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

I had daily monitoring rather than induction for my third. Born at home with no signs of post maturity at 40+17. Uneventful labour, uneventful birth.
I don't remember speaking to a consultant at all, although I probably did.
Midwives were all supportive. If there had been any indication induction was needed for anything, I'd have been induced.

@Narutocrazyfox

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.

@Narutocrazyfox how was your labour? Xx

One induction isn’t necessarily the same as another. With DS1 I refused induction at 40 +12, only to cave in at 40+ 15- it took a while with lots and lots of syntocinon, and he was finally born (at 6lb 9!) at 40+ 17. I found the staff unsympathetic, and fought them all the way.

With DS2, I was 41, and due to being so unfeasibly geriatric had to meet with a consultant who managed to persuade me to get induced at term by drawing me a nice graph of stilbirth incidence on the back of an envelope, thus setting out the risks in a way I could understand, rather than random midwives going “But your baby might DIE!”, which I had with DS1 🙄. Plus, I’d given up on the idea of necessarily going into natural labour after DS1- I was like “Frankly fuck it, I waited it out first time and it didn’t bloody work anyway!” And this time my body seemed much more ready, and I went into pretty energetic spontaneous labour after only having the pessary and my membranes broken (and walking for miles and miles and MILES all round the hospital grounds!!).

What do they mean when they say your partner can’t be with you, though? When I was induced my partner could only be with me during visiting hours for the first part with the pessary, because at that point I was in the general pregnancy ward. Then, when it was time to ramp things up, I was taken to the labour suite, and at that point he could be with me- and that’s when it starts to get painful, anyway. Have they changed things again with Covid?

@sleeplessem it was fast! From first contraction to babe in arms was just over 3 hours. My logic was he was so late, he couldn't wait to get out! Natural birth, no complications, and he was a healthy 6lb 12oz (sounds small at 42 weeks but I am very small). I will admit though, I would have considered induction if it had gone on past 14 days. However what swayed my thinking at the time was my SIL, who lived in France at the time and told me French women are routinely left two weeks over before being offered any intervention. I strongly felt he'd come when he was ready, and he did.

Only you know your own body, and only you can be firm on what you want. If you're being carefully monitored I would just take it day by day and see how you feel. Good luck!

So @crackofdoom at the hospital I’m booked at they only let your birth partner with you for ‘established labour’ which is basically the pushing stage because they don’t check to see how you’re progressing. They only checked me on intial insertion and because i begged because i was having one minute long, one minute appart contraction for hours (1.5cm) and because I requested pethedine and it wore off incredibly quickly so she checked me (I’d gone from presumably 1/2cm to 10cm in 90 mins). So active labour was for me the pushing stage, 12 mins.

So my induction was super quick 12 hrs from pessary being inserted to dd being born. No need to break waters or anything. So pessary was put in at 4pm born 4am and from about 10pm on i was having one min apart one min long contractions yet wasn’t in established labour. It’s just how I reacted to the pessary which I was told is v v common. So don’t get me wrong mine is the experience you sort of want with an induction, quick and no drip and no real cascade but honestly that much pain alone on a communal ward…Jesus

I don't really understand how you can weigh it up with, on the one hand, you've spent £1000 on a doula which would be wasted and you might get post natal depression if your husband isn't there, when the other hand is that your baby might not survive. How can you consider those things in any way equivalent?

I can’t quote for some reason but is the protocol definitely the same for a second child and low risk pregnancy? I only ask because I had an induction at 39 weeks with my second last year during lockdown. I was allowed to use the MLU (attached to the delivery suite) with an experienced MW who used the mobile monitor so I could move freely and have a water birth, no interventions etc. I appreciate I am in a minority and was super lucky but it really wasn’t the horror show I was expecting from an induction.

My partner could be there from the time my waters were broken, I was able to call him in advance, could you not do this with a doula?

My friend was induced at a different trust recently and was allowed to go home after the pessary (I had the balloon as it was my second).

It’s not that straight forward though @BudgeSquare because hypothetically if I opted for a daily monitoring of the doppler flow and obviously kept a close eye on movements a still birth is unlikely. The risk at 42 weeks is comparable to at 38 weeks (around 3%) higher than at 40 though don’t get me wrong. If baby did look distressed or there were concerns on scans then obviously would act asap. So it’s not that I equate wasting a grand and the potential of getting pnd as akin to a still birth. They are things that will naturally inform my decision. Like I said up thread and @Narutocrazyfox said too there’s a big difference between 42+1 and 43 weeks. I wouldn’t chance approaching 43, but might consider 42+1/2. Depending on scans
But just to be super transparent I’m not saying I’ll get pnd because my husband isn’t there. He wouldn’t be there anyway. I said after my previous experience and subsequent pnd being alone for an induction is quite triggering and I am more susceptible to pnd because I had it before.

I had an induction with my first that led to horrible complications for my recovery. I thought my due date was wrong, I have irregular cycles and was temp tracking, they wouldn't listen to me.

Second time round I refused sweeps and got to 41 weeks. 41 weeks on the dot I went into labour spontaneously and had drug free water birth.

If I hadn't gone into birth spontaneously I was intending to ask my midwife for an elective section at 42 weeks rather than induction.

I haven't but if jt happens to me I will be going straight to c section.

I went to 43 weeks. My baby was born by emc not breathing having got into distress and swallowed meconium. He was in the nicu for 10 days and has suffered lifelong effects. If you are scared of induction (as I was) how about requesting a planned cesarean?

@Allthesefolks I think it must vary from trust to trust, as far as the trust I’m booked at, when you get induced you automatically become ‘high risk’ so can no longer attend the MLU (but you wouldn’t be able to attend is past dates anyway). I know some trusts offer outpatient propess induction but this one doesn’t 😢. There is a birth pool but tbh with my last they couldn’t be arsed so pretended it wasn’t working.

I never had my waters broken so I don’t know, I went into labour after the pessary was inserted and my water broke just before delivery, so if it was no partners I’d have been alone from start to finish and I’d have been sobbing as I was treated so horribly.

I am weighing up that option @Needspace21, It’s not that I’m afraid per se of Induction it’s the being alone in it and feeling stressed, not progressing, feeling more stressed and alone, getting weepy etc plus the pain is pretty up there.

C section wise I think I’ve been scared, all the midwives you talk to talk about recovery esp with another child. But then it’s that v mental health which can be equally devastating. My pnd was partially induction but mainly the fact that after induction they make you stay on the mat ward and that was dire. So for a section I’d need to stay there too and I can’t put into words how abysmal and abusive the staff were.

Plus even though induction sucks, I recovered so quickly after my induction it was fantastic.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3719843/

No the risks increase. Everyone working around maternity has delt with stillbirths at post term. It is not worth it.

I refused at 40+11 (their policy was to induce at 40+12) so not quite 42. I had a chat with the senior midwife who explained the risks and asked if I still wanted to refuse. I said yes. They asked me to agree to come in for monitoring daily (about 30mins a day) so I said yes ok. Was monitored at 40+11 and all was fine. The next day (40+12) I went in to labour and had to sit still while labouring during the monitoring. She was born at 2:30am the next day, technically 40+13!

Oh. And I had her at home.

I've had two inductions both resulting in forceps. The first was absolutely manageable the second was utter hell. However I wouldn't have changed my decision, my baby had reduced movements and I wasn't going to risk my baby's health for a preferred birthing plan.

I would advise that you follow the advice of your practitioner, if they suggest it's the right course of action, I would take it. They don't suggest expensive, staff heavy procedures for no reason.

Oh and I'd double check about no partners for induction. At the hospital trust I gave birth in in August, wouldn't allow partners until active labour unless you were being induced. The only request they had was that your partner could be there from the beginning as long as they do not leave the birthing room for any reason except for paying to park and going to the loo. My partner was with me from start to finish as a result.

I read a birth story the other day by a girl who declined and went to 40+21

She went into labour naturally and birth went well. She had regular monitoring ans scans post 41 weeks or something

I tried to hold off induction as long as i could but caved at 42+2 - had a horrible time of it. Will
Never be induced again ans I’m pregnant again now.

@Littlepaws18 they’d recommend it to follow clinical guidelines and I completely understand why guidelines are in place. It’s why it was pretty much forced on me with my first, unfortunately those guidelines were out of date but I didn’t know better at the time.

I’ve checked the no partner protocol and it’s not partner until in established labour, no ifs ands or buts, unfortunately x

Hi OP, what a tricky situation. I had to be induced with all three births because labour didn't start even after waters broke. I know what you mean about doctors being bullies in these situations and the loss of options due to being classed as high risk. It's all fairly shit.

That said all three births ended up otherwise intervention-free. I was lucky that there was always at least one very competent midwife to counterbalance unpleasant docs. Sadly you can't rely on that.

Since the care during labour offered by your trust seem really poor, to me it sounds like a section may be the best/least bad option. You clearly don't want to repeat the induction experience, and waiting beyond 42 weeks seems risky, partly because of the poor level of supervision.

You risk any complication after 42 weeks being seen as self-inflicted, and you risk ending up with the worst of both worlds if, say, your waters break and ed up being induced anyway. Previous experience suggests you can't count on sympathetic treatment. A section is at least predictable.

All the best, whatever you decide.

Hi OP
What do you think is best for your baby? you will be the one that has to deal with any complications etc.

I had different birth ideas but ended up going in straight for an emergency section, no induction etc...not my idea but hey it was best for my babywhich is the main thing.

C section recovery I actually didn't find bad at all and certainly didn't envy the women who needed to take a bottle of water to the loo with them just like they probably didn't envy me taking ages to stand up straight! also my milk didn't come in either so my plans to breastfeed went up the spout too...but a fed baby is best after all!

You have to do what you think is right for you and your baby but please do listen to your consultant they are only trying to help and deliver your baby safely.

Best wishes

I’ve had an induction, it honestly wasn’t that bad. I’m sorry for your loss OP but to be perfectly frank you need to put it behind you and focus on this pregnancy and getting the baby out alive and healthy.

Sorry just to add to my post above - I ended up having to have an emergency section when my induction did not progress and baby became distressed.
Next time, if I don’t go naturally or there in any whiff of an induction I’ll be booking in for a section instead.