Tips/advice for induction with pessaries?

[RWK29]

Have my induction booked. Anything you wish you’d taken to hospital? Anything that you feel helped things move along? (I have severe SPD and am immobile without help so walking isn’t an option! Hoping trying to stay upright on a ball will be enough 🤞🏼)

Hospital covid policy doesn’t allow DH to be there for the first while so anything that made things easier if you were in on your own for the first while?

No induction horror stories please!!

I had my little boy on Weds after pessary induction and I would say be prepared for it to potentially move quickly. Everything I read suggested it would take forever/most likely not even work but I was in active labour within 24hrs of having pessary and for some reason found that really shell shocking as I’d had it in my head it’d be a few days. Pessary in 5.30 Tues, baby born 8pm Weds, home 11am Thursday.

It was also fine with partner not being there for start and having to leave a couple of hours after the birth. It was special time for me to say goodbye to bump and pregnancy alone after a tricky pregnancy with SPD, the blues and severe sickness- and then special time just me and my little boy until dad came back to take us home and it felt like we were the only people in the world just me and baby during the night feeds that first evening. I am nearly crying typing this out- how exciting for you!! Best of luck, soon you’ll have your baby!!!

Nothing will help it go faster. For my first two I had pessary inductions and it was 3 days until I went into labour properly. I know it's not the same, but I was alone as DH had to go to work so apart from a couple of hours in the evening, it was a bit lonely!

I just made sure I had plenty of cold drinks or money for cold drinks as I found I got quite dehydrated on the ward, as well as things to read and a phone charger!

@Phiphi123 Thank you so much And congratulations on your little boy
You’re right, I already have it in my head that it’ll take forever so I guess I just need to go in with an open mind and it’ll take as long as it takes 🤷🏻‍♀️ Hopefully at the end of it all we’ll have a healthy little one and we’ll finally get to find out whether we have a boy or girl 😍

I also didn’t find it comfortable to be walking around during contractions but I moved the top of my hospital bed so it was straight up- so bed was in an L shape and knelt facing the wall where the bed was against leaning forward on to it for support if that makes sense so that I was still upright :-)

Ask about your Bishop's score. The higher it is, the more likely labour will progress well.

If you're written a birth plan (or birth preferences, that's what I called mine!) make sure you have mentioned your SPD on there, especially if there are certain positions that are painful for you (I found it painful to lie on my back) and if it's painful for you to open your knees wide. This is especially important if you end up having an epidural because you may not be able to feel it but should still be careful not to push your body further than it can go.
pelvicpartnership.org.uk/pregnancy-and-birth-with-pgp-birth-plans/

@MilkshakeandFries thanks 😊 I’ve made sure I have a phone charger and a power pack just incase and I’ve got a book and puzzle book to give me something to occupy myself. Also packed the snacks and drinks 😊

@Phiphi123 yep, makes sense 👍🏻 I’m hoping I’ll manage to get into some of these positions even if I can’t move between them very easily and have to just stay like that for a while 🤞🏼

@NameChange30 I’ve read about Bishops score - I’ll ask about that for sure! Thank you! And great point about updating the birthing plan. The pelvis situation came on VERY suddenly on Thursday night and I’m completely bed ridden 😳 I can’t stand up or take a single step without DH holding me up as the pain is unbearable! Phoned triage and they said it sounds like my pelvis has split but that they couldn’t induce any earlier so to try and stay at home if I could due to covid etc 😓

That sounds awful, you poor thing
When is your induction booked? Unless it's very soon I would suggest seeing a manual therapist privately if you can afford it. Try someone from this list or ask local friends/contacts for recommendations.
pelvicpartnership.org.uk/recommended-practitioners/

Personally I’d ask if your Trust is doing Foley balloon induction. It’s become quite popular in Covid because they can put it in and send you home for 12-24 hours. Also far less likely to kick off contractions (this can be a good thing that early on, pessaries can start contractions earlier than needed and no one wants unnecessary discomfort!). I had a pessary induction with my first baby and won’t accept one again.

I had an induction last month and I was very helpfully reminded that pain relief options on the ward are limited before you move to labour ward (the room i was in had no gas and air for example.) So I had a "bag of tricks" to help me - I took my owns tens machine and clicky hand warmers to put on my lower back to ease pain. I also found water really helpful (standing in the shower.) I progressed really quickly (baby 13 hours after first pessary) and was so glad I had these things to help me - i was also alone until i was admitted to labour ward. My induction was very positive and I required no further intervention after the pessaries. Good luck op!

@NameChange30 it’s tomorrow thankfully because I’m definitely about to reach my limit with this pelvic pain at home. It’s taking my DH and I 20ish minutes to get to me the toilet and back and I’m literally dripping with sweat with the pain by the time I get back to bed 😔 honestly not even sure how we’re going to get me out of the house and into the car!

@FizzingWhizzbee123 My trust don’t offer the balloon unfortunately, it’s something that I already looked into.

@Everybodysaycheese Great point about the pain relief - I hadn’t even thought of that! I’ll pack some heat packs in my bag. Glad to hear you had a positive experience 😊 it’s not the route I wanted to go down but it is what it is and I’m just trying to be as prepared as I can be 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was induced at 39+4. I was told repeatedly that I wouldn't have her that day and it was a long process.
I had the pessary put in at 9am. I had some period like pains around lunch time, waters popped as I stood up at 2pm and DD was her by 7.28pm.
I only had gas and air and 1 shot of diamorphine and it seemed to happen really quickly.

I think what helped was being relaxed. DH went to work that morning as I thought it was going to take ages and I had my ipad loaded with films and some snacks.

Good luck, I hope it goes well for you

Given the level of pain you're in, I strongly advise you to request to talk to the consultant on duty when you arrive at the hospital for your induction. If the consultant isn't available then ask to speak to the most senior midwife on duty. I really think you need to ask them about your options, the risk of further injury to your pelvis and how they are going to help you to minimise that risk and manage your pain.

I had PGP but it started earlier in pregnancy, milder to begin with and getting gradually worse. If you hadn't been experiencing much or any pain and have suddenly experienced pain of this severity, that doesn't sound like a common experience of PGP, and I do think you need further advice on it.

Best of luck.

@Bluebell9 Thank you! Sounds like you had a really positive experience!

@NameChange30 Yeah I completely agree with you!! I called them today and DH is allowed in for an hour when we arrive to get all my stuff sorted and we’ll have a conversation with senior staff about everything. I’ve pre-warned them of the situation so they’re expecting the chat.

Ah that’s a shame. All the best, hope it goes smoothly. As someone else mentioned, it doesn’t always take days, mine was reasonably fast so be mentally prepared for that possibility too.

👍

@Bluebell9 I think what helped was the shot of diamorphine which is essentially heroin 😆. That will certainly help one relax! I also had pethadine with my first and was in a fair amount of pain, after that shot I fell asleep, and woke up nearly fully dilated. Magic stuff, but very strong.

I've heard for inductions most experienced midwives suggest epidural now, no effect to baby so why go through the pain that induction can bring.

And I say this as someone who's also had a another baby on nothing except two puff's on gas and air, but if I was ever induced I'd be first in line for an epi

@ChampooPapi Yeah I’m going to have a chat through all the options with them when I go in. I’ve spent quite a large part of yesterday doing research due to the pelvis issue I’ve developed (believe it has separated) and apparently in that situation they don’t recommend epidural because you’re unable to feel if you’re doing more damage to your pelvis 🤔

How did it go?! Been thinking of you.

@NameChange30 Sorry, the last few days have been pretty wild 😂🙈 went in on Sunday for my induction and had a chat with the doctors and senior midwives about what the best plan was us due to my pelvis. They were great! Talked me through all options for positions/pain relief/interventions. They advised that they felt the best way was still induction due to baby’s size (predicted to be around 10lb 6oz). Felt comfortable going with their suggestion and explained to them how I felt about each method of pain relief/intervention and my order of preference. Really felt listened to which was amazing.

We had a little boy born on Tuesday morning after a 39 hour long induction 🥰 Birthed on my back and sitting as they’re the only positions I could manage with my pelvis, 2 amazing young midwives in control with lovely consultant regularly checking our progress. Managed on gas and air with no interventions ☺️ He arrived weighing 8lbs 11oz - not quite the 10lb 6oz predicted but still a decent size 😊

Ah what a wonderful birth story, thank you for updating us! Well done you. I'm so glad you got such good support from the midwives and doctors. Hope your PGP vanishes now. And enjoy your squishy newborn!
(As an aside - it just goes to show how inaccurate the growth scans are!)

Congratulations!!! What a lovely update

Thanks @NameChange30 🥰 it really was amazing! PGP lingering on at the moment although nothing at all like it was 😊 and I feel like I’ve pulled every muscle from my shoulders down to my knees 😂😂 but I’m sure that’s normal lol. Was also very luck to do minimal tearing - I think they said 2nd degree but mainly internal with all dissolving stitches so said it should be quick to heal. And I certainly won’t trust growth scans from now on 😂

Thanks @Phiphi123 ❤️

I found pessaries useless. I had 4 before it worked. A swepe and sex works better

You might want to read the OP's posts