Honest induction stories

[Librababy3]

Hi everyone

Following a previous post I made about C-sections, I would also like to hear all of your induction stories please. Positive or negative, I just need honest experiences

I’m due to give birth on Halloween for the first time and getting very anxious 😥

Thank you in advance xx

Hi Op

3 inductions here. All v different. My last baby was a dream. They broke my waters, put me on the drip but controlled it so the pain wasn't bad, they can turn it up and down , I got the epidural when I asked as felt I couldn't manage on just gas and air . It was the most pleasurable labour ever. I dialated fairly fast. 2 pushes and ds was here. I was 2 weeks early as they were expecting he would be large, previous ds was 11lb , you will be fine . Best of luck x

@Librababy3 dont scare yourself with these stories. The important question is what are you going to do next after hearing them? If you will be worried and stressed it will negatively impact you as you approach your due date. You need to motivate yourself to make options and alternatives if things aren’t going as planned. Do you have a family member or doula to advocate for you and care for you during birth? How is your mental health in general? Pregnancy and birth are not without risk, it’s realistic to worry, but just because things can go wrong doesn’t mean they will.

You need to reframe the nerves as being excited to meet your baby. The naked doula on Instagram was invaluable to me for this. You need to start prepping baby and your body now, and catch those worries and turn them into decisions about how you want to birth. If you feel that is overwhelming to read, get mental health support now to make them and flag your feelings to your midwives. They’d rather you speak up than ruminate silently and then then anxiety delays labour, then you have to force your body with interventions like induction. Get yourself relaxing asap! Good luck!

I’ve had 2 inductions (both in America), I have no experience of a non induction birth.

DS1 I was leaking amnionic fluid and due to risk of infection was induced (I was 35 weeks).

DS2 was a planned induction at 38 weeks due to his size.

With both I was hooked up to a pitocin drip and had an epidural. Both took about 12 hours. Both were assisted deliveries, DS1 due to him being in distress and DS2 because he got stuck. I tore with DA1 and had an episiotomy with DS2.

Neither birth was traumatic and with DS2 being planned it made it easier to find childcare for DS1 for during the birth. I was up and about the next day with both of them. I would say that both of mine were positive births for me. However if I’d planned, and had my heart set on, a very minimal intervention birth then I would probably think they were negative experiences.

@Librababy3 are you being induced? I thought on your last thread you were requesting an elective section?

@Librababy3 I really recommend doing the positive birth company digital hypnobirthing course. It covers all sorts of birth stuff including what an induction is, when to have one etc. If a course isn't your jam (or in addition) I recommend the positive birth book by Milli Hill. It sounds like you're quite anxious about birth, which is understandable, and could do with knowing a bit more about what to expect and how to navigate it. Knowledge is power. A lot of birthstories are positive but we usually hear the negative ones.

This book and course will equip you really well.And just remember the way you give birth is your choice. No one can force you to have an induction/c section/ any type of intervention whatsoever. I also recommend looking up Dr Sara Wickhams website - she writes extensively on induction, and why it is over used. It's necessary occasionally, but very often women are induced when not necessary or too early.

Third child - Had induction, waited around 12 hours with mild cramps. Labour started, straightforward lasting around 2 hours. Managed with gas. My second child was also only a 2 hour labour with no induction.

Mine was fine. Long and boring because the pessary didn't do much. Then they got the epidural in before the drip and away we went.

No horror story here!

I was induced with my first and likely to be induced again this time. The actual experience itself wasn't too bad really, but I do think my care diruring my hospital stay was poor. They added so much extra stress. I went in to be induced due to medicated gestational diabetes and some other complications regarding my liver function. I was booked to go in at 9 and arrived nervous but excited. I was given the option of a balloon insertion or pessary and they left me to think about it for a while. No one came back to see me until gone lunch time and then I was told they might not induce me that day after all as my blood tests showed improved liver function. I was distraught as I'd initially been booked in due to ongoing complications and me not having much faith in my care team at that point so to be almost sent away for another week to worry was awful. They eventually decided to go ahead with it at 7pm that day (!) after realising I'd also been in for multiple episodes of RFM which they had somehow missed in my notes. It was such a traumatic experience before anything had even happened. They opted for the pessary in the end, inserted at 7pm and not much happened until 10pm when I started getting cramps. These gradually worsened and by 1am I was having frequent contractions. These weren't being picked up by the monitor though so I had to time them myself, and the most frequent they were occurring was every 30 seconds. I was due to have another pessary inserted at 1am as nothing was progressing apparently but due to my contractions I couldn't. I was told the first pessary had overstimulated my uterus and couldn't have any more induction drugs for now, meanwhile I was also told that despite being in writhing agony as it wasn't true labour I could only take paracetamol. This didn't even touch the sides. I think around 5am they injected me with pethidine and this made me sick. By 7am I was desperate for a wee but was in so much agony, I practically crawled to the bathroom and there I had my bloody show and panicked cos no one had examined me since 1am and I was told I wasn't in labour. Panicked and got my partner to fetch a midwife and no one came so I sat on the bed and my waters broke 😩 I basically just stood in the corner dripping while they changed my bed and instructed me to put pants back on but I thought this must be the real deal surely. Not long after I was finally allowed gas and air which was such a welcome relief and the first proper pain relief I'd had after over 6 hours of excruciating pain! Still no one examined me and contractions weren't showing on the monitor. I eventually got walked to the labour ward at 9am when I was told I could have an epidural but upon examination I was 10cm dilated and so couldn't have any more good drugs 😭 honestly I wonder how long I'd been fully dilated as I said no one examined me all night so I'd gone from nothing to 10.
After all that I ended up having forceps just cos I had absolutely no energy in me to push and my baby was born just after midday.

So all in all, I'd say my experience could have been better but the induction itself wasn't too bad. My advice would be to advocate strongly for yourself, if you believe something is happening then push to find out more and don't just get left like I was. If you don't feel up to it make sure your birth partner has a strong voice and will do it for you! Good luck, wishing you all the best.

I also second what others have said, once baby is here, nothing else matters. Going back over my induction story now I'm a little horrified but I remember having the head midwife come and see me after my baby had been born to go over if I wanted to complain about my care and at that point the only thing that actually mattered to me was that she was here, she was healthy and she was safe ❤️

I hope yours goes well 🤞🏻

I'll give u my sil version first as hers is a very gd one. Her waters broke about 39wks but no contractions. Sent her away to see if anything happened but had to get her bk in to induce her. They put her on the drip and 5hrs later baby was born she also got an epidural. All very easy straight & forward. She stayed 1 night in hospital.

Here's mine not so gd. Induced at 40+6 for continuous high blood pressure. I had been sent to hospital several times in last week by midwife.

They were able to break my waters and put me straight on the drip. It really was zero to 100. I actually cldnt believe how bad it was and there was little or no break between contractions. I cldnt speak it was so painful. They got me gas and air which helped take the edge off a little.

I actually thought I was going to deliver the baby any time. I thought because it was so painful must mean I'm progressing really quickly 🤦🏻‍♀️ In my head was panicking that I hadn't had pain relief. After about an hour or so I managed to squeeze out the word epidural between contractions. 20mins he was there to do it and 10mins later I had no pain and was sitting up in bed talking normally. It's unbelievable how it takes the pain away.

I was being constantly monitored and hooked up to machines so I cldnt get up to walk about and had a midwife stay with me the entire time (not sure if this is normal). When they went on a break someone else came in to sit with us.

The epidural started wearing off down one side he came bk to fix it but it didn't really work so one side was pain free and the other was getting really bad again. I also heard them mention baby was back to back, my absolute fear!

I also had student midwives in too. Every time I got an internal it would 2 so student cld do it. I wish I had said I don't want many examinations. I felt bad for them though and thought what harm cld it do. I also had doctors come to check as midwife thought placenta was coming away. I think I had about 12-14 internals between midwives, students, change of shifts and doctors checking. Well after 13 hrs in labour I ended up with an infection. My heart was racing, my temp was sky high and I was being sick 🙈 Baby was getting distressed and I was still only 3-4cms so not progressing. She was delivered by emcs at 41wks after 16hrs labour.

I still had an infection after she was born and was so ill, we were both put on antibiotics (baby used to get taken away twice a day and was taken not long after birth to get them). We had a 6 day 5 night hospital stay as had to wait for infection levels to go down in my daughter. The stay on the ward was worse than the labour, honestly!

There was talk of a transfusion but I hadn't lost a lot of blood and they weren't telling me very much. Found out from community midwife they actually thought I had Sepsis however we still don't know years later what it was. Wish I had got some feedback on everything as it was all quite traumatic.

Was told future babies wld have to be section but then when I got pregnant again they said I cld try for VBAC. I opted for elective but that didn't go to plan either! My waters broke 3 wks early and contractions started within 10mins. She also came by emcs after another 12hr labour 🙈 I don't think my wee body was made for birthing babies!

Induced at 41+2 days because of reduced movements had 4 sweeps all failed, had an allergic reaction to the pessary, broke my waters and they were full of meconium and still didn't progress, started the drip at 11pm gave birth at 7:41am the next morning needed an episiotomy as she was back to back and got stuck she also came faster than expected so ended up tearing too and I also haemorrhaged when the placenta came out all in all I didn't find it a bad experience and only used gas and air the most painful part for me was being on constant fluid and the monitor so wasn't allowed to move around and was bed bound I went home 12 hours later too x