Should I have an induction over 40 pregnancy!

[Mummy2B1983]

Hi all!

I wanted to get some opinions!

I am an over 40s first time mum to be, due in September.

My midwife said I'll be offered the option of an induction if baby isn't here by the due date.

I have heard good & bad things about inductions so unsure what to do! Baby may come early and in which case it wouldn't matter but I have heard a lot of people say 1st time babies are late!

Any responses would be welcome! X

I was 42 when I had my ds I went for induction at 39 weeks was meant to be 38 weeks but they were to busy. I had pessary it made me 4cm dilated they then broke my wares and ds was born 20 mins later . I'd had so many loses I didn't want want to risk losing my ds . I know my story is different from some but I suffered anxiety during pregnancy and just wanted him out

Agree with this. Pisses me off when people talk about pain thresholds. I had my first without any pain relief. It was painful but totally manageable. Never screamed or moaned once. My second induced on the drip you couldn’t scrape me off the ceiling. I went very quickly to ten cm and then I couldn’t have any pain relief. Absolutely hideous. I thought I was going to die. My husband said it was like watching a wild animal being tortured. He ended up vomiting in the bathroom. You can absolutely get hyper stimulated on those drips.

I recommend accepting the induction and then refusing anything that doesn't make sense eg I was moved from the induction ward to the labour ward because there weren't enough staff to keep both wards open.... I should have gone home then. I think a lot of delivery is dependent on your relationship with the midwives and feeling comfortable. If you try the induction and there aren't enough staff and you are feeling disrespected or bullied then refuse to continue and insist on seeing a doctor (they'll come but it will take awhile). Make a new plan, and insist it is written down on your notes. Lots of highly emotive and nonsensical things can be said to you by medical professionals trying to manipulate you to comply with what they want, so stay rational, keep everything recorded in your notes, trust the machines and take the best decisions for you and your baby in the moment.

I agree it was so painful and fast that I couldn't get any pain relief . I'm glad it was fast but maybe not so fast 😂
Op everyone is different and do what's best for you and your baby

You can stop the induction pathway at any point and move to emergency caesarean OP. So you could agree to e.g. pessary and waters broken but if it doesn't work you could always refuse consent for the drip induction and go to EMC instead. You have the right to do that.

Is it because your placenta is more likely to stop working early when you're over 40? If that's their reason (and assuming you have no other risk factors, GD, overweight etc) I'd ask them about daily monitoring after 40 weeks. If they are happy with this, in your shoes I'd probably go a little past 40 weeks but not push it to the 42 which I might if placental failure was less of a risk.
If you do have other risk factors, my opinion might change.
Best of luck whatever you decide.

I was induced at 42 weeks. It was not fun.

Congratulations 🎉

I had an induction with my fourth baby due to maternal age (I was 41) and possible big baby after going into labour naturally with my first three babies - all between 40 and 41 weeks.
I was induced at 39 +3 after asking to be left over the weekend in the hope it would happen naturally. I was already about 3cm dilated so they didn't bother with the pessaries and just tried to break my waters which no-one, including the consultant, could do. I was placed on the drip at around 9pm. I was able to stay out of bed standing while being monitored. They only needed to double the oxytocin once before my contractions were on top of each other. After about half an hour I had the urge to push so got on the bed kneeling and leaning against the back of the bed. Baby arrived after two pushes 45 mins after going on the drip 10.2! Only pain relief a bit of gas and air.
I have always laboured quickly, never had a epidural and my body has obviously done it before. The pain was intense but I was able to breath through it although it's difficult to say how long I'd have managed without an epidural if it had gone on for hours.
Currently 27 weeks with baby number 5. I would really like to avoid another induction - not because it was awful, just because I trust my body to be able to go through the process. That said, I know I'll find it very difficult to go against medical advice. I understand the reasons why they don't like women over 40 to go over 40 weeks but that is based on stats within the general population rather than my personal circumstances.
For me, staying out of bed and active in labour is a must and I was able to do that while being hooked up to the drip and monitor.