My pregnancy is classed as high risk and I think it's possible that the hospital won't want me to go beyond a certain number of weeks, possibly 37.
I'd love an uncomplicated vaginal birth, but if I don't go into labour naturally ahead of any agreed date then I'm starting to think a scheduled C section is likely to be preferable to induction.
My main reasoning is that my hospital and the two others closest by have been rated as "requires improvement" for patient safety by the inspector the CQC. It's mainly to do with staffing issues, and the care of women being induced / in early labour has come up as a key problem.
In my first pregnancy some years ago, I was induced and went into rapid painful contractions on the triage ward, which felt undignified and I had to push to be transferred to the labour ward to get some pain relief. I can only think it's worse now.
I've also been reading recent threads on here where women have ended up opting for C sections after having been booked for an induction, which either hasn't happened or has been prolonged.
I know C sections are major operations, and they've never been my preference. But is anyone else thinking that, with the state of current maternity services, a planned C section is likely to be a much more preferable experience to induction? I don't want to scaremonger - it's possible that the services in my area are particularly bad. I just don't have confidence in the process with the current staffing challenges.