Balloon Induction

[halloumi1]

Hi,

Stressed and hoping for some calm please but feel free to tell me otherwise if that’s what happened to you!

With my first baby (under the same trust, just different town), I had 2 sweeps before birth - one at 39 if I remember rightly. They also automatically booked an induction, didn’t tell me anything about it (e.g. what type) but thankfully I delivered spontaneously at 41+1 on the day of the planned induction.

This time I’ve been told they don’t do sweeps until 40+ weeks so I’ve got one booked for Weds (only had DS in 2020). They’ve also automatically booked an induction again for bang on 41 which is this Sunday. MW said if the sweep is favourable, she might just cancel the induction and try for a breaking of waters instead. Not sure I’d want this to happen either?

Midwife basically said, right I’ll do your induction forms today without any discussion over it and I know how much considering not to have one is looked down on, so I’ve not spoken to her about my doubts yet. I’ve been told this time that it’s a balloon induction and they’ll ring me the day before with a time.
I had a beautiful, pain relief and intervention free labour with DS (aside from a few stitches at the end) yet the idea of any medical intervention terrifies me. Panicking that once an induction starts, I’ll be stuck on a cycle of worsening interventions (say if it doesn’t work).

Couple of questions please - has anyone had any wriggle room to delay the induction by a few days (no risk factors and based on the fact I delivered at 41+1 myself)? I know why they would want to induce but it seems so quick!

Plus - can I please have balloon induction experiences? The brief leaflet I got sounds horrendous, I’d rather labour than the idea of a catheter type insertion is it? Sorry, I’m a wimp at medical things!!

Firstly you don’t have to do anything - do your research, know your rights and stand up for them! I had a C-section first time round due to breach, and with my second I was told several times by diff people I couldn’t have a natural delivery, I couldn’t be induced, I couldn’t use the midwife unit etc etc - everyone I spoke to said something different!
I ended up having the balloon induction a few days after they wanted me to to give a chance for things to happen naturally.
I haven’t had a “normal” induction but I thought the balloon was great - it was uncomfortable to put in but o wouldn’t say painful (certainly less painful than some of the sweeps I had!!)
it felt weird and you have pipes hanging out of you, but essentially it imitates the pressure of the baby’s head on your cervix so you start labour “naturally”. There aren’t any artificial hormones etc, and once you get to 4cm it falls out and the rest of labour continues totally normally.
mine fell out after about 4 hours as I must’ve been very ready anyway.

when I had my 3rd I would always have requested a balloon induction rather than synthetic hormones. I don’t know why more people don’t have them - it’s the most natural form of induction. Happy to answer any questions!

i was able to delay my balloon induction to 42weeks due to not actually wanting to be induced, i personally wouldn’t do it again, i had my ballon fitted (this i found quite uncomfortable and painful) i had gas and air it took maybe 5 minutes, i was sent home and had tubes hanging out of me and told to come back the next day, or call if it came out before. I had a few (what i thought was contractions) i returned the next morning, i hadn’t dilated at all, they removed the ballon and did a sweep, due to unrelated issues my induction had to be stopped (other health issues) and two days later i went into natural labour. I don’t think this was thanks to the balloon although the day i had it out i lost my mucus plug. This was also my first baby not second so it may vary.

oh and the way they do it is they put an empty balloon in (with the tubes hanging out) then they syringe some sort of liquid (not sure what it is) into the tube to fill the balloon, the tubes are left dangling, so you’ve got to be a bit careful after, maybe wear a dress or something loose, i was given the choice stay in hospital or go home for 24hours

Hi, I had a balloon induction ahead of having an induction drip at 37 weeks. The induction overall didn’t work for me but the balloon bit did and my waters were broken.

In terms of experience, it wasn’t bad at all. Yes, a bit awkward but certainly not painful. I say that as someone who is terrible with smear tests etc and dreads them. The midwife inserting it gave me gas and air which was nice and once it was in it wasn’t uncomfortable.

Never heard of this before I’m fascinated!

I had the balloon, never again. The midwife overinflated it (or whatever it is they put in it!), j went from nothing to full blown contractions with zero breaks in between in about fifteen minutes. Bloody still traumatised from it five years later.

I had the balloon both pregnancies. I would suggest asking your midwife whether she thinks you're favourable for it. I wasn't at all, she warned me before she didn't think it would work, and it didn't. Because I wasn't in a good position for it, it was very painful and impossible to fit properly.

Don't want to be too negative because im sure that it's very effective for some people. But I definitely think your body needs to be ready for it to work.

I've had a balloon induction. I didn't find it did very much for me overall so ended up having to have a gel pessary. The balloon was annoying but not that uncomfortable and not painful, of all the induction it was the least worst bit 😂

I'd say, from my experience, that I'd prefer to get as dilated as possible before they pop your waters - things get a lot more intense after they break your waters but (in my case anyway) don't necessarily speed up!

Best of luck with it all.

ive been induced 3 times and have never heard of this.. mind blown..
i had the pessary? Don’t they do that anymore?

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences, I really appreciate it.
Definitely lots to think about! I’m just worried about delivering at 41+1 last time and if I go similar, they’re not really giving me a chance to go naturally.

It doesn’t sound very pleasant for a lot of people and I’m keen to avoid any unnecessary pain/interventions if they’re not really going to work so will keep that in mind.

@Dinosaursdontgrowontrees I’d never heard of it either until I got told. I’d always heard of the pessary/drip routes. I think it depends on your trust and what method they use as their chosen one.

They use the balloon a lot for vbacs (that’s why I had it) because it’s meant to be less intense than the pessary or drip - which you’re not supposed to have if you’ve had C-section as they’re concerned about the uterus scar rupturing. I would say a lot of the actual midwives I encountered hadn’t heard of it which blew my mind! Apparently it’s very very common on Australia

I had the balloon induction and hated it. Felt fine to put in but triggered intense contractions, four minutes apart all night and the next morning I was barely dilated. It's different for everyone though.