Pain relief options with induction

[DiamondChyna]

hiya, due to be induced tomorrow morning at 41+4 my bishop score was 7 yesterday during my second sweep, had a few contraction but nothing much since then so i'm guessing induction will be going ahead as planned. just wanted to know if options for pain relief are any different when your being induced from a natural labour?? i wasn't planning on a epidural just gas and air and pethadine which is how i coped with my first. anyone got any advice???

I coped with TENS and gas, didn't even need the pethidine. But labours are all different.

if your bishops score is 7 it might be that ARM might be enough to get you going without synto, or wait another few days with extra scans etc as it sounds like you would go into labour anyway soon

if youa are induced you might struggle to use the birth pool if you wanted to and also you might struggle to be as mobile with extra monitoring

having said that it is possible to manage without anything other than G&A and /or pethidine

induciton does not neccesarily mean epidural

I was induced and had G&A and pethidine. No extra monitoring at all, everything very straightforward. I asked for an epidural but there wasn't time. Labour was 4hrs from waters to DD which I gather is pretty swift for a first.

Good luck

ive heard labour can be more painful if they start it off by ARM, is this wrong then??

I'm not sure as I have nothing to compare it to, I'm sure others will be along who can answer that. But it was certainly fast for me, so maybe it is more intense.

You don't have to have an epidural if you don't want one. I was induced, managed on TENS and pethidine towards the end, G&A was offered but didn't take it. Had a bath and 2 cocodamol in the middle but they were a token effort at that stage! There wasn't time for an epidural anyway, took 6 hours from first contraction to delivery.

Didn't have any extra monitoring either. Hope it all goes well!

i suspect it all relative - ie labour might be more painful if started off with ARM but induction on a drip probably more painful still.

Also nothing to compare with, but having spoken to friends I suspect there is no such thing as a standard labour to compare with. It was fast and intense for me, but not unbearably painful, I never asked for anything more than the gas, not because of deeply held convictions, but because it never really got that bad. Probably luck of the draw.

DC Are you aware of the alternatives of induction? I'm just asking because unless it is medically necessary to go ahead immeditely, waiting a couple of days will probably mean spontaneous labour, which might be more desirable (or not, - not trying to pressure you, just make sure you are aware of the options).