Anyone been induced at St Mary's in Manchester?

[birdofthenorth]

I'm 41 & 1 today with my first DC. I have an appointment at St Mary's on Friday (when I'll be ten days overdue) but as this was booked months ago I'm not clear whether this is just to assess me and discuss options, or to actually start the induction process.

Does anyone have experience of induction at St Mary's? Do you know how many days overdue they tend to let you get?

Also please feel free to tell me if you've refused inductions... or if you had one, what they did, how long it took, and how much it hurt!!

Thanks v much

Please give them a ring and ask! Term plus 10 sounds like a fairly common gestation to start induction (we induce routinely at term plus 12 with a view to delivery by term plus 14 which is when the research suggests babies tend to have worse outcomes).
The other reason to ask is that St Mary's is a very busy unit and is often closed (I know, I work in a neighbouring hospital which has regular disgruntled/frightened women who were booked for St Mary's)so you will need to confirm that they have space for you.
I refused induction with dd1 until term plus 16 but by then realised she would not come of her own accord and gave in.
Every woman will have an individual take on induction but from a professional point of view I will say the following. With your first baby it is usually long, boring and painful so plan properly. Is your dp going to be there all the way along? If so, does he have food/entertainment. Do you have food/entertainment? Have an open mind about pain relief. Induction for a first baby usually involves a prostin pessary inserted behind the cervix, then another 6 hours later and potentially another until your cervix has changed enough to allow the midwife to rupture your membrantes. Then a syntocinon drip is commenced until delivery of the baby. That is nothing like natural labour pains but you can start off with mobilisation and TENS and work your way up (or down!) from there. Bear in mind that you may have been in hospital for some time so will be bored and tired, plan ahead for this and it will be managable!
Continuous monitoring is advisable with induction but (unless you have an epidural) you should be able to mobilise as long as the fetal heart can be picked up.
Good luck, I am aware I am not painting a rosy picture but a bit of preparation can help a lot, and lots of the women I look after are completley uninformed (for whatever reason)for what the process entails. When I was induced for dd1 having our own music, (a strong bond and a sense of humour) was a small thing but really helped. Anyway, it may not even come to that! You may beat them to it (sex, sex, sex)

Thanks so much that's v helpful indeed. I'll give them a call asap! We have a hospital bag well stuffed with music, magazines, snacks etc so hopefully are ready for the potentially long haul ahead.

Interesting to hear you still had no natural movement at term &16, I was assuming if we left it til 42 weeks there'd be little chance of baby still holding on, but perhaps not. Part of my interest comes from the
potetntial to cross the Aug/ Sept boundary and have the bairn start school a year later if that's what nature intended, but obviously the main concern is reducing any increased risks to the baby, however small.

Thanks again for your advice!

Also to answer your Q re DP yes he'll be there throughout... sadly for him Saturday is his 30th birthday so it may go down as one of the dullest and least pleasant celebrations in history, but he very sweetly seems to have no concerns other than a safe arrival, so won't be expecting cake and candles on the ward!

Where are you supposed to be going for your appt? If it's antenatal clinic then you will probably be sent home with a date for IOL. I used to work at St mary's. however this was 5 years ago so not sure how things are re IOL now. Also it used to vary from consultant to consultant. If you want to delay IOL then there is some very good information on the AIMS website and you can now buy a pdf version of their "Induction, Do I Really Need It" booklet, that will be emailed to you, so there is no need to wait for the post, it can be found cheek fire proofing here.

I personally would avoid IOL unless there was any clinical indication and opt for expectant management (monitoring of fetal heart rate and scan for liqour volume, plus being aware of changes in fetal movements), however few women chose this IME. All my children have been born pre 42 weeks, but only just (39+6, 41, 41+3 and 42 weeks).

Good luck with whatever you choose :)

opps, managed to c&p DH's last page rather than the correct one!

AIMS: here

That's v helpful, thanks. Rang them and established the appt is indeed an assessmentbat which I'd be offered an induction date... but thankfully there are signs of things happening naturally this morning so fingers crossed I won't need my appointment after all!

Hi I went for my term+10 appt at St Marys with ds and it was to have a look at him see if he was ok in utero and discuss options. They were really good and pro choice and didn't try to inforce induction on me at all. I opted for expectant management with a scan every couple of days with IOL booked in at 40+19!!This was as I's been given 2 different due dates, one by St Marys and one by The Alexandra in Cheadle where i went for some private scans.

I was v impressed with them generally, although they are busy they're also modern and specialist and patient focussed and don't just follow the traditional route ie you must be induced at 12 days over. They also have a lower c-section rate than other local hospitals.

never made it to term+19 he came on his own 14 days over the little monkey!!