If you were induced with your first baby, what was your experience like and could you still use hypnobirthing techniques?

[Ftm030201]

Bit of background info - currently 39 and half weeks with my first and been "planning" water birth in birth centre, no intervention and only gas & air pain relief. Pregnancy has been low risk so far. It's now looking like I may have to be induced around the 40 week mark for medical reasons.

Baby is not engaged and a midwife has recently commented that "doesn't look like they're ready to come out" which she took as meaning "you prob won't go into spontaneous Labour soon enough so may as well induce" and I took as meaning "it'll be harder to induce you because baby isn't ready!"

Looking to hear from ladies who have undergone induction for their first (as I know the process is likely to be quicker for 2nd babies onwards) with some positive stories. I'd especially love to hear -

• what types of induction methods you had that were successful

• did you still manage to incorporate hypnobirthing aspects e.g the exercises as well as the environment parts (mostly worried about the early labour part of this on the induction ward)

• how did you get on pain relief wise - any chance I could go with just gas and air?

• was anyone induced and still managed to use a pool / birth centre?

And any other tips or advice.

Thank you in advance

Hi @Ftm030201,

I was induced on DD. Honestly I was young and very uninformed. If I had my time back again I would not allow them to induce without a very good reason I.e a fear for myself or the baby.

The drugs they give for induction can ramp up the pain very quickly without triggering your bodies natural response to labour.

I had the pessaries, followed by more 12 hours later. 4 hours after that my waters broke, 3cm dilated yay! Then....nothing for hours, so they put me on a pitocin drip to bring on contractions, birth plan went out the window - bring on the epidural! Pitocin only got me to 8cm and I ended up needing an emergency C.

Only after did I find out induction before 42 weeks has increased risk of requiring a c section.

My advice would be to gently push back on midwife - why do you reccomend induction? Is there a risk to me or the baby if I'm not induced? What are the risks associated with being induced? What % of patients here at this hospital who are induced require c section?

There is no reason to believe your body isn't capable of doing this without intervention, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you x

I had the pessary. Labour started quickly and escalated after they broke my waters. I only had an hour of active labour. It felt like one giant contraction I didn’t feel any gaps between them at all. Apparently I was having 7 contractions in ten minutes. I did hypnobirthing and had the same hope as you. Although I was consultant led my DH asked and they said I could try a water birth but by that point I couldn’t move and frankly didn’t care about any of that. I ended up having remifentanil (which didn’t touch the sides) and gritting my teeth pretty much silently with my eyes closed until it was time to push. Had an episiotomy and still had a third degree tear.

In spite of this, I don’t feel like it was a bad birth. I feel pretty positive about how it went, and I felt like a hero for pushing my DD out quickly when they said she was in trouble (contractions so fast she wasn’t getting enough oxygen).

Having said that, I wouldn’t agree to another induction, and ended up having an ELCS with DD2. My tear healed really well but I didn’t want to take that gamble again. Have you considered a section?

I was induced and honestly you have to rethink your whole birth plan.

It wasn't the positive experience I had hoped for (I'd planned on tens/water birth) and ended up in emergency C-section, having gone through every pain relief method.

My body got no time to ease into the contractions and the pain hit me like a wall, so needed pain relief early on.

I would rethink your birth plan if you'd being induced so you've recalibrate your expectations.

On the positive side, you'll soon meet your beautiful baby so don't get too bogged down in the birth plan and focus on the end result. It will all be worth it in the end!

Thanks for all responses so far. The reason for induction is OC/ICP where risks to baby are higher if your levels are a certain amount. I wouldn't be accepting induction for any non-medical reason and without having already done the research.

I was induced with my first at 40+ weeks.
I purposely didn't read up on induction as there's far too many negative stories out there and no one posts the positive ones. My labour was positive I was induced using the gel at 3pm, waters broke naturally, only had gas and air and 1 dose of diamorphine and baby was here at 2:30am. I had a slight tear which needed stitches but apart from that all went well. I planned to just go with the flow anyway as every labour is different so no one can tell you if you will have a positive or negative labour with induction. Hope all goes well on the day

I was induced with my first and had an epidural, but it was overall a positive experience. I actually regret having done a hypobirthing course beforehand as this one phrase ‘my body and my baby know what to do’ kept going round my head and it upset me as clearly my body and my baby didn’t know, what to do, and I needed intervention.

My second was a natural water birth. My saviour that time was the TENS machine which got me to 7-8cm dilated. I had no drugs other than gas & air but honestly, I wouldn’t say it was a ‘better’ birth as a result. Drugs are good 😄

I bought into the hypnobirthing hype and it’s the only thing I regret about my labours. I know it works for lots of women but for me it was a waste of money.

I was induced with my baby and I have no comparison for the pain but it was so bad I took every pain relief going (including epidural which I never thought I wanted. Gas & air did nothing. Not trying to scare you but just want to be realistic that as far as I know when you're induced your birth plan is likely to go out the window. I had a complicated and traumatic birth that I don't like thinking about but I'm just blessed my baby arrived safely which is most important thing . Could have gone badly he had his cord wrapped round him 5 times xx

Also the pessary did nothing for me it was the gel that got me going.

I was induced with both my babies. My first birth was amazing. I only had gas and air and was put on the hormone drip for a couple of hours, the midwife had to break both my waters and my little girl arrived safely. The second time both pessary's did not work, so was put on the hormone drip and was in active labour for around 5 hours. The birth was fine, I just found the contractions more intense. I should have asked for more pain relief as I only had gas and air. I heard loads of negative stories surrounding being induced, but I found it absolutely fine.

I was induced on the drip with my first when my waters had gone and was contracting every couple of minutes but not dilating.

The labour was far more intense than the previous couple of days I had done naturally. I had gas and air and was able to use the hypnobirthing techniques I’d learned but it got to a point where I was so exhausted and the drip had ramped up so much that I wasn’t even registering it anymore.

I had pethidine eventually, was able to sleep and then had a vaginal birth. It was all relatively straightforward, no tears and consider it a positive experience. Realistically though, it was far more intense having been induced and if that’s the necessary route to go down I would recommend reconsidering your pain relief options just so that you’re prepared and have the energy you’re going to potentially need to get through it.

Induced at 39+2 due to IUGR.

Had pessary at 3pm, was in labour by 6pm, had her by midnight with just a few puffs of gas and air.

Induction can be a positive experience - you'll get all the naysayers, but it's not always doom and gloom.

I was induced. It took about 30 hours for her to come. I was absolutely shattered by the end of it. But yes it was a positive experience. We brought in music and electric candles, and some spray thing made up of essential oils and water that is meant to help - I don't know if it did but it smelled nice, which relaxed me. It was a really nice experience. To be absolutely fair I don't remember a lot of it. First part I was pretty determined not to go for epidural because you're told how natural child birth is better blah blah blah. I had the induction meds at 3pm in the afternoon. By 9pm we were down in the delivery suite or whatever it's called rather than just a hospital ward, and I asked when they thought the baby would arrive, thinking if it's only a few more hours I can handle this. The midwife said prob tomorrow some time, and I thought, fxxk that, give me and epidural. And once I had the epidural it was totally fine. Read magazines and chilled out with the midwife, listening to nice music. There was a bit of hard work when I had to push, and the crowning was pretty bloody painful, but you know it's going to be over soon, so it was totally bearable.

I think the main advice I would give is to bring in stuff to make you feel relaxed and comfortable. Nice smells, nice lighting, nice music worked for me.

Hi, I haven't read previous responses so apologies if this is a repeat.
You absolutely can have a positive induced birth - quite a few of my friends have and they've all used hypnobirthing techniques (The Calm Birth School).
It would be worth doing your research about inductions (thoroughly) - for me personally it's not something I'd just take the midwife's word for and I'd do my own independent research. Again, the calm birth school website and book has a few resources.
I had a very intense birth last time (not induced but similar in terms of how it very quickly ramped up in intensity) and didn't even have gas and air having used hypnobirthing. You absolutely can do it but make sure you and your birth partner are armed with knowledge!

I was induced with my first as I had high bp. It turns out I was already 1cm dialated so they broke my waters and that's how labour started.

It was painful, but I was allowed to be mobile for a while. Then when they started the drip they wanted me on the bed, which I didn't like as I wanted to move around. Ended up with an epidural for the pain, which was great.

The whole process took 10.5 hours and whilst it wasn't the best birth experience, my DD was fine and so was I, I had my music that I wanted and DD's Dad there the whole time.

I had wanted a water birth too! I did hypnobirthing with my second and also wanted a water birth with her, but I only made it to hosp with 20 mins to spare before she came zooming out! So please don't let an induction with the first put you off future pregnancies.

I echo pp's in that you shouldn't be afraid to speak up and ask for what you want. If you have a good hospital, the midwives will try and ensure you have a birth experience as close to the one you want as they can, providing you and the baby are, safe.

Good luck lovely

It felt like one giant contraction I didn’t feel any gaps between them at all.

Same here. The nurse didn't believe me for ages, then decided that I might be right and removed the pessary. Lo and behold I could tell them how long the contractions lasted for because there were actually breaks in between. I thought I was a one off!!

I didn’t even know they could remove the pessary! I wonder why they didn’t offer to do that for me. I had an injection to slow the contractions down (though when the doctor came to administer it he took one look and told us that baby was nearly here, and I was already ready to push!). I had a debrief after and they said that some women are very sensitive to the pessary and said that if I was induced again I wasn’t allowed to have it.

I disagree with a PP that "labour after being induced is much much more painful"
That wasn't true for me. My first labour 14 days overdue, I was induced, on a drip, pushing for hours ended up having forceps. Managed on gas and air the whole time as it wasn't THAT painful, eventually went into theatre for forceps where I had a spinal.
Second birth, I was 10 days over due so still a few days away from being induced and my waters broke at 10pm, went into hospital around 2am, baby was back to back and it was the worst pain I've ever felt. I had to have an epidural and baby was born at 6am in a few pushes. Despite first birth being more complicated and much longer, the second one was far more painful by being back to back

I was induced (really didn't want to, but didn't have much choice) and used those techniques until 8cm, then had an epidural. I wanted to see if I could wait (as I didn't want it) but was advised to have it for various reasons. I don't remember much, but my DH thinks the breathing techniques helped immensely, and I was so happy to have a natural birth as this was my goal

I've had two inductions. They were both very positive experiences imo. I had zero birth plan though.

What types of induction methods you had that were successful?

If you mean successful to be putting you into labour, then the only thing that was successful in both my inductions was the drip.

Induction is usually a 3 part process. First part is cervical ripening, which are your pessaries, gels, balloons, rods etc. These are used to get your cervix ready (i.e. >=2cm) for step 2, which is manually breaking your waters (ARM). Both of these can be skipped if they've already happened. As others have experienced, they can trigger labour on their own. But if they don't (they wait a couple of hours to see if contractions start after the ARM), then if you wish to continue the induction, it's onto step 3, and the drip.

I had gel pessaries to start with both. First time because it was standard in my trust, second because baby was too high for a balloon. Managed ARMs (one midwife pushing baby into my pelvis while another popped my waters - I advise gas+air), then drip when contractions didn't start either time.

Did you still manage to incorporate hypnobirthing aspects e.g the exercises as well as the environment parts (mostly worried about the early labour part of this on the induction ward)?

Didn't do hypnobirthing. But then never had a contraction until I was in delivery suite, so early labour on the induction ward wasn't a thing. I just walked around outside, and chilled on my bed reading books.

How did you get on pain relief wise - any chance I could go with just gas and air?

Only you know what your pain tolerances are. There's a chance you could yes, but you won't know until you get there. I will say to be open to more stronger pain relief options though, especially with the drip.

I would say I have a high pain tolerance. I had gas+air up to the point it was no longer enough. My contractions started off mild, and got stronger and more frequent as the drip was ramped up. With my first, I had 5 hours on the drip (5cm dilated), then had diamorphine. 6 hours of being sound asleep between contractions later I was 10cm. Second it was a similar story, except it was 10 hours to get to the same dilatation, so I opted for an epidural as who knew how long full dilation would be.

Was anyone induced and still managed to use a pool / birth centre?

I would genuinely manage your expectations on this one. If you do have OC, then you will be going to delivery suite. Birthing centres do not handle anything more than low risk patients. If you need the drip, then (in my trust anyway) the pool is no longer an option. It's not an option ifq you're on delivery suite usually anyway tbf. Only one room (out of 10+) has a pool.

Thank you just the kind of info I was after.

Thanks to all other responses too - I will look into other pain relief methods so I can make those decisions when the time comes

I was induced on both of my daughters at full term because my waters broke at 40 +3 and 40 + 0. Positive stories on both. Hypnobirthing used on second.

First induction (pitocin drip)- slow, relaxed, had epidural after 3 contractions, whole process very chilled until last hour where I wasn't pushing effectively and was terrified of tearing - they did a ventouse due to lack of effectiveness of pushing as baby's heart rate was showing up as some distress. 2nd degree tear no episiotomy - healed fine.

Second induction - also pitocin drip. Went from 0cms and no contractions to baby in my arms in about 45 minutes. Gas and air, used hypnobirthing techniques for about 20 mins but then panicked but quickly went into myself and just gritted my teeth and was 'in the zone' Bit scary in terms of speed but over very quickly and immensely proud of getting through it.

Much easier recovery, same 2nd degree tear but healed better and breastfeeding much easier. I've a feeling she gave me maximum pitocin as a work colleague had the same experience with the same midwife so if I was doing it again id ask to start slow and build with more input (and consent) from me.

Hi, I won’t go into my induction as it was awful and traumatic and I needed therapy after it so it’s not helpful and it’s also just my example, there’s lots of good stories around from other ladies.

But I had done hypnobirthing and it was a sanity saver for me. I started doing it at around 12 weeks and then did a 1-1 course with a professional and my husband 24-30 weeks. It really helped me to zone out when I was stuck on the induction ward, I found the induction ward really stressful and I could just go into my hypnobirthing zone when something upsetting/anxiety inducing happened. I could block out the other ladies and go into my zone. It’s not unusual to spend days on the induction ward so a plan to make sure you are ready for that is good. I’d recommend hypnobirthing to anyone, the earlier you start it the better and the more you do it the better. Good luck I hope everything goes well, lots of up breathing and oxytocin inducing comforts.