Over due 😤. Induction booked but want to refuse ...

[Armytage93]

Hi I’m 40+4 very fed up as I thought I’d go early with the baby being breech at 36 weeks. (Thankfully they managed to turn baby)
Baby is weighing above average which is also why I though if go early.
I’ve tried everything to start labour nothing is working :(
Was ment to have 3/4 sweeps but baby’s head is wobbling about up there and midwifes can push head up so didn’t fully ready so can be dangerous. I have a induction booked for Monday but reallllllly don’t want to go through with it. Any one got a story of their own where they have refused being induced ??

I was induced 40+15 and it took another day-and-a-half for baby to be born. It was an awful experience, but it's not like that for everyone of course!

Because of the first time, I refused induction with my second baby (they gave me a day's grace) and he came naturally 40 +17.

My third came naturally 40+15 (but it started the day before so they hadn't hassled me, other than to do a sweep).

Having said all that...every situation is different and ultimately you have to trust the professionals. All the best

I refused as baby was happy and healthy in there.

In fact they were sooooo pushy with an induction/sweeps etc and I had to keep saying that as long as baby was happy then I wanted to wait for labour to start spontaneously. The moment there was any slight worry for baby I would've had it done but otherwise I don't see the point. In fact I was worried that induction would cause further problems, as is often the case (intervention leads to further intervention etc)

In the end I had a very normal pregnancy with no pain relief at all and DS was 9lbs so a big baby indeed!

Do what feels right for you Op.

When you say you're a "big girl," how big are we talking? Is that the reason for earlier induction?

You're within your rights to refuse, and there are no guarantees that your induction will either go smoothly or disastrously, unfortunately. I was induced at 42 weeks exactly and had a very straightforward labour after the first pessary. However, on looking at graphs of post-term stillbirth rates, I'm not happy to wait that long this time around

My induction was fine. Lovely, fairly swift labour where following the induction I was left to give birth peacefully, quietly and calmly just as I had hoped.

Dd arrived very relaxed, breastfed easily and slept well.

My subsequent natural births were not nearly as wonderful.

I refused induction which made the community midwives very cross and they sent me to the hospital I think to be terrified into being induced. I was already in slow labour at this point. Hospital were great they put me on the monitor and doctor had a chat with me about risks, booked a scan for two days later and we agreed an induction date if things hadn’t speeded up. They were quite happy to let me go to 42 +3 possibly because there weren’t any beds. As it happened labour did speed up but not enough had the drip (def get the epidural) and finally a caesarean.
If you don’t want to be induced at all just ask for a section it’s your birth and this is one area you have a choice

They like to induce because the risk of stillbirths increases after 40+14 (still lower than it is at 38 weeks though, see . No idea why they have you booked at 40+8.

The risk of stillbirth actually decreases until 40 weeks (1 in 926) and then increases again, the risk at 42 weeks is about the same as it was at 38 weeks (1 in 750 ish), so it's definitely not a huge increase www.bmj.com/content/319/7205/287/T1

I had mine at 40+13 and 40+10, inducing at 40+8 feels a bit enthusiastic to me given it makes a lot of other interventions much more likely.

If there is no medical emergency, going over your due date shouldn't be an issue. Usually going upto 42 weeks is fine as long as there's no medical concerns?

I would probably decline and wait to go into labour naturally if there's no cause for concern.

I can understand your fear of being induced as there are lots of unpleasant stories out there about it. However a friend of mine was induced last year and she found it was ok and said she just went in with a calm mindset with breathing exercises and got through it.

You are well within your rights to refuse it if you really wish.

With DS1 I had 2 unsuccessful sweeps, was so fed up and dreaded the thought of being induced. I was trying EVERYTHING (to this day I cant eat pineapple or dates!) but what I feel may have helped me go into labour myself was acupuncture. To be honest I just did it out of curiosity as always wanted to try it and it was a distraction as I was on maternity leave almost a month and bored! It really helped relax me and its supposed to release blockages in the body to allow baby to make their way. The next morning after having it my waters broke! Could well have been a coincidence but maybe try to book yourself in for a nice treatment (massage, reflexology, whatever) to relax your body and calm your mind.

Good luck!