Induction stories please

[xJune88]

First time mum. Due to be induced on Monday after 3 episodes of reduced movements. I will be 40 weeks on Monday and having daily ctgs until induction to reassure me and know baby is ok. I never had a 'birth plan' but midwife said I'd be stuck on labour ward and once in not allowed out until baby is born. Just hate the idea of been stuck to a bed with monitors and probably epidural as I've heard induction is intense. Stories please??

Also interested in this topic as supposed to be induced and first pregnancy so slightly worried!

I had inductions with both mine. Yes I guess it's pretty intense ( though I"ve got nothing to compare it to !). But if your baby needs to get out of there , this is the way to go. Being stuck in the labour ward is OK - you are going to be in labour so yes it's the place to be. Keep in mind that this is the best thing for your baby, and that any discomfort is for a good cause. Best wishes to you on Monday !

I think at 40 weeks the pessary will do it- you might not need the drip.
I had the drip due to my labour not progressing, and it was intense- but manageable, but 50 times worse then natural contractions.
Loads of my friends have had the pessary and it’s been fine, earlier then 38weeks I don’t think it’s that effective, but every one I know that had it at full term, it seems pretty effective at getting things going.
You won’t be strapped to the bed either you can walk around, go to hospital cafe etc while it kicks in.

I’m also due to be induced at 39 weeks at the end of this month. I was just wondering if it was the pessary that caused the intense contractions or the drip.

I’ve been advised to have an epidural as soon as I’ve had the oxytocin drip put in as with my first baby (spontaneous labour) she came pretty quickly and I may not have time for one otherwise.

The thought of having an epidural makes me cringe - DD’s labour was intense and painful but manageable. I never thought I couldn’t cope and never asked for an epidural or felt I needed one.

I was induced at 42 + 5 weeks. Once the pessary got me to 2cm I asked that they not break my waters and let me have a crack at it all moving naturally (was having contractions) as I didn’t want to be fast tracked through interventions.

They left me to it. I walked miles around the hospital I was 9cm when finally examined and I had my baby at 1am in the birthing pool. Good luck!

Everyone is different but for me the induction wasn’t that bad - yeah it hurt but not as bad as I’d got in my head. My only advice is don’t go too heavy on the drugs!...after nine month of nothing, not even caffeine most likely, all the drugs hit you really hard and I felt so Ill it’s my biggest regret. Good luck, you’ll do great x

I haven’t been induced, but my best friend was for both her children. (1st time for pre-eclampsia, 2nd time overdue). She had very straightforward, calm births for both (didn’t feel the need for an epidural) and says she actually liked being induced as she knew when she would be going into labour!

I did hypnobirthing etc, and went into labour naturally, but ended up with epidural (which was lovely, actually!) and an emergency c section.

Wishing you all the best for your labour and new baby.

I was induced due to baby measuring big (born 9lbs at 38.3 weeks) they couldn't get me going despite trying for a few days so I had a section, I went home twice in the week luckily they let me when I asked

I was induced with my 2nd. With the hormone gel. In at 6pm, had to wait a bt until mw available. Gel in 9ish, nothing doing, walked miles around the antenatal ward, sat on a ball doing cross stitch and pissing around on my tablet, just too uncomfortable to sleep but no active labour. 3am repeat skipped as contracting a bit. Repeat gel 9am actually started doing stuff - walked some more, bounced some more, did a tonne of technic Lego, more cross stitch etc until it got more intense.

Had regular ctgs, but once things kicked off they didn't have to be lying down, had 1 on the ball and one kneeling on the bed.

Actual labour once it got going was fast and intense, went from 2cm to 9cm really quickly, very similar to my first spontaneous labour. So can't blame that on the induction really.

Had pethidine a couple of times, didn't really help much, just let me sleep between contractions.

Didn't need water breaking or drip - just a ventouse and pretty well the same point as with my first.

Certainly with the hormone induction I think that most of the interventions are likely to have been necessary either way...

I was induced for the same reasons as you and was so worried because I’d heard induction was intense.

We did everything we could to make it a positive experience (I’d done the positive birth company hypnobirthing course) and I really loved giving birth!! What worked for me was getting relaxation apps on my phone, magazines / books to entertain us sometimes it can take a while, nice room sprays and oils that reminded me of home, light touch massage - it all helped me stay comfortable and relaxed. I also asked for lots of baths (I had 4 in the end!) which helped me loads with the early contractions, plus kept as active as possible by walking around the ward and bouncing on a pregnancy ball.

It took a couple of days and I ended up having the drip and an epidural (both of which I was dreading it coming to!) but the epidural more than managed the contractions and I felt really calm and able to focus on giving birth 😊

Good luck Xxx

I just used gas and air in labour after a pessary started contractions. Monitors were annoying but you could move and change position and go to the loo.

Do you know if you are already dilated? If you are that makes drip less likely.

Thankyou all for your experiences! I'm relieved to see alot of you could move around because my worse fear is just been stuck to the bed on the monitor. Had ctgs for the last 2 days and having another tday, both times I've been asked if I felt tightenings because the toco was reaching 85 but mild pains eased off as quick as they started. Haven't been examined or had a sweep because I didn't want to go through it for it to fail and then be prodded and poked all day tomorrow, I cant feel my cervix at all so dnt even think its come to the front yet!! My fear is the drip all I've heard is horror stories and people been denied pain relief! X

Good luck! I only needed the pessary and I had a 3.5 hour labour. Induction can be ok!

I had a induction for the same thing. So day 1 pessery was put in, I walked around the hospital tbh we left to go to a cafe but you are not meant to so u can walk around as much as u can in the hospital, bounce on a ball when wanting to sit, I was in a lot of pain as my cervix has a lot of work to do and it was all doing it quickly, but I needed a day 2 pessery, again I walked around and then bounced a lot, waters broke on the ball, jumped from 3cm-10cm within 2hrs, and pushed her out with nothing as g&a made me vomit. I progressed from 3cm really fast so they wouldn’t listen that I was More progressed as normal first time moms take longer, if it happens to you just make sure you make them listen. I ended up pushing in the induction room as I had urges and u just know when the baby needs to be pushed out. Not the best experience but more because of the midwives not listening. Second birth was great but those ones listened!

Try not to believe the horror stories. People love telling war stories about labour. You never hear 'it was no big deal, yeah it hurt but it was over quickly' or something similarly mundane.

Induction was so painful and ineffective with dc1 that when they started suggesting it for dc2 I asked if there was an alternative. These said yes, a c section. I opted for that instead because there was no way I would go through induction again.

In for daily ctg and midwife tried to do a sweep. Cervix is completely shut and still way at the back all she did was cause me alot of discomfort. Owell pessary tomorrow it is!

My induction at 38+1 was pretty shit. I will do everything to avoid one this time around - as long as I don't get pre-eclampsia again!

I had a pessary - then another one 24 hours later - then they broke my waters 24 hours after the second pessary. I was able to walk around the hospital during the first 48 hours. Once they broke my waters I vomited with every contraction so was pretty much room bound.

Then they put me on a drip, did an epidural and stuck a wire up me and into babies head to monitor her heart rate as they couldn't get an accurate reading through my bump so I was well and truly bed bound with various wires and tubes sticking out. I couldn't really feel the contractions once on the drip due to the epidural and I stopped vomitting. Once the epidural starting wearing off the vomitting returned though.

I eventually had a forceps delivery.

Hope you have a better experience. I think my experience is probably the exception rather than the norm.

I was induced at 38 weeks due to preeclampsia. First attempt on day 1 didn't work, had the gel and a lot of pains but they tapered off by about 8pm that evening with no progress made.
Day 2, attempt 2, I was given the gel at 8.00am and was told to come back every 4 hours for them to check progress. So I walked as much as I could and had a bath which was great for the pain. At 4pm I was 1cm and brought to labor ward, they broke my waters, put me on the drip and I got epidural. Things were progressing nicely and by 9pm I was 6cm however contractions then gradually started to slow down and there was concern for my DS's heart rate and his blood oxygen levels were not great so it was decided at about midnight that I'd have an emergency C section. So my story wasn't a great one but I've heard many positive induction stories from friends and family members good luck!

I was induced at 37+4 a few weeks ago & while the birth wasn't what I had "planned" it was overwhelmingly positive!

24hr pessary on Monday morning, which had done the trick by Tuesday and I was 2cm dilated which was enough of a gap to break my waters. But that was delayed all day Tuesday as L&D was closed! So spent the whole day wandering about the hospital and grounds nefore they confirmed they had a bed for me at 8pm.

Taken through, waters broken at 9pm (found that quite painful as membranes were tough according to MW! )

The drop was started not long after and I won't lie, those contractions once they started coming were extemely painful. After about 4hrs (1hr of almost constant contractions) I tapped out and asked for an epidural, skipped everything else apart from gas and air. Epidural was in place 40mins later and I was able to sleep.

By 8am we were ready to push and the epidural was wearing off a little which allowed me to feel the pressure of the contractions but not the pain. DD was born after 2hrs of pushing on my back in stirrups and while it wasn't my plan it was perfect. No tears or cuts and a very happy baby. My midwives were amazing which made all the difference.

My advice is not to worry too much, ask loads of questions but concentrate on relaxing! Good luck!

I was induced 37&6 in March for reduced movement.

Amazing experience!

Pessary was in 8:30pm Thursday night, things started to move along within 30 minutes it was then removed in the morning as wasn’t getting on with it.

Took me down to delivery suite around midday I was 6cm dilated, was on gas & air no drips etc moving around used my exercise ball has my music on etc & had my boy 2pm vaginal birth.

Don’t worry just try & enjoy it!

Highly recommend the digital pack by positive birth compwny

Good luck!

And were in! Thanks for the stories will update when I can x

Following :)

Good luck!!

Had a sweep, cervix has moved forward and started to open so progress from yesterday. The pessary is in! X