were able to keep as near to it as possible under the circumstances - this is something you could discuss with your birthing partner(s) and midwives before you start. Being induced turned out to be a much better experience than I thought it was going to be (but obviously best avoided if possible).

I was taken in to be induced with dd2 and of my 3 births it was by far the easiest, I think my body was nearly there itself, but, I only had my waters broken I didnt need a drip or pessary

nina99 - thank you so much for that info... very helpful!

And thanks to everyone else for their comments and experiences. I really do I hope I go into labour naturally!

Thanks again everyone.

In my experience, how quick the induction takes depends on how ready your body is to birth - I was induced with DS1 and was already at 2cm when induced so waters were broken and was hooked up to the drip straightaway (so contractions came one on top of another within an hour as the midwife kept upping the drip) - DS1 arrived within 8 hours. But it was a quite painful experience - that said, I managed on just breathing and limited mobilising (you cant do much as hooked up to monitor all the time, but sat on birth ball and rolled around) for 4 hours before asking for an epidural (as my first midwife told me that the induction would be likely to take less long if I waited until I was at least 4 cm before getting an epidural and being imobile). I actually think DS1 was ready to come out after about 5 hours but the midwife ignored me for 3 hours when I told her I could feel pressure in my bum - it was only when I insisted she check how far dilated I was that she realised baby was ready to come out (but that's a whole different story). I know people who were induced just with the gel and they didnt need anything other than bit of gas and air.

I had my second son naturally 2 weeks ago - he came a week early so no induction (though was ready to insist I would only be induced if a medical necessity for me or the baby if I went overdue again). Labour was just under 4 hours until baby in my arms, just under 5 in total including natural delivery of placenta - and totally different to the contractions I experienced while induced and totally manageable with breathing and mobilising as you get a proper rest between contractions.

Good luck.

I was induced with DD1 & DD2, and had 2 totally different experiences!

With DD1, Prostin gel, VERY long labour, epidural, episiotomy, ventouse, stitches...

With DD2 I had the Prostin Gel and had already decided to stay mobile when contractions started (I was convinced the epidural slowed me down before).

Had my waters broken when I had dilated enough, and continued to wander the hospital with DH. Ended up being a very relaxed natural birth, no pain relief, no tearing, and ended up with a beautiful 9 pounder Labour was 6 hours from start to finish! Went home 6 hours later!

It just shows that induced labour can result in VERY different experiences. Hope all goes well x

I was induced twice, both times went into labour almost instantly.

With dd, I gave birth after about 9 hours, so not bad for a first labour. Didn't find it very restrictive, was still able to have a hot bath and walk around. At one stage the fire alarm went off and I made my own way to the front of the building. Dd's head got stuck, so I did tear and needed an episiotomy, but the pain was not unbearable: I coped fine with TENS and gas.

With ds, his hearbeat went down, so had an emergency caesarian after a couple of hours. He was slightly prem and IUGR, so don't think that was to do with the induction as such.

hi i was induced with both my dd
dd1 was 2 1/2 weeks early and my waters broke i was given pessarys but the didnt work so i was put on a drip and had to stay on the bed 9 1/2 hrs later dd was born.i had gas and air and morphine

dd2 was 2 weeks late and had peesarys her head got stuck as she was a big girl 10 lb 6 oz but labour was only 5 hrs only had gas and air ..
good luck and hope everythings ok ...