Induction stories! I'd love to hear them

[highheavenn]

I'm currently 40 weeks and 3 days.

I had a sweep 5 days ago with no success but due to have one tomorrow morning 🤞🏼

If this doesn't work they will induce me at 41 weeks on the weekend.

I hear people say all kinds of stuff about induction. "It's more painful" "avoid induction" etc 🙄

If you got induced and are willing to share your story :

▫️Which form of induction did you have?

▫️How long did it take to work?

▫️Did your waters break before or after contractions started?

▫️How comes you got induced?

▫️Was induction more painful then going into labour "natural labour"

With my first I had the pessary and the drip. Pessary at 9pm, my waters broke at 7am but no contractions so I had the drip at about 5pm and she was born at 5am the next day. I was induced at 37+5 because she had stopped growing.
My second my waters broke at about 11am but there was meconium in them so I went straight onto the drip to get him out as quickly as possible. He was born at 8pm.
I have no experience of giving birth without induction so no idea how much more painful it is but I will say it was nowhere near as painful as I was expecting it to be.

I’ve only had one child so can’t compare induction to natural birth.

I was induced at 38 weeks. I had gestational diabetes and was insulin controlled so the hospital wouldn’t allow me past 39 weeks. I had a period of reduced movements and my blood sugars went a bit off so I happily took an earlier induction at 38 weeks.

I had a sweep, or an attempt at a sweep, 2 days before my induction date. My cervix wasn’t favourable, as expected. I had the pessary in at 4pm on the Friday night. At 5am on the Saturday morning I realised the pessary had slid out overnight and I asked the midwives to reinsert it. At 10am I went for a walk with DH to the on-site costa. On the way back to the ward, my contractions started and I’d had 3 before getting back to the ward, this was just before 11am. My contractions stayed regular throughout from then onwards.

The pessary should have been in until 4pm but at 1pm I asked the midwives to remove it. At that point my cervix was still gang back and so I wasn’t dilated. My waters broke at 2pm and so examinations were reduced after that due to risk of infection. I got to delivery about 5pm and they found I was 8cm and too late for further pain relief. Baby arrived at 10.42pm without assistance. I had a 2nd degree tear but no complications. I didn’t have more than gas and air but I couldn’t get on with it for pushing.

Induction can be successful but your body and baby need to cooperate. I didn’t want to end up on the drip, so if it had gotten to that stage I was going to ask for a c-section. The reason for asking at this point is because it is said to be more painful and they recommend an epidural, the drip also carries high risk of further interventions. By the time most women have got to the drip they will have been going through the induction process for a few days so will also be tired. I personally don’t know anyone who has had the drip that hasn’t ended in assisted delivery or c-section.

It took a while to kick up (almost half a day) but worked well and no additional pain over childbirth pain.

I was induced at 39 weeks. High blood pressure, which turned into pre-eclampsia in labour.

Pessary inserted at 7.30pm. Waters broke at 2pm the next day. Just felt like I'd wet myself, and the midwife was convinced I had until she had a check and realised I hadn't.

They put me on the drip soon after (honestly can't remember) and I gave birth at 6am the next morning.

I had epidural, ended up with episiotomy and forceps delivery.

I've no idea if it's more painful than natural; I've not had natural/spontaneous labour. The contractions are not what I remember as the painful bit of giving birth.

Best of luck to you!

I was induced 6 weeks ago and it was because i was reaching 42 weeks and there was no sign of him coming. I had the rods inserted at around 11:30pm on the 11th May. They stayed in until early afternoon on the 12th and then i was checked and there was no progress, so they inserted the pessary tablet which stays in for 7 hours i think it was, Then i was checked again at 8pm on the 12th and i was 1cm so i had my waters broke for me by the doctor. He was my first born so I can not comment on if it is more painful to natural birth. My contractions started quite quickly after my waters were broke and I did not need the hormone drip as i dilated quite quickly especially for my first baby. So my induction was started at 11:30pm on the 11th May. I went into labour at 8:30 ish pm on the 12th and he was born early morning (6am) on the 13th.

It was a long time ago but I was induced with my first as she had a growth restriction. The process itself was pretty easy in my case. I was around 2cm already (without even really knowing) doc broke my waters then started the drip straight away. She was born 7 hours later. Can't comment on the pain side of it, I don't have anything to compare it to. Initially used gas and air but it just made me vomit, so had one shot of pethidine about half way through and that was it.

I was induced at week 39 due to age related risk factors (I was 41).

I was given the pessary. After 24 hours I was dilated enough to have my waters broken on labour ward.

Moved up to labour ward, waters broken but my baby didn't react well and he basically started to have a party and move to much. This meant they couldn't get a baseline heartbeat and the induction was stoped and I was taken to theatre for a c-section.

So I didn't have a single contraction and had great care where I was monitored closely and once the midwife was concerned with the readings from the monitoring the consultant and senior midwife were coming in regularly to review.

I saw all of this as positive as I have a perfect little boy bouncing around the house now

I was induced coming up to 42 weeks (because there was no sign of baby coming). I was offered sweeps before but I refused cos the thought of it made me feel a bit sick.

Went to the hospital. Was given gas and air. Contractions started. Stayed overnight (very painful!). Had contractions all the following day and went into labour that night.

Very painful but had an epidural so pain stopped. Pushed for about 3 hours with no pain and out popped the baby.

Health visitor was very disapproving about induction but I’m glad I had it and wish I had it sooner. I was so big and the baby just wouldn’t come out!

All is good now a year later. I’ve recovered (with still some baby weight) and baby is bouncing, healthy and happy.

With my first I went into labour naturally at 39+6. Labour was 24 hours from first twinge to birth.

With my second, my waters broke at 34 weeks but I didn't go in to labour so was induced at 37 weeks. I was terrified. If your waters have broken they only give you one dose of the internal gel, wait a few hours, and if nothing happens they give you the drip (or at least, that was the policy at my hospital). I really wanted to avoid the drip as I'd heard terrible things. The gel started contractions immediately, and after a few hours I was taken to the delivery ward. I had continuous monitoring (but could still move around) and IV antibiotics due to my waters breaking early. About 10 hours after the gel had gone in contractions were regular and frequent but pretty manageable pain-wise. Then they broke my waters (it was just a small leak from behind the baby that I'd had at 34 weeks, there was still a pocket in front) which really ramped things up. Breaking my waters was unpleasant, they had the student midwife try, which I was fine with, but she didn't manage it so that wasn't great. Then the main midwife did it and it was very quick so I think it probably would normally be fine. DD2 was born about 2 hours after that.

I don't think it was any more or less painful that my first labour. I had no pain relief for either (not really through choice, I have a severe phobia of vomiting and was too scared to even try the gas and air) and managed ok. Overall it was 11 hours from gel to birth, and when they applied the gel I wasn't dilated at all.
I had a second degree tear and stitches after both births, and a haemorrhage just after the first, not after my induction.

Had a sweep that didn't work then went in two days later. Waited all day for pessary which a man with huge hands did. Ouch. That was 9pm. Started contracting 2 hours later told overnight midwife who said she had to give me another pessary even though I told her I was now in labour. It went very fast from them. Felt too fast and was very painful. Had him 11am

I got a pessary induction at 39 weeks with my second because my waters had broke the night before but I wasn't having contractions. Contractions started about 20 minutes after induction. I didn't find the contractions worse than natural birth, the only difference I found was that it seemed to skip the very early stage of contractions where your not sure if your in labour or not, if that makes sense? Mine ended in emc but that's because the cord was wrapped round his neck, I was fully dilated by the time I got the emc so think contractions where as painful as they were going to get by that stage.

Waters broken 1pm. Delivered DTs four hours later. Had shower. Went home.

Couldn't have gone better on paper. I personally found it quite traumatic because they forced me onto my back against my express wishes, but babies came safely and I got out of there quickly at least.

I was induced then told to walk around so we went and played crazy golf down the road and then I started to get contractions so we walked back up to the hospital and DD was born very easily and calmly. She was my second DC

I can’t comment on the pain front as DD is my first, but we were induced at 38+2 due to concerns over reduced growth coupled with a few episodes of reduced movement.

I had the pessary, and after a long and fairly traumatic 4 days my cervix was finally considered favourable and we were cleared to go to the delivery suite to have my waters broken. After several hours of waiting to see if my contractions would naturally ramp up it was decided I needed the drip, at which point I opted for an epidural as I was exhausted and already quite sore from the many examinations I’d already had.

In total labour was around 13hrs, 2 of which were active labour and all was fairly chill and pleasant thanks to the epidural. I had an episiotomy and postpartum bleed after passing the placenta, but other than that no complications and DD was born healthy and well.

I was induced at 38 weeks due to my placenta stopping working/baby hadn't grown in over a week. I was in for a week, had her at 39 weeks as every induction method failed. I had the rods, 3 pessaries, 2 sweeps and finally I got to 1-2cm dilated, they broke my waters at 39 weeks. Not going to lie the drip is brutal, you go from a level 3-4 pain to a 10 really quick and that's why they recommend epidural once they start the drip. Except I had 2 failed epidurals so gave birth on just gas and air. She was back to back and it was very painful. I can't compare to a "natural" labour but my obstetrician did tell me when they recommended the epidural asap that it is more painful due to your body being forced into it rather than your body being ready for it. Good luck, everyone has good and bad stories on induction. Personally, I'd never have one again. I'd opt for c section if I needed to deliver for medical reasons.

▫️Which form of induction did you have?
Gels followed by drip

▫️How long did it take to work?
Gel worked immediately, had tightening within 10 mins. About 29 hours from gel to baby in arms.

▫️Did your waters break before or after contractions started?
After and it wasn't dramatic.

▫️How comes you got induced?
My choice - some people do request it...

▫️Was induction more painful then going into labour "natural labour"
I never had a natural labour so I can't tell you, and pain is really subjective as well.

As others have said, if you get the drip, get the epidural first.

I was really pleased with my decision - I had my baby in my arms sooner than waiting for spontaneous labour, and my experience of the induction process was perfect. You have so little control over what happens in labour, you could end up being induced for all sorts of reasons. I decided that I wanted at least to choose when I started birthing. It was a huge relief when the decision was made and I would choose it again.

I was induced at 36+6 with my 3rd dc as I was getting increasingly unwell (kidney problem caused by pregnancy). Both my previous dc had come early, 4 days and 10 days, so they were fairly sure I could cope with it.

I was given a pessary at 6am and after that I went back to sleep which I think was important, there was no mucking about and getting up and down going on. I finally got up around 9.

Spent the morning walking round the ward, up and down stairs, having contractions. I was examined at 1pm and was only 1cm! Very unhappy but they said to see how it went. Contractions got harder in the afternoon (still walking .....) and at 4pm I was asking for gas&air so they sent me through to delivery - I was 6 cm. Kept on my feet and the ball, and I was pushing at 5:30.

My waters still hadn't gone. I had this very, very posh junior doctor who had asked to follow me and do the delivery. My dh is a doctor who had had to do similar at one point so I didn't mind. He called her "Dr Jolly Hockey Sticks" which at least made me laugh. She bent down to see what was going on and right then, on the second last contraction, my waters went with an audible "pop" right in her face! The midwife had to jump in and catch dd2 who was heading for the far wall!

So it went pretty well, apart from poor Dr JHS not getting her delivery. 12 hours from pessary to delivery, and I'd been pretty unfavourable at the start. Dd2 was 7lb15 at 37 weeks so smaller than my others (who had been 9/12 and 9/3) but I was so glad to have her out!

Good luck with your delivery, I'm sure you can't wait to meet your little one xx

Induced at 37+1 due to pre eclampsia. Had already got myself to a very favourable 3cms through going into pre term labour multiple times between 34-37 weeks.

Had my waters broken at 9.45am, with a view to having 4 hours to mobilise and try and get contractions going.

Within 15 minutes of waters being broken I was contracting 4:10 and on the gas and air, and baby was born at 14.44 same day, so approximately 5 hours later.

Pretty sure it was so rapid due to the pre eclampsia. Be interested to see what happens next time!

Do everything you can to avoid it, there are many things you can do to bring on labour. Raspberry leaf tea, curb walking, bouncing on a Swiss ball, acupuncture etc. All the best!

I had pessary for 24 hours 🥲 found that agony. Nothing happened, so then had my waters broken. I had pre eclampsia and had been in hospital since 30 weeks, but they pushed me along to 35-36 and induced then. Due to blood pressure I had epidural (apparently it can help manage it) from the get go, before they broke my waters. So labour part was relatively painless. They broke my waters at 8pm and she arrived 8:27am. But her heart dropped and wouldn't go up again, so I had the emergency pulled and was rushed into theatre but in 15 mins they found I had gone from 3cm to 10 😂 which was why she went into shock. But apparently that can happen with very high blood pressure.

Induced with my first 13 years ago.
High blood pressure showing signs of pre eclampsia 9 day's overdue.
Pessary at 9pm did nothing.
Was told I would be given an epidural as soon as contractions started as my BP and heart rate was so high.
Waters broken next morning at 8.40am labour started straight away.
Given diamorphine before being examined at around 9.30am ( I was about 7 cm.
Fully dilated by 10.30am (when the midwice told me I looked at the clock and said huh it's only 10.30am) they then raced around outside getting cot ready for baby.
Diamorphine made me feel really sleepy, found it hard to keep my eyes open but I couldn't feel any pain, just my body contracting so I knew when to push.
Pushed for an hour and my first was born at 11.30am.
So 2 hours 50 mins after waters being broken. It was a quick first labour and painless, in fact the only thing I felt was the stitches after.
My second was not induced but I laboured naturally just as fast and my waters hadn't broken naturally, I was 10 cm and pushing when they broke them. Left hospital as was having pain but no real contractions and I wanst even 1cm, was told cervix wasn't ready at 7.30pm, went back at 9.30pm 5cms gone, gave birth at 11.23pm no pain relief, ouch.

I was induced at 38 weeks due to reduced movements and babies growth has slowed.

I was checked and 2cm dilated with bulging waters, the hospital broke my waters and put me on the drip. I asked for an epidural but it didn’t work for me unfortunately.
Waters were broken at 2300ish and by 5am i was fully dilated! I started pushing at 6 but ended up with a forceps delivery as baby was showing signs of stress. Baby was born at 7am!

Can’t compare to other labours as she is my first but for me the pain wasn’t as bad as expected with the drip, people told me so many horror stories of pain but after the failed epidural i had no extra pain relief!

good luck!!

With my first I got induced at 40 +12 as I didn't want to go over 42 weeks.

I had the cooks balloon followed by my waters being broken and the drip the next day

The balloon was in overnight, I went in, got it inserted and was at home and then the induction properly started about 5pm the next day, baby arrived within 12 hours

The pain was about what I expected, gas and air made me throw up so asked for epidural about 8pm (when pain was manageable), it started working about 11pm and then I had a nice nap. At first it only worked on one side which felt totally pointless

I didn't require further intervention and pushing was 1.5 hours with a second degree tear.

The staff were great and I enjoyed the close monitoring of baby to ensure he was ok through the process

Currently 41+1 with my second and hoping I go into labour naturally to experience it but doubt it'll happen.

Induced at 40+5 as it was an IVF pregnancy and my hospital had a policy of not letting them go overdue - I had to really fight to get those 5 days.

Went in on Tuesday morning and had a pessary, went home - a few light contractions but nothing much happened.

Went back in on Wednesday morning and had another and had to stay in the hospital this time - again not much happened for a few hours. Worth saying that I found the pessaries going in v painful.

Had a third pessary in the afternoon...then it all kicked off.

I started getting v strong contractions that were v erratic and no more than 3 mins apart. It was a back to back pregnancy and very, very painful. I was on the ward so no pain relief (although this was covid times).

Finally at midnight my waters broke and was taken to my room but I was only about 3cm dilated.

At that point i was exhausted so had the magic epidural. It was amazing and a couple hours later I was 10cm.

I then pushed for an hour and a half but baby got distressed (red button was pushed a few times) and turned sideways and got stuck. So I was taken to theatre where they were going to try and retrieve with forceps and if that didn't work they'd do c section.

'Luckily' baby had slipped back up the birth canal so they did a c section.

This was 2pm on Thursday (and the induction had started at 8am on Tuesday).

For me it's true what they say that the induction is much more intense and my body went into overdrive.

I had contractions naturally with my second baby (before my elective c section) and I couldn't believe how mild they felt compared to the induced ones.

The epidural was a game changer!

A sweep brought on my waters breaking, but after 24 hours nothing had progressed and it turned out only part of my waters had gone. They had to burst my hind waters and induce me with the drip.
My experience was that labouring this way was relentless. There was basically no break between contractions for me, it was 8 hours of non stop escalating pain. I blacked out a few times. I laboured on gas and air so maybe I should have accepted stronger pain relief sooner. There were some complications near the end, I had morphine at this point, and my daughter was delivered using ventouse so I also needed an episiotomy.
I'm pregnant again now and hoping I don’t need to be induced this time! But every body and every birth is different, there's a good chance your experience will be better than mine. I do wish I'd known that the relentless contractions were possible with induction and been slightly prepared.