Early intervention - why and when did the rules change?

[Comps83]

So from 38 weeks I felt I have been pressured to get this baby out early . There have been no issues with baby or myself , I have just been told the rules changed and when I asked why, the midwife said she didn’t know .
I refused a sweep a week before my due date but accepted one 2 days before which did nothing . I also booked an induction for today . I am 40+7 , the nhs website clearly is out of date as it still says they will only intervene after 42 for a healthy pregnancy I’m going out of my mind with stress and I have made DHs life a misery the last few days . I really wanted to give a natural birth a chance , I’ve just been reading the nhs statistic on increased risk of c sections/ more painful / difficult birth etc with induction
So as the midwife couldn’t tell me does anyone know why the rules changed? She seemed to think they changed last year

Well it's guidelines not rules, they can't force you to do anything you don't want to.

It's to do with trying to reduce stillbirth rates though as far as I know.

Hi there - there was a Swedish study recently which I think has impacted on practice, I hope I’ve put the link below. I felt pressure to be induced for a number of factors but I opted for monitoring every 2 days instead and went to 42+1 when I went into labour ( poss as a result of a sweep after my waters broke). It’s hard to make an informed decision about such an emotional thing. Best of luck with it

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/oct/28/post-term-pregnancy-research-cancelled-babies-die-sweden

There is a movement within the NHS to decrease the still birth rate and some hospitals have adopted a 'better out than in' policy to are advising earlier inductions then the usual 40+12. The risks of stillbirth are very small indeed but there have been a couple of studies recently including one in Sweden that claimed to show that inducing at 41 wks may be the option that is safest, in terms of cutting the chances of still birth. Does not take into account the risks of induction of course!

There are also studies that have found the induction cuts the chances of emergency caesarean compared to expectant management and and this is what is widely used to claim induction is a low risk option. Anyone who works with first time parents will probably tell you though that they see much more intervention and negative birth experiences amongst induced women so it's hard to square this with the research.

How old are you op?

36
Waiting for callback from maternity ward
She asked me white sharply why I was being induced... errrm
Said she didn’t have me on the list
Great

Quite not white

Just don’t stress OP. It’s the worst thing to do before labour. Stay calm & roll with it.

There have been some studies recently that show a higher risk of still birth after 41 weeks & it seems the NHS have understandably taken note, no bad thing at all. I distantly know someone who had a stillbirth at 42 weeks & it’s something that’s terrified me ever since. I went armed with the recent studies to my midwife and said I want an induction booking at 41 weeks if not sooner!

Try to look at labour from the perspective of the midwife being in charge of getting your baby out safely. They aren’t so concerned with how you’d like to do it, rather babies safe arrival. They may also be under staffing pressures & trying to balance as many labours as they can within their own safety levels. The poor NHS is crippled at the moment.

The best thing I did in labour was to just accept what was happening. I didn’t panic or stress or worry, I just listened to the professionals & got on with it. I went into natural labour but it kept stalling & I ended up having a sweep & then induction. It was all OK. Pretty tough going & ended in forceps (baby had her arm over her head & got stuck, not the fault of the induction etc) but all I wanted was baby safely in my arms 🧡

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice
She rang me back and I’m just going to go in and hope for the best

It depends on the trust, ours are trialling induction at 40+7 whereas some still go at 40+14. We have one of the highest still birth rates in the developed world and the NHS are trying to reduce this and trialling early intervention is one of the ways they're aiming for.

Unfortunately early induction appears to an easy fix solution for hospitals rather than improving antenatal care by making it more personalized and less of a induction factory. Unfortunately they have not put the resources in place in most hospitals to make sure women being induced earlier are receiving the care they need to make the process as positive as possible.

Between my experience of an induction 3 years ago and my friends experience 6 months ago it seems that the midwives are now less eager to push along an induction and are more keen to start things off then let it progress.

I was induced and kept in hospital with regular checks and on the basis they would do whatever possible to progress the labour.

My friend however was induced then sent home to let things progress.

So I think they start early to reduce the amount of intervention they need to do meaning the induction process could take days to work.

Well I’ve been in 4 hours now
Hope I’ve made the right decision

Awh Comps83 it’s the right decision cos you made it and regardless of what happens, don’t go back over it as they say ‘the past is a different country’ and you can’t make yesterday’s decision on tomorrow’s information. Wish you and your baby all the best and hope you’re tucked up baby snuggling, munching toast and sipping tea very, very soon x

I've been told different things by different consultants. First one told me I'd be induced on my due date if baby hasn't arrived 'as per hospital protocol', second one told me we won't discuss induction until 40 +10? Starting to believe that the NHS themselves don't know what the guidelines are

Interested to see about that Swedish study. In the interests of balance for anyone reading this thread and stressing, I found the figures in this really interesting www.aims.org.uk/journal/item/induction-at-term
Basically it shows the recent data (since 2004) from the UK showed fewer stillbirths at beyond 40weeks than at 40,consistently. But mostly it didn't record beyond 42 or there were maybe too few. Anyway personally I intend to refuse induction until 42 weeks, unless there's some specific reason. Not sure how age might affect it. It seems poor that they aren't giving decent information as to reasons

Well he was 8lb 6 so probably for the best I didn’t wait another week

Aw lovely! A new year baby. Hope you're getting plenty of rest and enjoying the new born cuddles. Congratulations!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

Lovely news! Congrats! Enjoy your baby xx

Haha Congratulations op