Induction at 37 weeks - anyone had this?

[mistermagpie]

So I'm due to be induced tomorrow at 37+4 for reduced fetal movements. It was supposed to be Monday but has been brought forward.

I've never experienced induction before, so wondered if it was more likely to fail or take days with it being so early? Has anyone been in this position?

On my side is the fact that this is my third baby and my other two were born spontaneously at 38 and 39 weeks, but they came when the were ready. This one isn't even engaged!

I haven’t been in this position but they are talking about an early induction for me too! They said to me that they won’t do an induction if they think there is a high chance of it failing, I think there are certain criteria you meet for it to be reasonable to do or they can just section you otherwise! So I’d say they expect to be successful if they plan on going ahead! On the plus side I have a few friends induced early, and they were pleasantly surprised by the experience! I hope you have a lovely and smooth birth and just think you will have that beautiful baby in your arms in no time now! It def sounds like you would benefit from a chat with your consultant about this though, they will be able to talk you through the decision making process and give you confidence in the process!!!

I was induced at 37+3 for the same reason.
I had my daughter the next day. It seemed to go quite slowly at first, but once it started it was all relatively quick.

I hope it goes well OP. Good luck...you’ll be amazing!!

I was induced at 39 weeks as DS was huge so we were trying to get him out before he got too big. He’s my first and the induction didn’t work. I had 4 horrid days in hospital followed by an emergency C-section.
I’m not sure what it depends on but some lucky women get the baby out within hours of being induced.

I was induced at 37+3 after waters going and reduced movements.
Induced originally with a gel, contracting but not dilating so on to the drip.
Induction started at 3pm on Saturday, gave birth at 10:30am Sunday. Miles quicker than DS1 and a little more relaxing.
Have known people to have longer inductions at 40+ weeks, but be prepared for it to take it's time. Best of luck.

37+6 started on the pessary, they delayed my second one as I was contracting regularly.. second one in and I went to sleep for 5hours n woke up in labour.

They did say they would stop if they thought it wasn’t working/over stimulating but besides delaying the second dose it the induction worked fine.

Ds in the other hand was an awkward sausage and wouldn’t turn so I ended up with forceps in theatre just incase they couldn’t do it and I needed a section.

They had a pack about inductions, success rates n all that jazz I got handed up on the ward before the first dose to read through incase I had questions.. you could ask to see if they have one on hand for you.

i was induced at 37 + 1. i was induced on Thursday and gave birth Saturday night.

Ooh it's quite varied then isn't if? I really hope it's over quickly but I'll prepare myself for a couple of days. I really don't want an instrumental delivery or a section but that's just because my two previous births were plain sailing and I was hoping to recreate that!

Started induction Monday morning had baby early hours of Friday. It was a long week in hospital!

@mistermagpie @DannyWallace how many episodes of reduced movements have you had for early delivery? Also is there any other concerns growth etc!? Just wondering as I have had two episodes and having growth scans on last scan growth dropped off next one Thursday 35+4 wondering what decision will be

It wasn't so much the number of episodes for me, it was that the second episode had a worrying CTG and a scan with no movements detected. I was about 35+4 or something at that point and the plan was to induce me then but we held off. Further scans and CTGs (I've had them every other day since then!) have been fine but I'm still not feeling movements like I was before so the plan was induction at 38 weeks. It was brought forward to 37+4 because the situation wasn't improving, which I am right now and I've just had my first pessary!

I had 2 pessarys 5 hours apart which got me to 3cm with no pains. They then broke my waters and I went to 10cm and she was born in 2 hours. Good luck!

Well I had two pessaries overnight and nada!! Getting a third one soon... think I'm in for the long haul.

I've been induced three times, all ended in vaginal birth. Two needed the drip, these were the ones done at 34+5 and 36+9, the other was 38 weeks. I always assumed the earlier ones needed a bit more of a kickstart! Try and walk around as much as possible to help. Also remember that just because you're having a slow start doesn't mean it'll stay slow!

I was induced at 37.5 weeks.

Pessary on morning of day one, had a few faint tightenings that nights but not much. They checked me just before lunch on day 2 and were able to break my waters.

Contractions ramped up quickly from there and baby was born at 6.30pm.

Oh I'm so hoping things start moving. I asked about the outcome if all this fails and midwife said section. I really don't want that.

A calm and planned isn't as bad as being whisked away for an emergency one. I hope the pessary will work though and that you'll meet your child soon

@mistermagpie hopefully they can break your waters soon and things may kick off

I basically had constant reduced movements from around 30 weeks and almost no movements at all from around 35 weeks.
We found out when she was born that she was in a very strange position and had got into a bit of a tangle but thank god she is/was absolutely fine.

Just for an update if anyone else is interested!

I needed three pessaries (six hours apart) to get things going but contractions started at about 1pm on Saturday. Cervix was only 1cm dilated at that point. Baby had turned and was back to back so it was utter and complete agony but they refused to send me to the labour ward until I was at least 3cm, so I couldn't get any pain relief (I can't have codeine or morphine related things). I was finally sent to the labour ward at 3:45 and got gas & air (yay!), examines at 4:04pm and was 4cm so they were able to break my waters...

Wait for it...

Baby was born at 4:09pm!! That was the weirdest and most painful five minutes of my life but she just shot out!!

Anyway, she is a girl and she is perfect. So it goes to show that an early induction certainly can work but this being my third baby probably had something to do with the ridiculous speed of the final stage!!

Oh wow, congratulations OP!

Wow that's amazing congrats!

Sounds eventful! Congratulations