Has anyone had a nice, non-traumatic induced labour?

[MamaLazarou]

As my due date creeps ever closer, I can't bear the thought of being induced. All the induced labours I have read/heard so far are long, painful and traumatic.

Do any of you have positive experiences of being induced?

At the moment, emergency cs sounds like a preferable option.

I was induced at term (long story why) and must have been ready to pop as I went into labour straight away - 11 hours later healthy baby boy

Three problems with being induced for me - being inspected and then the cream bit was painful and undignified

Labour pains appeared suddenly with no build up, unsympathetic midwife and dh had been sent home (as it was 9pm) so no one to defend me from aforementioned midwife (who thankfully I didnt see again)

Third problem was that ds pooped himself before he came out

But apart from that it was really fine - no intervention etc
The key thing is having a fantastic midwife for the delivery - mine was wonderful

I hope everything goes well!

I was induced with dd2 (dc3) at 37 weeks as I was being made progressively unwell by the pregnancy.

I was not at all "ready" to be induced - but was given the gel at 6am (had already been in hospital for several weeks) and went back to sleep! Woke at 8 when dh arrived. Spent the next 8 hours walking - round and round, no pain releif as I wasn't able to tolerate opiates. At 1pm I was 1cm and in despair - at 5pm I was 5cm and dd2 was born at 6pm.

It was very similar as a labour to ds (dc2) - similar length, similar pain levels, and he was a spontaneous labour at 38+4.

mine was great. i was dreading it same as you. had dd 3 years previous without induction so never thought ds wouldn't come of his own accord in a timely fashion.

pessary took 12 hrs to work. first contraction at 1am, ds born at 6.15am, home at noon. easy peasy with abit of gas and air. no stitches. no additional intervention a breeze compared to dd who was 27 hours from first contraction, back to back labour.

I was induced and it was fantastic.

Went in at 38 weeks, had first pessary at 8am, checked at 4.30pm as nothing seemed to be happening, mw tugged at my cervix (that hurt)

Then very quickly my waters went, down to labour suite (dh had enough time to whizz ds1 home and then get back) epidural (this was advised)

dt1 out at 8.50pm didn;t even know she had arrived and dt2 at 9.09pm he was a bit bigger but still no problem.

Now the natural (waters went at home) labours of ds1 & ds3 are a totally different painful story!

I was induced at 41 weeks (waters broke with meconium but no contractions). It was fine, I had lovely lovely midwives, which helped a lot.

I had the drip and I had a (low dose) epidural very early on, which I'm glad about as it was intense and later on I had lots and lots of gas and air as well, which was great!

I could feel to push dd out and I just tore a little bit as I wasn't listening to the midwife when she said 'pant!'. 8 and half hours from the drip being turned up high to dd popping out.

My experience of being induced was positive, I would do the same labour and birth all over again. But I wouldn't have had such a good experience without an epidural, I had been advised (by NCT antenatal teacher no less!) to have an epidural if I had the drip, and I'm glad I listened to that.

Good luck with it all

Me.
Midwives and docs all very lovely and wanted me to have an active birth. Got a mobile monitor so I could move around and swivel on my bouncy ball. Had gas and air and pethedine, all very intense and quick (7 hours from eating my lunch and having drip put in to DD coming out). DH helped with breathing. Was not exactly the birth I had hoped for but was a positive experience none the less. I think if you go into it with a positive attitude it will help. No need to be scared of it. Yes things don't always go as planned but that could be the case if you went into labour naturally as well. Go with the flow as my yoga teacher says!
Good luck, hope it all goes well for you.

I've been induced twice and both were fine! Both times I had the pessary late afternoon and was told that I was 'not favourable' so I was to be prepared for a long wait. I started getting period-type pains about 4am the next morning. From this point on, each birth was quite different.

With DC1, contractions were pretty regular from about 6am, my waters were broken at about 8am, went on the syntocin (?) drip to speed things up at about noon. Baby was back to back so midwife recommended lots of different positions - leaning over the bed, boucing on ball etc - to get him to shift, which he did. Had pethedine at 5pm and baby arrived at 6.10pm.

With DC2, contractions went from 0-60 in about 5 mins at 4am, and she arrived just after 7am. I was ecstatic, mainly because I had it in my head that it was going to take all day again!

Both times were just fine, sore (obviously!) but nothing I didn't feel I couldn't handle. Another thing about induction that I saw as a real positive was that as I am a bit of a worrier, being in hospital from start to finish was excellent. No mad dash along the motorway wondering if you're going to get there in time, if they will have room for you etc.

Best of luck!

I had a lovely induced labour with my dd, first pessaries inserted about 11am but no contractions or anything second lot at 6pm, labour kicked in proper contractions by about 9pm, had some pethadine at around 11am and had a little snooze could feel her head pressing down went to the loo and waters broke. Realising now must have been in transition as I went a bit loopy midwife rushed me down to the delivery suite was still on the ward at this time, real urge to push in the lift on the way down, dd was born after 2 pushes at 12.27am. It was fantastic.

pethadine 11pm

Just under 7 hrs from start to finish and only 3 or 4 puffs of gas and air... very quick and easy
HTH and Good Luck!

Not sure if any help.

Wasn´t induced with either but had two easy labours/births.

With first "niggles" all night.
Bad pain at 10am, gave birth at 11. No pain relief, no stitches.

With second,waters broke 10 am, got to hospital 1pm.
Lost "plug" at 5pm, was examined & was 8cm-to this point I had felt nothing!
Gave birth at 7pm. Did use gas & air for about 20 mins to take edge of,and dozed off at some point.

No stitches again.

Was in exactly the same position 9 weeks ago - due date had been and gone, no sign of LO putting in an appearance so I seemed to spend every day on here looking desparately for a positive induction tale.

Induction was booked for 41+5. Was still undecided, but after long discussion with consultant decided to go for it, as had been really paranoid about feeling movements etc through whole pregnancy so felt expectant management wasn't for me.

First pessary inserted at 4.00 pm. Monitored for 20 mins then went for wander round the hospital grounds with DH. DH sent home at 8.00 pm (only negative about whole experience) just as I was starting to get period-type pains, which I was assured were just due to the pessary. By midnight was in a great deal of pain and found to be 6 cm dilated. DH swiftly returned, and 9lb 2oz DS was born 4 hours later with only gas and air, no interventions and not a single stitch.

I realise that it is not like this for everyone, but just wanted to give you some hope that induction doesn't necessarily lead to a cascade of intervention (which is exactly what I feared) and can instead lead to a straightforward, positive labour experience.

Also agree that a fantastic midwife can really make the difference!

Good luck xx