Anyone declined induction at 42 weeks?

[Sleeplessem]

Hi,

Anyone declined induction at 42 weeks for being post dates?

How did it go? Did you have a conversation with a consultant?

When did you go into spontaneous labour?

Xx

So basically OP,
You just want to hear from people that agree with you?

I was induced with my 1st and 3rd... 1st was a nightmare... Had 3rd degree tear... 2nd was natural but turned to a nightmare after and had to be rushed to theatre... 3 was my easiest.. it was 2020 so during all the covid stuff... When they started the drip my husband could come in to the hospital... I'm now pregnant again and I will probably take the induction again.. but I think I'll refuse a sweep

I have no experience with declining induction, but have you heard of 'meet the matron'? My midwife told me about it, you can go in to the hospital and speak to someone from the maternity team and go over what happened in your previous births or experience with them. I'm not sure if it's available at all hospitals, but it's worth checking it out and speaking to your midwife or relevant health professional about it. It really helped me when I was treated badly during my pregnancy, and it might help you too due to your problematic previous birth.

Whether it's for you or not, I hope you have the birth you hope for and have your preferences listened to.

@WaterAndRichTea

So basically OP, You just want to hear from people that agree with you?

Nope, i don’t even have a ‘position’ to agree or disagree with. I’ve not even made a decision on what I’ll do IF I get to 42, but it’s worrying me (as you can probably tell). It’s been brought up a lot at every appointment I’ve had for bloody ages and I just found out today that id have to go it alone which seems fucking awful.

@WaterAndRichTea

So basically OP, You just want to hear from people that agree with you?

Exactly what I was thinking.

Nobody has been 'condescending' and some of your responses are downright rude.

@HelplesslyHoping

I have no experience with declining induction, but have you heard of 'meet the matron'? My midwife told me about it, you can go in to the hospital and speak to someone from the maternity team and go over what happened in your previous births or experience with them. I'm not sure if it's available at all hospitals, but it's worth checking it out and speaking to your midwife or relevant health professional about it. It really helped me when I was treated badly during my pregnancy, and it might help you too due to your problematic previous birth.

Whether it's for you or not, I hope you have the birth you hope for and have your preferences listened to.

I’ve had a debrief from the mental health midwife and have been told that things have gotten worse at the trust 😩 again terrifying. I didn’t walk away traumatised from my birth (thankfully) but with time I can see how a lot of my basic preferences were brushed off for convenience and without someone there to advocate for me… yikes.

I’ve also been told again by the MH midwife that staff levels are ‘dangerously low’ … again terrifying

Didn’t mean to be @aConcernedPrude, thought I was just stating why I’m hesitant about a subsequent induction. Sorry if I came off rude

@Sleeplessem are you already at 42 weeks or thinking ahead?

If you're thinking ahead, maybe you could ask the consultant and/or midwives about a planned section rather than induction? It sounds like induction could be distressing for you, which wouldn't be good for you or for your baby, so I'd be hopeful that they'd consider a planned section as an alternative.

There are rapidly escalating risks to going significantly overdue, regardless of what some people on social media might claim. The risk of stillbirth increases dramatically. Medically, I honestly would not recommend going significantly overdue.

I understand why you are worried. But the most important thing is that you get baby here safely. I think it would be very unwise to decline induction to wait for natural delivery. You mention risks of induction but increased risk of still birth is not one of them. Please listen to the health care professionals. They are looking out for you and babies best interests.

How far are you? I was 8 days overdue with ds and my midwife started having the conversation with me about what would happen if we went over 42 weeks as there were no real “signs” he was on his way.

I was keen to avoid interventions and my midwife supported that. Made a huge difference - she talked about additional monitoring etc (she was an independent midwife). She explained that most babies arrive on their due date, but there is that five week window. Outside of that, babies are born fine but obviously some increased risk.

As it was, ds arrived 8 days after his due date. Not an issue.

I found that any hint of risk, and the nhs would go into over drive - I guess because they dealt with the aftermath when it went wrong. That’s why they’ll say they will book in at 42 weeks.

As it is, you may not get there. Try not to dwell on it right now and just get through each day. You may change your mind by 42 weeks.

@Sleeplessem

Didn’t mean to be *@aConcernedPrude*, thought I was just stating why I’m hesitant about a subsequent induction. Sorry if I came off rude

Don't worry about it

You're obviously stressed and I'll be following this thread with huge interest as I'm 36 weeks and absolutely shitting myself at every scenario.

In the past year, for the first time in history in the UK, less women go into labour spontaneously than are induced or have planned caesarean births. Something to.ponder on!

There are two main risk factors for a stillbirth as we understand it more and more- a small baby and reduced movements. You say your last baby was SGA based on wrong dates. How small was he/she? Could it have been your placenta was failing? And we do know that the risk of miscarriage rises substantially in clinical terms after 42 weeks.

I had a baby who was genuinely SGA (but I am Asian and tiny) and then a second pregnancy where my placenta did fail more visibly. (With a late miscarriage and secondary infertility thrown in between).

I have also had two emergency C sections and I recovered very quickly from both, breastfed and I have been left with very little long term damage of any kind. With painkillers my recovery was pretty quick. By day 5 I was relatively mobile, much more so by day 10 and by day 21 I could not feel any twinges.

Yes, declined at 42, came at 42+2, lovely water birth with no pain relief. Placenta examined after and was in perfect condition.

I had a phone chat with a consultant, he said he'd ring me back so I didn't answer. All went fine, got a sheet saying risks increased but I was happy

Sorry if my advice wasn’t welcome, but just the absolute awfulness of the stillbirth means that I feel compelled to comment on every one of these types of thread. I hope things work out well for you.

I know someone who sadly lost their baby while waiting for their induction because they were overdue. I would never decline one

I did. But I knew I wasn't actually 43 weeks because DH and I travelled often and were rarely in the same country. As I have very long cycles LMP dates were very inaccurate for me.

It was a huge battle with the consultants who didn't believe my dates were wrong, even though I'd had my dating scan rescheduled twice as it was hard for them to measure.

I then had a scan to determine the health of my placenta. If that scan had shown signs of degradation I absolutely would have consented to induction.

I had to attend the hospital for regular monitoring from 41-43 weeks.

I consented to induction at 43 weeks, which ended up in a section. I was asked in theatre if I was sure I had my dates right as my baby didn't look overdue. At that point I was listened to.

@Scirocco I’m thinking ahead, I’m ‘just’ 40+2 but induction has been brought up ever since 35/6 weeks. At 38 weeks it was ‘you need to hurry up and give birth or we’ll induce you’ and it’s a little bit menacing and I’m sure the constant asking and pressure isn’t exactly conducive to spontaneous labour. I’m sure they’d give the option of a planned section, when I was hesitant to induction before they did mention a section as an alternative. I’m afraid of that too as I’ve not had an operation before and the downtime or recovery does scare me, especially with a toddler. And I felt fab after my induction first time, like actually fantastic, slightly back pain for 24 hrs not even a pinch of soreness down there.

So @LuchiMangsho yup so DD was 5lb at 37 weeks so there is no denying she was small but the opinion of the head of fetal med was that she was ‘constitutionally small’ she tracked the 7th centile In utero. The saving baby pathway would support this view too and now wouldn’t support induction at 37 weeks rather offer it at 39. But I was told it categorically wasn’t an option to go to 39 then, even though those guidelines were already published (March 19, dd was born sep 19). The placenta on inspection was normal so no microbial analysis took place granum grade 0 and no signs of deterioration , cord was 3 vessel, all arterial dopplers were normal and DD was more active than this baby that’s for sure. So it was deemed highly unlikely to be fgr and it’s my understanding that for fgr they tend of offer a section first as there is a higher chance baby will struggle with the intensity of the labour. Apgars of 9 and 10. No pathological cause found for smallness on paed newborn check. She’s still a small girl now

@AutumnVibes

Sorry if my advice wasn’t welcome, but just the absolute awfulness of the stillbirth means that I feel compelled to comment on every one of these types of thread. I hope things work out well for you.

All well meaning advice is welcome

I had a very traumatic induction which nearly resulted in both myself and my baby losing our lives, it has definitely put me off having another but if we ever do I'll be requesting an elective section. I wouldn't ever go through the induction process again, what works for some people doesn't work for others.

Not sure whether as elective section is something you've thought about but I was surprised at how well I recovered after my crash section.

If you need the syntocin (pictocin?) drip during an induction you can’t have a physiological third stage because the hormone they inject to help the placenta come out is the same thing that used in the drip. So it’s not so much that they’re deliberately denying you a physiological 3rd stage as that it’s a medical oxymoron.

My experience (7 years ago) was if you declined an induction at 42 weeks you were asked to come in every day for monitoring (which seemed sensible) because of the increased risk of placental failure and stillbirth.

I declined induction at what the hospital insisted was 42 weeks (based on the 12 week growth scan) because I knew the true date of conception was actually a few days behind that. Went in for monitoring on what hospital said was 42+1 and 42+2. Would have accepted a planned induction the next day but baby was in distress on the 2nd day of monitoring (though ok the day before) so I was induced that day. Induction was broadly fine albeit painful with back to back 10’6 baby. However they were very concerned at one point re his heartbeat and the room filled with people and I was told they would probably need to do an emergency section but after that it improved and he was born by ventouse crying loudly.

In retrospect if I had to make the decision again OP I would definitely chose to have the induction earlier. There were concerns about my baby and I feel I took unnecessary risks (although I thought I was being logical). Also by being later he was bigger which made the delivery harder (shoulder dystokia).

Can I ask how old you are? I'd also consider other factors that may put you at higher risk. For example age, weight etc. Might tip the balance one way or the other. Hope your baby arrives safely.

I did, but had an elective c section instead. Having known someone who also tragically lost their baby after 42 weeks, I too wouldn't take that chance. Equally I know how traumatic an induction can be and often ends in an emergency section anyway ( like my first), so I can completely understand not wanting to be induced.

@Babyiskickingmyribs

If you need the syntocin (pictocin?) drip during an induction you can’t have a physiological third stage because the hormone they inject to help the placenta come out is the same thing that used in the drip. So it’s not so much that they’re deliberately denying you a physiological 3rd stage as that it’s a medical oxymoron.

Should have been clearer @Babyiskickingmyribs I (luckily) didn’t have the drip, my body responded really well to the one propess 24 hr pessary (something I’m incredibly grateful for as I was able to move around)