Induction of Labour

[Peonies94]

Currently have an induction planned for tomorrow! I am having a propess inserted and I am not currently dilated at all! In fact baby is not yet engaged really, but is head down! I am almost 40 weeks! I’m looking for anyone who’s been in a similar position and can share their experience? I’m told to expect it to take a few days, maybe longer!
Also I’m being induced for medical reasons!

@SouthwestSis thank you! I’ve been harvesting and freezing collostrum for a few weeks, but stopped before coming into hospital as there’s no where to store it! I have quite a few syringes at home, which will hopefully help the baby after birth!

@Peonies94 I was induced with my first in 2020. Cervix completely closed etc. I had a pessary induction. Mild contractions started about 2 hours after the first was inserted! It took 3 pessaries to get me to 1.5cm dilated (25 hours at this point). They then moved me to the labour suite and broke my waters, then I was put on the drip. Baby was born 39 hours after the first pessary was inserted. 8lb 11oz baby, no interventions, gas and air for pain relief, needed 2 small internal dissolving stitches, baby born at 3am and we were home cuddled up on the couch by 3pm.
I was pretty terrified going into it as there are so many induction horror stories but honestly, it was absolutely fine 😊 The worst part for me was the first 25 hours alone because it was during lockdown. It felt like a week 😅🤣

Do some research on pain relief options, make sure your partner knows any birth preferences you have, pack lots of snacks and something to keep you entertained 😊
And don’t be afraid to still advocate for yourself!! You still get to have your choices and preferences listened to with an induction 😊 When i was moved to the labour ward and had my waters broken, I had a midwife come in with an anaesthetist to give me an epidural before the drip was started. I hadn’t asked for an epidural. She then stood and argued with me and told me that we couldn’t proceed with the next step until I had the epidural as there was no way I’d cope with the pain and that I’d be causing my baby unnecessary stress 😡 I honestly hadn’t even mentioned pain to her at that point! I felt fine! I really didn’t like her and hated not being listened to so asked for a different midwife to take over. The midwife that took over was an absolute angel. She couldn’t have been more supportive.
I absolutely wasn’t against an epidural, but at that point I felt fine and wanted to see how I found the contractions with the drip before deciding on pain relief.

Best of luck with everything 😊 please come back and update us with how you get on!

Hey OP, I had the gel propess thing inserted (a string hung out like from a tampon) had this inserted on the Monday around 5pm, I remember it fell out though when I went to the toilet a couple hours later so they had to reinsert which really f'in hurt whilst they did that.... Contractions began around 9h later. Then I gave birth on the Tuesday at 23:59 so pretty much almost a day and half in total.

Good luck OP, little one will be here before you know it! Enjoy these last few hours and or days relax as much as you can now xx

I was induced with both of my children. IME the pessaries didnt really do anything much aside from opening the cervix enough for my wayers to be broken.
My first labour was fast and furious, 1hr from being on the drip to delivery, no time for any pain relief and it was incredibly overwhelming.
2nd time round I had an epidural and honestly it was such a different experience. I felt completely calm, happy and in control. It was still a fast delivery but I felt so relaxed.
The best advice I can give is to get that epidural sorted, and be prepared to be in for a wait, go for a wander, get bouncing on a ball, anything to get baby's head moving downwards.

I was induced with DC2 at 40+0 due to being a geriatric mother!

Was induced at midnight, told it'd take at least 12 hours.

Told midwives on ward I was in active labour about 5am, they weren't having any off it. They soon changed their tune as my waters broke at 5.30am when fully dressed. Rushed to labour suite and DC2 shot out as DH arrived in the door. Took longer to stitch me up than push DC2 out.

Good luck.

@Username24680 thats good/ another positive story! Pretty quick too! So glad you had a different midwife and was listened to! Of course, I’ll post afterwards and let everyone know!
@justcouldntthinkofausername thsbk you! Oh another quick story compared to what I’ve heard as well!

I guess it really does depend on each person! I’ve heard stories within 24 hours, to the process raking 5 days! The midwife who inserted did say it could take a few attempts as cervix wasn’t at all favourable, so expecting to need a second one, and then maybe a series of gel! Hopefully my baby will be here in a few days though 🤞🏻!

I was induced for statistical/policy reasons rather than personal clinical ones at 38+0. Waters broken and delivered four hours later, went home from delivery suite.
As PP said, the stories of successful inductions are less often told.
I declined an epidural as I didn't want to get stuck in hospital, but if you're not bothered about that I'd have one. having now experienced a labour on my back (forced to have this, if I could move around would have been fine) get it in... no point suffering!

24 hrs after propess was inserted I hadn't started contracting but was dilated enough for MW to break my waters. Once that was done contractions were instantaneous and baby was born 5 and a half hrs later.

I did a lot of walking, pacing and bouncing on the ball during the 24 hrs I was waiting. Couldn't sleep because the ward was noisy and the temperature of the sun, so I paced the halls (and snuck out for an illicit walk to Tesco to buy more reading material and all the snacks). I was determined that gravity would help, who knows, maybe it did.

I had an induction at 37+5 due to obstetric cholestasis. It was quick once things got going and I didn’t need any intervention. First pessary to waters breaking was 27 hours and waters breaking to birth was 7 hours. My induction experience was positive and if I need another in the future I am prepared. Good luck OP.

I was induced at 39+3 due to gestational diabetes. I was told to expect it to take a few days. Had the pessary about 8am, DH went to work and I relaxed watching tele. I had lunch with my parents in the hospital cafe and made arrangements to do the same the next day. DH popped in to see me in his lunch break about 2pm and as he walked in, I stood up and my waters broke.
Into delivery about 3.30 and DD was born at 7.28pm.

I also had an induction and it was absolutely fine. The main thing is to walk around as much as you can and rest when you're not walking. It's really boring so maybe bring an audio book.

I've had early inductions with both my babies at 37 weeks due to pre-eclampsia. Cervix was as firmly closed, long and posterior as can be prior to the start of each. Babies were high and unengaged.

I had gels with both. First time because it was what was used in my trust, second because baby was high, so a balloon was a bad idea. As with PP, the gels only seemed to open my cervix the bare minimum to get the waters broken. This is where the waiting came in for me. Once you're 2cm, waters intact, and not in labour, there's not much/anything they can/will do until there's space on delivery suite. And that, IME, is what can take days. DC1 was only a few hours until I was taken down, but DC2 was 4 days waiting.

I had managed ARMs (one midwife pushing baby into my pelvis, another with the long hook breaking the waters), as babies were unengaged still. No contractions with either, so had the drip.

Didn't want the epidural initially, but gas+air only gets me to 5cm dilated before needing something stronger. For DC1, it was after 6 hours, and I had diamorphine. For DC2, it was 10 hours later (back to back, so slow progress), and I had an epidural.

Eventually, I had DC1 vaginally after 11.5 hours in the drip. DC2 was born via emergency C-section (still back to back, stuck, and starting to get distressed) after 15 hours on the drip.

Both were positive experiences imo.

Thank you all for your comments! Lots of positive stories there!
@Crumpledstilstkin I’ve been here a few days already, and definitely found I need to get out regularly! I am being monitored every hour, but 30 mins around the car park is lovely!
seems to depend how busy it is on the ward to how quickly things will happen! (If you don’t go into spontaneous labour of course)
thank you everyone I’ll keep you posted!
@Dyra this is exactly how my baby was when they checked me yesterday! Hoping the first pessary will be enough to break waters at least and that’ll get things working then hopefully! 🤞🏻

I was induced with my 5th baby
Due to my age , high blood pressure, baby being small and placenta failing
It wasn't a very nice experience and ended up in theatre
But I wishing you all the luck x

I was induced with my last baby as it was measuring small. I had the balloon to start things off, which didn't do much (and was mostly just annoyingly in the way), then the gel pessary which got contractions going. They then moved me round to labour ward and broke my waters. I had gas and air from this point, and baby was born about 5 hours after my waters being broken. I would say it was more intense than my spontaneous labour was. Best of luck, hope yours is quick and baby is in your arms soon

@tashx sorry to hear that!
@CinnamonTwist thank you! I’ve had the propess inserted and I think gel is the next step, if this doesn’t do anything! I’m thinking I’ll need the gel though! Hoping it’ll all happen quickly!🤞🏻

This is what happened to me. It was quite a shock after my first natural labour.

@TheseAreSexPeopleLynn i will have a look! I’ve had the propess but in but haven’t felt any changes yet!

Did anyone have the propess and pains only start after they had it removed? Mines just been removed and I seem to be having period kind of cramps!

@Peonies94 Period type cramps are a good sign OP! How are things going? 😊

@Username24680 no changes yet! Still the same kind of cramps! Had prostin gel put in now, so let’s see what happens!

The cramps are a good sign OP. How exciting!! 😘 good luck xx

@Peonies94 I hope things properly get going for you soon 😊🤞🏼 It feels weird to be wishing you more pain but I’m sure you know what I mean 😅🤣
Such an exciting time! 🥰

@Username24680 yes send the pain 🤣 I need it!! Thank you so much!

I had DD a little over 3wks ago and was induced at 38+3. I’m not going to lie, I found the whole process pretty traumatic and in total it was a long 4 days between starting the induction and finally being favourable for having my waters broken. What made it worse for me was asking for positive stories ahead of time, as I felt it left me wholly unprepared for what the reality might be like and added to my feelings of hopelessness/failure when I didn’t progress like the stories.

DD had been 3/5ths engaged from 28wks, but I was only a bishop’s score of 2 when I was admitted for induction and began the first pessary. I felt some contractions following the pessary, but 24hrs later and there was no progress. At that point, having googled I understood that those with a score of 2 or less are unlikely to have a successful induction, but the midwives assured me they’d seen others progress following having the tablets so I preserved with the process and started the first tablet. Long story short I ended up having 3 tablets in total and only in the final 24hrs did I finally progress from a bishop’s score of 6 to an 8 (after much bouncing on balls, power walking and side stepping stairs) which allowed me to transfer to the delivery suite for my waters to be broken. Even then my cervix was still fairly posterior facing which made breaking my waters tricky.

It was only after I gave birth that the midwives confessed my progress had been impressive and that usually women in my position would have ended up having a c section. Though please don’t let that deter you, as if I can get there I have every confidence you can too.

Things I wish I’d known in advance. The cervix checks are nothing like a smear (I actually found them pretty traumatic). Don’t be afraid to mention if you’re finding them too painful, in the end I had numbing lube and gas and air which made the whole thing a lot more bearable! Try not to compare yourself to others on the ward, this is easier said than done. In the time I was in my ward cleared 3 times over with women progressing to labour. I found this particularly hard, especially when it was those that were a lesser term than me. Also be prepared to throw all birth plans out the window. If you’d asked me beforehand I was only ever going to give birth on MLBU with my tens machine and gas and air. In reality I was absolutely shattered by the time I made my way to the delivery suite and gladly accepted an epidural at the first opportunity before I started the oxytocin drip. I’m so glad I did too as I actually have really pleasant memories of my labour, I managed to rest for several hours at the start and never found the pain unmanageable. I opted to slowly reduce my epidural as I went into active labour so I could feel my contractions better, but the midwives were also great at advising when and how long to push for so I was never in doubt.

Hopefully this helps and doesn’t stress you further, I wish I’d been more prepared for the realities of induction and like to think a post like this would have helped me feel better about what I went through. Finally, know that however your induction goes it will all pale into insignificance the first time you hold your baby. Wishing you the best of luck for tomorrow x