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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

40+6 advice needed!

170 replies

ejmay90 · 07/05/2020 10:49

So currently 40+6 and decided not to have a sweep at my 40 week appointment as wanted everything to start naturally.
I had my 41 week appointment yesterday and opted for a sweep as I really dont want an induction and would prefer as little intervention as possible, this is less than an induction so opted for this instead.
Now my midwife has had to book my induction for Wednesday 13th as I'll be 40+12 then, but she has said they may bring it forward to monday 11th or Tuesday 12th.

I really dont want an induction, I'm a ftm and do really want this to be as natural as possible and my partner there. Midwife said if I'm in hospital for 24 hours for induction it will be alone.

My question is should I ask for another sweep before the induction to see if it starts anything?
Really dont think yesterdays sweep did anything as she said my cervix is soft which is good but she couldn't do a very good sweep as it's still at the back.
I know sweeps aren't proven to work and if I go into labour it's because I was ready to anyway but is it worth it?

Any advice welcome.

P.s I'm doing the walking a day (have a dog), hot foods, sex, birthing ball ect to get things going but nothing is working!

OP posts:
Wingingthis · 11/05/2020 11:56

I was induced at 41+12 two weeks ago. It was absolutely fine! They broke my waters and luckily that kicked things off so I avoided the syntocin drip. I actually preferred this birth to my first natural birth. Both had no interventions

Raaaa · 11/05/2020 12:06

I had a sweep which did nothing.

My daughter was born at 42 weeks and a few days, I was put on the drip and the birth experience was fine, no forceps, ventouse, episiotomy all natural.

She was big though, over 9lbs and I'm 5ft 2.

Personally i would take the advice of the Midwife's as I would kick myself if I refused on the grounds of wanting it all to be natural and baby died (extreme I know). As others have said if baby gets too big medical intervention may be necessary anyway and the birth plan doesn't always happen when you're in the throws of labour.

I hope it all works out Smile

Original poster
ejmay90 · 11/05/2020 13:17

@NameChange30 my midwife said they prefer to do it at 41+5 as it can take a few days to kick in/give birth.
I'm going to go to Wednesdays appointment with lots of questions but not fully decided I'm going to go ahead with it. Me and my other half will write down a list of things and ill have to make a decision based on what they say. I just wish he could be there to hear all the answers with me!

@Wingingthis that's good to hear, did you have sweeps to try and get things moving first? As I worry if they havent worked then I dont know how easy the induction would be.

@Raaaa ohh really? I worry about how big he's going to get as I'm only 5ft 4.
I totally agree I would kick myself if anything were to happen. I just wish he could be there for the induction and even the chat before so it's not just me taking it all in! :(

OP posts:
NameChange30 · 11/05/2020 13:24

Great idea to write your list of questions together beforehand. Perhaps when you've heard the answers you could ask them for 5-10 minutes to think, call your partner, and then go back to them to confirm what you decide? I have no idea if that would be possible but it's worth asking, they might be understanding given that he can't be with you atm.

flissity · 11/05/2020 13:38

Can you FaceTime or call your partner so he can at least listen into the conversations between you and drs?

CantKeepSecrets · 11/05/2020 13:53

You can absolutely decline induction, I did. I gave birth with no induction at 14 days 'overdue' and I also didn't have any sweeps whatsoever. I was given so much conflicting information in my last 2-3 weeks that I asked to speak to the head of midwifery to come up with a plan together , she was baffled that I was told to go for induction purely because of tape measuring my bump coming up small.

She booked me in for some extra scans and monitoring to check the placenta etc and said we would meet again to discuss on the 14th day 'overdue' if baby still didn't feel ready. I made it clear I would have absolutely accepted any means of intervention if baby was showing any signs of decline or stress.

He was 9lb6 and perfectly healthy. I would recommend asking for a scan to check placenta and some extra monitoring , I think the stress of counting the days 'over due' was really preventing my body relaxing enough and when I finally just accepted I'd be pregnant forever (Grin) he decided to come out. Check out the WHO Guidelines on this sort of thing , might make you feel more confident in your decision.

Raaaa · 11/05/2020 14:07

@ejmay90 do you see the midwife at the drs? Is that why your Oh isn't allowed in or is this the delivery suite at the hospital? X

Wingingthis · 11/05/2020 14:37

I had a sweep at 41 weeks and she said she couldn’t even do it properly as my cervix wasn’t even partly open. Then at 41 + 5 when I went in for the induction, they gave me another sweep and said I was already 2cm! She stretched it to 3cm (was painless, promise) and then they broke my waters an hour or so later.

Original poster
ejmay90 · 11/05/2020 17:04

@NameChange30 definitely, I dont want to go in unarmoured. I will tell them I cant make a decision until I've spoken to him.

@flissity that's a good idea, I will see if I can call him so he can hear.

@CantKeepSecrets ohh really? I was debating asking for extra scans and monitoring rather than the induction. I'm just worried he is going to end up big due to leaving it so long.
Thank you I will check out the guidelines before I go on Wednesday so I know what I want to do beforehand.

@Raaaa my midwife came to my house for the sweep today but the induction would be done at the hospital and due to covid they aren't letter partners in unless I'm in active labour.

@Wingingthis that's what my midwife said last week and also today. Said I'm soft but couldn't do anything. That's promising, hopefully it will be the same for me if I go ahead with it on Wednesday as I'll be 41+5 then.
Do they always do an examination and sweep before the induction?

OP posts:
VictoriaBun · 11/05/2020 19:25

It was a million years ago now, but way back when, I was allowed to go 40+19 before I was induced. I should imagine that does not happen now but I think 25 years ago maybe not unusual .

joydivisionovengloves1 · 11/05/2020 21:18

My daughter is also 25 and I was due to be induced at 40+21 I got to 20 and went into labour naturally. She was born almost as soon as I got onto the delivery bed!

NameChange30 · 11/05/2020 21:26

This is an old but very interesting article
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/01/pregnant-for-10-months

TwinkleStars15 · 12/05/2020 15:27

@ejmay90 how are you doing?

Original poster
ejmay90 · 12/05/2020 17:55

@VictoriaBun @joydivisionovengloves1 thanks for letting me know, that's interesting but they dont let it go that far these days. Silly really as it would have happened years ago!

@NameChange30 thanks for the article I've had a read and it is interesting!

@TwinkleStars15 still no sign! Feeling fine physically just fed up still. Had a call from the hospital as they had booked my induction for friday and wanted to bring it forward until tomorrow, even though my midwife said it was booked for tomorrow so no clue what happened there.
Told them they can call me but I want to discuss options. She said they will call anytime from 12pm tonight which I found odd! Is this usual for a booked induction?

OP posts:
TwinkleStars15 · 12/05/2020 18:09

@ejmay90 no idea sorry, I refused mine so don’t know what the procedure is. A call from midnight seems bizarre though! Talk about starting the process off already shattered Confused You could always wait until Friday if you wished to (or beyond), they probably want to bring it forward because they don’t have many planned for tomorrow so it suits them better...

Original poster
ejmay90 · 12/05/2020 19:09

@twinklestars15 yea that's what I thought. I was told they do 4-5 a day but thought it would be from the morning. Yea I know that's what I thought, getting a call at 2am wouldnt be ideal would it!
Supposedly they are full tomorrow now, had one more space and they brought mine forward so who knows!

OP posts:
NameChange30 · 12/05/2020 19:30

Did they really say they could call you any time from midnight onwards?! Fuck that. Turn off your phone. You need your sleep/rest ahead of giving birth.

TwinkleStars15 · 12/05/2020 19:53

@NameChange30 my thoughts exactly!

RandomMess · 12/05/2020 20:20

I have been induced 4 times for being overdue!

Twice I need ARM after 3 pessaries and even though I had epidurals I delivered without assistance/intervention etc.

Even with #4 6 hours after the 1st pessary at 42 weeks had a bishops score of only 1 - it was 1 before I got pregnant 🙈 still delivered 4 hours after 2nd pessary and official labour was 1 minute 😂

Original poster
ejmay90 · 12/05/2020 20:23

Yea they did, I found that so odd!
I very much doubt they will as i said i want to discuss it first as not sure i want to do it so dont think anyone would be calling me at like 2am to discuss it with someone who is half asleep lol. Will update you tomorrow if they do call!

OP posts:
Original poster
ejmay90 · 12/05/2020 20:29

@RandomMess oh really! I do wonder do some women just not go into labour naturally?
My hospital use the balloon method which I'm not sure how more of less effective that is than the pessary?
Wow 1 minute that's amazing lol!

OP posts:
NameChange30 · 12/05/2020 20:40

"I do wonder do some women just not go into labour naturally?"

All women will go into labour naturally! It's just that some will take longer than others. And I guess some choose induction (or feel they have no choice but to agree to one).

needanewusernameplz · 12/05/2020 20:45

Is there a reason why they would NOT offer a pessary? I hear it being used sometimes and not others, keen to understand if there are only certain times/situations they would use it or go straight to a drip.

bluemoon2468 · 12/05/2020 20:46

I'm sure people have already said this but you certainly don't have to agree to an induction at 41+5 - nothing negative is immediately going to happen if you cross into 42 weeks and baby hasn't been born yet. Personally I won't even be booking an induction until after I've hit 42 weeks.

NameChange30 · 12/05/2020 20:50

On this thread the OP had an induction and IIRC they wanted to use a balloon catheter rather than a pessary, I think she explained what they said about it at some point
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/3881292-Hospital-want-to-induce-me-this-Friday-38-0-help