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

5lbs is really small. My SGA baby at 37 weeks was 5lb 5oz. I’d be very wary of going to 42 weeks in any subsequent pregnancy.

@whosaidtha

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.

So @whosaidtha I’m 31, BMI at booking was 22.2 (lockdown weight lol) I’m 160cm and pre preggo 57kg. Normal BP and urine samples, growth scans show baby to be 3.7kg at 42 weeks (so not gigantic).

I’m just fretting a bit, the thought of being alone on an induction ward and in that much pain fucking sucks. If I could have a partner with me then I’d feel like shit about it, especially because I responded well to propess first time

Pretty sure NICE guidelines are about to reduce the 42 weeks to 41 to further reduce Risk of stillbirths - pretty sure they wouldn't do that arbitrarily or out of convenience

Have the Induction or request a c section - recovery wise both mine was fine and the second one I nearly died having my twins - was on my feet in 6 hours and could have come home the next day if I had wanted to. Was driving in less than 2 weeks

Oh and I gave birth to my twins without my husband being there - it was an emergency and we had to go it alone

@LuchiMangsho

5lbs is really small. My SGA baby at 37 weeks was 5lb 5oz. I’d be very wary of going to 42 weeks in any subsequent pregnancy.

Yes @LuchiMangsho it was 7th centile for a girl on my personalised growth charts. BUT the saving baby pathway does indicate babies between 3rd and 10th centile with normal dopplers (as mine were) are likely to be constitutionally small and not growth restricted and my dates were definitely wrong. But there’s no denying she was small. I know people talk about inaccurate growth scans but mine were spot on to the oz. This pregnancy however is different, as I was med risk based on a previous sga baby I’ve had the growth scans the growth is around 50th centile and placenta function normal too.

Personally I think her smallness was likely due to how much stress and anxiety I felt in the pregnancy, it was pretty bad and I was denied treatment for it too… which is why I need to not worry about Induction and giving birth this time or it will become a self fulfilling prophecy about not wanting an induction and then ‘needing’ one

@4amstarts

Pretty sure NICE guidelines are about to reduce the 42 weeks to 41 to further reduce Risk of stillbirths - pretty sure they wouldn't do that arbitrarily or out of convenience

Have the Induction or request a c section - recovery wise both mine was fine and the second one I nearly died having my twins - was on my feet in 6 hours and could have come home the next day if I had wanted to. Was driving in less than 2 weeks

Yeah they are @4amstarts but I’ve read up a bit on that and it seems a bit arbitrary. They also proposed to induce women of colour as a standard at 39 weeks.

You’re probably a braver and stronger woman than I, I’d find going it alone incredibly difficult mentally speaking

I had an induction at 42+2 and had the horrific cascade of interventions. I’ve already booked a Section this time to avoid it. Those who are saying you don’t see why induction is a bad thing are perhaps the lucky ones who did not end up with ptsd or secondary tokophobia from it.

@Viviennemary

I would say it was extremely inadvisable indeed to decline induction at past 42 weeks if recommended by your medical team.

Depends on why going over 42 weeks was not recommended for the OP though, no? If it was a case of "we don't let women go over 42 weeks in this Trust", that, to me, isn't necessarily good enough reason. In some countries, 42 weeks is term! I think go on your gut instinct after the last growth scan. All the very best!

Ah OP, I think I would be making waves to get the baby out by any means tbh. We had an awful still birth in our family past 42 week, baby was moving fine a couple of days before. They suspected the cord and gotten wrapped around his neck.

It's your choice to decline induction if you wish. I had an outpatient induction at 42weeks, so pessary inserted and then sent home. Labour started within 4hours of pessary and baby born 6 hours later, so it's not always an awful drawn out process with lots of intervention.

I know someone who lost their baby too. Perfect baby but stillborn. It was incredibly sad.

@lavenderhoneyfig

It's your choice to decline induction if you wish. I had an outpatient induction at 42weeks, so pessary inserted and then sent home. Labour started within 4hours of pessary and baby born 6 hours later, so it's not always an awful drawn out process with lots of intervention.

They don’t offer outpatient induction at my trust unfortunately 😢

I did refuse induction with dc3 and she was born at 40w+17 healthy and natural.
I had however had two baby's (induced previously. At the time - over 20 years ago it was standard policy to induce at 40w +10.
Given that both my older kids had been born with no sign of postmaturity and that the inductions took forever, I was very certain that my pregnancies just take a wee bit longer.
So I had a few very long conversations with consultants and also had additional specialist scans to check that the baby was still adequately supplied.
I do not know that I would have done it with a first baby.
With dc4 I had an unstable lie and when she still did not remain head down near reliably near my due date, the hospital offered me a choice between section or admission (to wait it out) but be near theatre in case my waters went while she was doing her summersaults.
Two weeks after her date she decided to see sense and was born naturally.

@Sleeplessem

Sometimes you have no choice but to be strong. I went into Labour - Babies went into distress - covid meant DH couldn't get anyone to watch 4 year old - (it was 3am) - then I haemorrhaged - babies literally dragged out 15 mins later

But I'm the not sort of woman who needs hand holding or back rubbing. I lost 7 babies before my twins - no way was I leaving hospital again without bringing my babies home safely this time

Hey! It seems like a very stressful situation for you.
Are you doing anything now to try and bring on labour? Going for long walks, cuddles with your kids, boincing on a ball.. all that stuff?
I know baby will come when baby and body are ready but doing these things might help reduce your stress levels and put you in a different frame of mind.
As for my experience, the possibility of an induction was discussed with my first DC when I went over 40 weeks. Options of sweeps etc… i was happy with the discussion and how things were explained . In the end DC made a spontanous appearance at 41 weeks on the dot.

I dont want my advice to sound trivial and it is a good thing to plan ahead. But I would also try and concentrate on the present and bringing your stress levels down.
I wish you all the best.

You might find that they become more flexible and allow your husband to stay with you for an induction if tell them that you will be refusing an induction unless he is allowed to stay with you.
I was induced in my first pregnancy and absolutely wouldn’t want to go through that alone. On the other hand I wouldn’t past 41 weeks after a friends experience. So if they didn’t allow my husband to stay with me I would be asking for a c section.

I’ve been watching this with interest - as I am 39+3 and wondering what I would consider. 3rd baby, no major issues with previous 2 (spontaneous vaginal delivery at term). I think given people’s experiences here, I would go for elective section personally. Can you opt for the pessary, then go for c section if it doesn’t work? I’ve seen an elective C section and it looked well controlled and mum, dad and baby looked happy. Of course there is the recovery period (and different people have different experiences), but you can get birth injuries from spontaneous vaginal and induced vaginal deliveries too - and I think my worries about this are less than stillbirth worries. I guess also another consideration is how many subsequent kids you would plan (I hope this will be my last one, so I won’t have to think too much about complications of c section for subsequent pregnancies). OP - I hope you can have a safe delivery and a positive experience. Can you mention to the midwife/consultant your issues about wanting your partner to be with you - as this seems to be a big part of your discomfort with induction (I assume he would be able to be there for c section)?

You should have an induction.
If it fails you should have a CS. Put your childs safety first.
Before modern medical intervention it was all far more tragic.

The thing about any facebook group etc about going against medical advice is that the people who have done this and the worst happens don't then stick around (or sometimes even arent welcome to) to give their advice and experience. So its good to get both sides on sites like this.

Personally after missing my induction day due to the ward being too full, then coming back the next day to find baby in distress resulting in a csection and 3 week stay in nicu, I would be pushing for a elcs if induction was unbearable.

@crystal1717

You should have an induction. If it fails you should have a CS. Put your childs safety first. Before modern medical intervention it was all far more tragic.

I do get where you’re coming from but my mental health matters too. After my first experience, it was left in tatters and I had severe PND.

@Monkeymilkshake I’m doing all the things you can find, tried hand expression (hate it) so tried a pump, dates, ball, clary sage etc. Mw today said no point In sweep as won’t work. I think induction getting brought up all the time is just stressing me out, knowing I’d be going it alone. Worse yet is that I’m having a doula and I’ve paid 1k for her and if it ends in induction all of that cash is down the drain (no childcare so dh would be with toddler). So it’s this worry In the back of my mind and the thought of induction over my head.

I refused induction OP, but went into spontaneous labour at 40 +12. Didn't have a single twinge until that morning, 12 days after my due date.

That’s my thoughts too @LivingDeadGirlUK, there are lot of groups that push to free birth or whatever but frankly I just don’t have the balls and skills to know if anything was going pear shaped.

Experience wise I’m also curious when people who refused induction went into spontaneous labour because if it’s 42+1/2 that’s likely to be the same date as they’d have been given for induction anyways. So it’s not that much of an huge increase in risk but if it’s looking like 43 then that’s a whole other thing. Obviously there’s still birth risk but distress and still needing ‘help’ to progress too. A lot of things to consider

My friend declined induction at 42 weeks and her child was stillborn

I got induced at 42, and they messed up and there were cascading interventions not just that pregnancy, but all the others. It was awful. The babies were okay, but having a traumatised mother is not in their best interests. Also, the interventions led to a dropped heartbeat and emergency cesarian, which is also surely risky. So I'm the same, if I could go back in time, I'd be looking at other ways forward too.

Can't you have the doula with you if you're induced? An expert on my side would have made all the difference.

@Doona

I got induced at 42, and they messed up and there were cascading interventions not just that pregnancy, but all the others. It was awful. The babies were okay, but having a traumatised mother is not in their best interests. Also, the interventions led to a dropped heartbeat and emergency cesarian, which is also surely risky. So I'm the same, if I could go back in time, I'd be looking at other ways forward too.

Can't you have the doula with you if you're induced? An expert on my side would have made all the difference.

Unfortunately not @Doona, no birth partners are permitted until active labour which in induction is the pushing stage, with the best will in the world there is no chance the doula or superman could even get to me in time. My last active labour was 12 minutes