Induction of labour - did you push for it?

[mears]

Out of interest - most of the questions regarding induction of labour from posters suggest that women are being offered induction post dates when they do not really want it.

IME as a midwife, many women in our unit push to be induced before 42 weeks. They are advised to wait but the consultants say they cannot resist the tears!

What are the experiences out there?

mears-out of intrest, how long can you actually go without it being unsafe(in a normal pg)? do you have a right to say NO to induction? and if you say no, will they keep monitering you very closely to check for placental deteriation?

We would wait 42 weeks. After that routine CTG and ultrasound of baby would be recommended to ensure palcenta was still funtioning OK. Women with long menstrual cycle may go up to 43 weeks. That is the longest pregnancy I have seen.

All my babies were induced in one way or another being edd + 10

ds1 - SROM + cervical sweep = forceps
ds2 - induction from totally unfavourable (9 pessaries over 3 days = posterior position/2nd degree tear
dd - show + induction = quick birth until face presentation detected = epidural

I always felt they were dragged out kicking and screaming, the worst thing about induction (apart from the horrible prostin pains) is the monitoring/intervention that ensues, which in turn leads to you pinned to the bed on your back. Maybe if they had come out in their own time labour would have been more pleasant!

Horror story - My sil was induced edd + 10 on a (known) weak scar, she had 6 pessaries, her uterus ruptured, she had an emergency hysterectomy at the age of 23 and her dd2 developed cerebral palsy as a result.

This time I hope they agree to give me a dating scan as I have just had a mirena coil removed and no real cycles. The problem is that by the time I got to nearly 42 wks I was desperate to have the baby out! You are also made to feel you are putting the baby's life at danger.

I was induced with dd at 42 wks, never offered scan etc, I don't believe I had informed consent- never told that a failed induction meant a c section. I was told I had no other option - seriously, that I had to be induced. I now know that this was wrong. They shouldn't have started induction - my bishops score was 0, the baby was fine and not particularly large, not engaged etc. I felt like a piece of meat. I saw 13 different mw in the time it took from first induction to end of birth, all of these did internals. Spent 72 hours on labour ward. When I did go into labour - eventually - I was 42+3, and they refused to believe me. ("prostin pains") dd was born after a amximum of 3 hours in labour - mw claimed it was 45 mins. 2nd degree tear. I have no faith in any medical professional or mw now and just assume everyone is lying to me. I am pushing for a hb this time, and am absolutely refusing any induction whatsoever.
Gail, 32 wks.

pmsl @ the thread title

To be honest, if they had not pulled out thier fingers and induced me i would probably have strongly suggested that they did.
This sounds awful because they are the experts and know what is best etc etc.
I felt more and more justified in this opinion.

Due to complications not impatience.
I HAD been in for 3 weeks on and off by then, had pre eclampsia that wasnt controlled by lobetalol and was seeing things.(flashing lights)
I was only 36 weeks but just knew that something wasnt right.
I also felt like they were ignoring me and not taking notice of the symptoms that were persistantly there.
justified i think, dont you?

I think you were right Donbean, it's one thing to have pre-eclampsia or some other medical condition and another to be just late (and late based on what? - no-one ever seemed to believe my cycle lengths and that I could pinpoint ovulation using NFP - the scan dates can still be a week out either way). Having said that, I did just want them out by nearly 42 wks!

I had booked a home birth but my waters broke on my due date and labour still hadn't started 36 hours later. They let me have 2 prostins then put me on the hormone drip. It was so far away from the birth I had planned being strapped to a monitor and a drip and it was incredibly painful. Thankfully I didn't have a CS although as his heart rate was dipping and not recovering it might have ended up that way. I was interested to see the comment from gingerbeer that the induction might not have been required but in the end I was just relieved to see my son born ok. I would never request another induction though and fingers crossed if there is a next time we will have a home birth.

I also had a home birth booked and would have done anything not to be induced (tried every natural method in the book) but the registrar at my 41 week check simply ignored my request to wait till 42 weeks and be monitored, gave me the guilt trip about the placenta and booked the induction (I assume his determination to get me booked in was because 42 weeks fell just after the august bank holiday weekend so usual clinic was not running for the monitoring)

I had a scan two days after this (because was on a clinical trial for oral induction -long story) which showed the baby was in lots of fluid and absolutely fine. With hindsight i realise i could have simply refused to go in. I wish i had. the birth was awful, baby not recovering, me strapped to the monitor, almost an emergency c-section etc.
never again - Im saving up for an independent midwife for the next one!

Hi all!
I have been induced 3 times, and Im pretty sure my body doesnt have the hormone to kick me into labour,lol.
My 1st baby was 9lb 1oz and I was 1 week late, when I was pregnant with my 2nd they the doctors said that this would be a good sized baby to, I really didnt want to push out a huge baby, so they induced me 3 weeks early and my ds(9yrs) weighed a healthy 7lb 5oz. Years later I decided to have another go and to add a new addition to my family, again the doctors said I had another good sized baby and recomended I be induced 1 week early, my ds2(16m) was born 9lb 7oz.
I didnt feel pushed into this by the doctors, in my case Im pretty greatful as I wouldnt want to have pushed any bigger of a baby out!