Induction - 14 days over?

[Alexandra6]

I'm due to be induced at 14 days over by due date. They wanted to go for 13 days at my hospital but I wanted to give it as long as possible for the baby to come without induction - I made the decision on the spot but am now wondering if I did the right thing. I also think they were a couple of days early with their due date because I know when I ovulated that cycle so I couldn't help bearing that in mind.

I wondered if anyone else was induced then or has heard any views about leaving it that long?

You can leave it as late as you want - most hospitals will offer you daily monitoring if you want to wait over 14 days but anything up to 42 weeks is considered to be full term.

There really is no research to say that there is any difference in outcomes between 13 and 14 days. It is not that specific, and it can't really be because, as you say, many women have not conceived exactly on the 'official' day.

The advice about post-dates induction is because the more overdue you are, the greater the chance of a problem relating to being post dates. But that line is quite arbitrary within a bracket. Some hospitals advise as low as 10. Many 12, 13 or 14. With DD2, as I was booked for a homebirth, they would have recommended induction at +15.

What you do know is that at +14 you have one more day for your body to go on it's own, or at least be more ready for a nudge.

I went 15 days over with my first baby. Well, according to the scan. According to my date I was only 10 days late.

DS wasn't ready to come at all, they kept warning me about degradation of placenta etc. When he was born he showed no sign of being late and midwives said my placenta was 'beautiful' and didn't look overdue at all!!

I don't think 1 day will make any difference to you OP. Best of luck with it

Someone told me recently that at 14 days over the placenta is no worse than that of someone at 20 weeks who smokes so concerns about the placenta in a non smoker might be misplaced. Not at all sure how true that is, just repeating it!

Have you discussed the method of induction at your local hospital/ mlu? Is this your first baby? Lots of hospitals will have you in at +10 days because induction can take 3 days with the pessary/ gel.

With dd1 I was induced at +14 by breaking my waters, syntocin drip. I was started off at 6.30 and had a baby iny arms by midnight. It was brutal. Four years later with dd3, I was induced again but with prostaglandin gel. That was enough to start me off so I was allowed in mlu and in the birthing pool. It was a much much better experience. But my DH had to be quite forceful about refusing to move to consultant led delivery suite at midnight because I was then + 15 and hospital policy was that I needed continuous monitoring at +15.

All that was to illustrate why investigating the policy is worthwhile- if it's your first and likely to take a while that could effect your decision.

The longer overdue you go, the more chance that the placenta will fail and the higher the risk that the skull bones will begin to fuse making labour harder. There is also a higher risk of still birth.
However, a day won't make much difference and you should be offered daily monitoring if you choose to go beyond 14 days.
I had pessary induction at + 2 weeks with both of mine. Its not too bad. I would seriously consider my options before going straight onto a drip though. Like the PP said, I've heard it can be a rough ride!

Thanks for the support. I just got scared reading an old thread on here where people were warning things can change rapidly/placenta deteriorates etc.

I haven't been offered a scan or any more monitoring now until I go in for the induction at 42 weeks so I'm still trying to work out if it's quite normal for lots of people to wait to the 42 week mark for induction or whether I'm taking a real risk (some hospitals do it at 10 days over as you say penguin). My gut is telling me it's only one day over the +13 my hospital recommended, and that I should listen to my body and give it enough time, but it would be good to know that +14 is still a 'reasonable' time to be wait until and that other people do.

Sorry massive cross post as DH came home and we had a chat while I was mid reply! Just reading the other posts after penguin's. I think the plan is that I get a pessary to start with which I'd definitely prefer. My midwife today wasn't the most informed in all honesty but she said it will depend on how it's going, and she thinks I might start at 8am with a pessary and then be on the drip by the evening if it the pessary isn't doing enough. I might phone tomorrow and try and talk it through with someone to check that. That is a good point that they might try and move me on to the drip faster if I'm more overdue.

I'd def prefer birthing pool and pessary to start off with, especially as I've been getting period pain type cramps and Braxton hicks lots so I think my body is gearing up slowly!

My midwife told me that induction at 10 days was something my (new) area had moved away from in recent years. She said (and I don't have any sources to book this up, just her word) that there was no evidence it needed to be that early for any benefit to the baby, and you might just be making things a lot more difficult because the body is less likely to be 'almost' ready. Most areas are moving towards 12-14 days apparently, with many seeing no benefit before 14.

Having been through a 3 day labour, I'd say the possibility of it needing to take that long would not be a reason for me to agree induction at 10 days. If the baby needs to come out, I'd want a section to get it out, and if it doesn't then leave it be until 14 days!

The thing about placentas is that they can do funny things suddenly. A friend had this happen at 37 weeks. It's not a reason to induce all women at 37 weeks. Actually, scanning in late pregnancy would be a better indication...

Also worth bearing in mind that many people get to +13 on a Sunday and are told to wait until Monday morning, or turn up to find no bed and wait an extra day. +14 is considered a perfectly routine time to wait to even in areas that schedule earlier - they don't bust a gut to meet their own deadline!

That's what happened to me. I was called in on day 13 (Sunday) and sent home. Then day 14 (bank holiday Monday) and again sent home. And they finally found a bed for me on the Tuesday