Getting induced on 5th august and very scared :(

[Jenny95]

Hi everyone, would just like to talk to other women that have been induced to understand a bit more about it and hear your experiences. i've heard its very painful and that the pain is 10 times stronger. i'm getting induced with that prostaglandin gel. i thought the membrane sweep was painful enough but thats probably nothing compared to being induced! HELP

I was induced. Waters broke.. nothing happening 24 hours later. They gave me the prostaglandin gel twice.. nothing doing. Then eventually they put me on an oxytocin drip.. they said that cos the fake contractions would be so strong so quickly I should have an epidural... i did and I had an unbelievable birth. I was so happy. although it wasnt the water birth i had hoped for!!! if the same were to happen to me again, i would not take the epidural so quickly i would have waited. It will be fine.. dont worry.

Hi Jenny, I haven't been induced but I have had two babies. Labour works best when you are not tense so finding out as much as possible before induction to put your mind at ease is a good idea. I believe that the speed at which pain becomes bad is greater with the drip than the pessaries. I'm sure someone will be along soon who knows. Through the pain try to remember two things: the pain will not last forever, in the course of your life it will amount to a really tiny amount of time, and second, you will have your baby really soon. I really hope that you have an enjoyable experience, good luck!

I was induced at 40+10; I had a pessary which gave me backache for 24 hours... But they gave me some paracetomal and that helped, I also took a bath (I was amazed they had baths in the ward), also helped. When I was dilated enough they broke my waters, this didn't hurt at all (but made a funny noise)... They started me on an oxytocin drip to kick start contractions and they slowly increase it and to be honest I managed 3 hours on gas and air and then demanded an epidural. Don't be afraid of asking for pain relief... I found the pain too much to manage, but it stopped in minutes thanks to the epidural. This was my first baby, so I'm afraid I haven't had a normal labour to compare the pain with. To put your mind at rest, bizarrely I don't really remember those 3 hours, my DH does!!!
Good luck, you'll be fine!

Hi Jenny, I was I induced at 40 weeks due to pre eclampsia. From what I can remember I had a sweep at midday which I did find quite painful but it was over in seconds. Then I think I had a pessary put in at 3 ish in the afternoon and started to get very slight period pains. At 6 pm I had my water broken, which didn't hurt at all and by 7 pm was in labour with fairly strong contractions. I managed on only gas and air but that was due to my determination not to have any more medication. I did beg for an epidural after being told I couldn't push because the baby wasn't ready despite the fact that the contractions and urge to push were so intense I could barely catch my breath. My son was finally born at 2.34 am so I was only in labour for seven hours. The plus side of being Induced was that I knew when it would all start and I did feel quite in control. The only complication is that it's not your body or your babies choice so strong labour happens much quicker and there isn't much build up of pain to get you used to it. I am now 10 weeks pregnant and would like to be induced again so it can't have been that bad!

I've been induced 3 times.

1st induction was at 42wks, i was asked to take part in a trial where i'd take a tablet to induce labour. The tablet was fab imo & i gave birth within 12 hours. I didn't find it particularly painful & didn't use any pain relief.... but i do have a high pain threshold.

2nd induction was very different. My daughter was stillborn so i was induced with a pessary. In total it took about 24hrs & there are no words to describe the pain because i can't even compare it to anything as it was so bad. I've had an ectopic pregnancy & that pain doesn't even come close to the pain of that labour. Didn't help that they didn't give me decent pain relief for hours.... i thought dying would have been less painful at that point it was so horrendous.

3rd induction was at 37wks, again with a pessary. I felt fine. Got to 6cms dilated without even a moan & the midwife in charged asked me if i knew what a contraction was lol. Unfortunately i hemorrhaged due to my 2nd abruption & was rushed for an emergency c-section.

I've never experienced going into labour naturally & i've had 5 children & i'm now pregnant again so i don't know what a labour without induction feels like.

I didn't think induction was bad at all. Don't worry about my 2nd induction i think that was down to my daughter being stillborn. The other 2 inductions were fine.

I know this will make me sound naive but with my first baby it never crossed my mind about labour. Even when i was told i'd be induced i didn't even wonder/stress out/panic or anything about if it'd be painful or not. I went for that induction stress free & calm which probably helped.

Good luck

Hi can i ask why u r getting induced?

I was induced with a stillborn earlier this year. I had the pessaries and the drip and I worked my way up through gas and air, diamorphine, then I had another kind of pain relief (can't remember the name but it was a self-administered drip and I could top it up every 5 minutes). Finally I had an epidural (walking one) which was a relief but I am glad I had tried the other pain relief first. The process overall was very painful but I was warned it is a much, much more painful process with a stillborn.

However I am pregnant again and seeing as I have had just about the worst experience in a way I wouldn't fear being induced again (knowing it wouldn't be so painful), one gets through it and I was strangely proud of how well I coped under the circumstances - I didn't think I would as I don't think I have a high pain threshold. I was also planning on a home water birth with no drugs so ended up having a very different experience...

You will be fine, I am sure, and if you are struggling just insist on more drugs!

I have had two induced labours. Both because I was 2 weeks overdue.
The prostaglandin gel brought on some pain overnight the first time which I thought horrendous at the time. However not much other effect. So was enough dilated to have waters broken both times and walk around having mild contractions all day.
Then with both onto a drip and an epidural. Fine. At one point during the second labour the epidural failed along one part of my stomach and the pain was terrible since the contractions were so strong but lovely anaesthetist came along and sorted that out pronto.
I quite enjoyed the process on the whole.
Good luck with it all.

Jenny there are some really helpful induction threads in childbirth section. I had a positive induction with dd2, no drip, no epidural, no lying down, none of the usual horror stories!!

So sorry to read about the inductions due to stillbirth.

I was induced at 40 wks with hypertension and it was a very positive experience. I think I was on my way by then (2 cm dilated when they gave me the gel). Gel gave me very mild, niggly period pains for a few hours. Then I had my waters ruptured and that did make me reach for the gas and air! But it was a very positive pain, got more intense gradually over 7 hours. I wasn't on the drip at that stage because I was progressing well on my own, and sat on an exercise ball with gas and air. If you are able to remain upright at this stage, do - it'll help things along and you might not need much augmentation.

Eventually, I found the pain too intense (DS had turned back-to-back) and asked for an epidural. It was fine - I had a rest and gave birth (with a ventuse) with little damage to myself and none to DS. If I could change one thing about being induced, I'd have held off having the epidural and seen if I could cope a little longer. But don't be afraid of asking for one, as inductions can sometimes be more intense than normal labour (but not all the time!).

Good luck!

seredipity and lucy so sorry.

I was induced at 42+1 had sweep, waters broken, the drip and epidural and it was a very positive experience. Hope all goes well Jenny

I had an induction at 37 wks cos of premature rupture of membranes. I was 3cm so went straight onto Oxytocin drip. I was monitored throughout but despite this remained very active (I found lying in bed too painful, so spent all the time on all fours or leaning over bed). I had a very positive experience, straightforward birth, delivered standing up (!), no intervention, g&A and pethidine.

The key for me was my midwives agreeing I could remain active and not confined to bed. I have heard some hospitals try & keep you in bed (due to the monitor belt around your tummy) but this is for their convenience NOT yours. So you may need to insist on being active if you want to be - but it helped me manage the pain very well.

I was v. scared, too. My advice:

• Read up on everything that might happen & face up to your worst fears (mine was episitotemy). Knowing the nuts & bolts of what could happen really helped me manage my fear.
• Don't fight the pain, breathe through it - it's not just hippy nonsense. Being scared & tense makes the pain worse.
• Be active & insist upon being active if required.

Good luck, & whatever happens you'll have a lovely baby in your arms very soon.

Hi jenny95, I had an induction for the birth of my DD, now 16 weeks old due to suffering from OC.

The whole experience was very positive. I was told that it is more painfull than a natural labour too. Midwifes told me to keep an open mind about pain relief as I was against having an epidural. They advised that as my birth plan had changed I should be more open minded about pain relief.

Here is what happened to me:

Saturday 1.30pm - admitted to ward.
4.30pm - Prostaglandin pill inserted, hooked up to minitor to monitor DD's heartbeat.
9.30pm - started to feel period like pain. Most likely caused by prostaglandin. Uncomfortable all night. Put on tens machine as soon as pain started, had bath.
Sunday 7.30am - internal examination. Cervix had softened but not opened. Second pill inserted and hooked up to monitor.
11.30am - contractions started, waters broke.
4.30pm - given bed on labour ward. Gas and air only at this stage. Stayed on birthing ball apart from during examinations. Hooked up to Oxytocin drip. 3cm dilated at this point. Drip makes contractions come faster so pain did increase quite quickly.
8pm - was given a diamorphone injection. This did not take the pain away but took the "edge" off contractions. Taken off drip as DD showing signs of distress - heartbeat dropped a couple of times.
11pm - was given diamorphine injection. 5cm dilated. Put back on Oxytocin drip.
Monday 2.45am - internal examination. Still 5cm dilated, decision made to give c-section due to my labour not progressing fast enough and due to my DD continuing to show signs of distress.
3.10am - my DD was born!

I really do have to stress that while reading accounts of people being induced may seem scary, my whole labour was a very positive experience. There is no denying that it is sore and that the Oxytocin drip does intensify the pain, but I felt that the pain was manageable without an epidural.

Agree that it is important to stay active - many elements of your labour can mimic a "normal" labour despite you being assisted. Your baby needs to be closely monitored when you are hooked up to the drip but a monitor can be inserted internally to your baby's head to allow you to stay active.

I was upright throughout the entire process apart from during examinations. I was on my birthing ball alot and switched to an upright chair when I got drowsy - the diamorphone and gas and air made me very drowsy.

Be prepared not to like gas and air to start with. It is worth persevering with it though.

I loved every aspect of my labour. No, it didnt fit in with my original plans but I managed to stick to some of my original birth plan - i.e by staying active and not having an epidural...of course I ended up having a spinal in the end but that couldnt be helped!

Oh and read up on what will happen as much as you can - if you know whats going on and what the possibilities may be you will feel less nervous and more prepared.

Sorry for long post, I love talking about my labour and dont get to do it very often!

Thankyou for all your posts it helps alot to know other peoples experiences etc. keep them coming!
is it painful when they check how dilated you are? what does it feel like when they brake your waters? do your waters brake when you have the prostaglandin gel is inserted or is that a seperate process? oh and what does it mean if your womb lining is closed? i ask this cause i had a sweep (which i found very painful) but it didn't work as the lining of my womb was closed.

Internal checks to see how dilated I was were uncomfortable for me most of the time, very uncomfortable once or twice.
Having my waters broken was not uncomfortable or painful at all. This was only done when the prostaglandin and mild contractions had helped to dilate the cervix to one or two centimetres.
No idea on closed womb linings sorry.

Jenny, waters won't automatically break when the prostaglandin is inserted, this is a seperate process. My waters broke on their own. The hosp wouldn't give me a sweep when my womb was closed as it means you are not ready, as far as I am aware. I didn't find internal examinations painful at all. Found them to be uncomfortable once I was contracting, but not before.

so with my womb being closed does this mean labour wont start naturally?

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