Am I being stupid?

[Thenightswatch]

Hello all, sorry for the long that of this! I really need some advice and I'm willing to be told I'm being stupid. So I'm 37+5 with my third baby, planned home birth everything was going fine. I have always been told by my own midwife and the hospital to go in to get checked if you have any concerns with movement. Well yesterday baby was having a slow day, and i was getting all worked up and decided to go to hospital to get checked. This is the second time I've been in. I got a ctg and a scan, and everything was fine, baby is growing perfectly and ofcourse she starts moving as soon as I get hooked up to the ctg machine.

Anyway the doctor comes round to speak to me, and tells me since it's the second time I've been in they want to induce me I politely refused induction, as everything was ok with scans. She then tried to push induction and strongly advised against a homebirth.

My DH is backing me up saying it's my choice, and he will support me no matter what, but now I'm completely confused and doubting my own decisions. Am I being completely ridiculous to consider still having a home birth? Should they really of been pushing induction on me?

Thanks

I am of the view that while it's wise to listen to medical opinion they are not necessarily always going to give the right answer for YOU. I would push for more detailed reasons why they want to do an induction. Have you had issues in previous pregnancies? If the baby is starting to slow down it may be better to be safe and get him/her out early. Having said that, if they are happy that the amount of movement is perfectly normal and they are just being very cautious, then go for the homebirth.

Having just read that back, I realise that this is the least helpful of all possible answers. Get more information - I think that's key. Good luck!

What were the doctor's reasons against a homebirth? Do you have an elevated risk factor?
Sounds odd to suggest an induction with no problem... Can you phone your midwife to talk it through?
Sorry not v helpful but didn't want to leave you hanging

There's some research to say that people who present with reduced fetal movements twice or more are more likely to have a stillbirth, because of that they tend to be keen to offer induction.

If you don't want to be induced is there any chance of them offering you some extra monitoring or reassurance while you wait to go into labour naturally? I think it's so tricky knowing the right thing to do for you and your baby in this situation as it's different for everyone but maybe that would give you some more time to think about it?!

Thanks for your replies.

I asked the reason for offering induction and its apparently routine now. My previous births and pregnancies were completely fine, no complications. I was induced with my first and it was not a good experience so I did want to avoid that. Doctor gave no explanation as to why she disagreed with a homebirth, she wasn't the most helpful.

I'm waiting for my midwife to get in touch with me today, so hopefully she can help me with the worries I'm having.

Sorry, that's ridiculous. Just because you didn't feel the movement doesn't mean there was reduced movement, and if everything's straightforward, there's no reason to induce you, especially so early. I don't think her reason was good enough and was more about her prejudices against homebirth.

Medical professionals often have their own agenda which is "I'm the doctor and what I believe goes."

Ah you and my DH would get on very well darthvader, he said pretty much exactly the same, and was pretty sure the doctor just didn't like home births in general by how she was taking.

Just spoke to my own midwife, and even she said it's odd they would offer to induce me so early if nothing was really wrong.

Doctors like that are the reason I try to avoid hosp in the first place.

My midwife gave me a little acronym to use and said its about you and the baby so question everything and make your decision after that, the acronym is BRAN, which is

BENEFITS? What are they...
RISKS? What are the risks associated with it
ALTERNATIVES? What are the alternatives to what they are suggesting
NOTHING? What if we do nothing...

It has helped me to feel more in control as like PP has said some medical professionals have their own personal reasons for suggestions things and it's better to be informed and then decide your self.

That's a great thing to remember Maryellen, I need to remember that!