what are the dangers of being induced?

[booboobunny]

i am currently 39+4 and seriously fed up. still nauseous for a lot of the day and sick if i overdo it on any given day (though not multiple times so i should be thankful for small mercies). midwife has promised they won't let me go too far over, but i don't have an appointment with her till next week when i'll be 40+3. then we'll make a plan apparently.

my only plan is to push to be induced. i was induced with dd and all went very smoothly, without a hitch. ds came naturally on due date (though i was booked to be induced had he gone over due to high bp). i therefore have postive views of being induced, but have an impression from threads here that this might be misguided. are there risks associated with being induced that i'm unaware of?

i don't want a sweep and i definitely don't want to wait for nature to take it's course as i am seriously worn out from 34 weeks of nausea and throwing up, in addition to all the other preg issues (spd, heartburn, twitchy legs and itching etc.) can anyone enlighten me as to whether my view is seriously simplistic?

I think the climate on MN tends to be quite anti-induction, so I suspect lots of people will come along behind me and tell horror stories. Its certainly true that there is an increase in the risk of ending up with an epidural/instrumental delivery/section, but the increased risk really is quite small. If you search induction there are loads of threads, including one on the go at the moment, where women post about their really positive inductions stories.
Because of the increased risk of intervention, in some areas they will be very reluctant to induce you before at least 7 days over, probably closer to 10, unless there is a compelling medical reason to do so - e.g. high BP. If your SPD is severe that might be enough to persuade them. If you are really fed up and desperate then I think you should definitely push for induction - there is a small increased chance of ending up with an intervention but if you are really miserable and struggling every day at the moment that might well be a risk that you are happy to take. Good luck.

What kind of induction did you have before?

If pessaries are enough to start labour properly, it seems to be far less problematic. If the baby isn't engaged and your body isn't ready though, you may need more Syntocinon, which can mean harder and faster contractions with the associated higher risk of foetal distress and pain for you.

Some good info on the pros/cons here: www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/labourandbirth/labourcomplications/inducedlabour/