Painful Pessary Induction

[Firsttimerugbymum]

Just looking to see whether anyone has any experience of this.

Came in for an induction today which I was happy to have. Started out with the pessary which was inserted around 3pm.

At around 10pm I started having regular contractions that are so painful I can't sleep. Had some codeine and paracetamol but not touching the sides and I can't sleep. getting up and walking does help a bit, but I can't do this all night...

Is this normal? Midwife doesn't seem overly concerned...

Yes I was induced this way and had extremely painful contractions. They were also back to back with no breaks. It was horrible but also quick and over less than 12 hours after the pessary went in. I know it’s horrible but it will be over soon and when you hold your beautiful baby it’ll be worth it. Good luck and congratulations.

Yep, sounds extremely similar to my induction (gel not pessary but pains and timescale sound identical).
I used a TENS and after about 6-7 hours I couldn't keep still on the bed (this was an issue as they wanted continual monitoring) so I had an epidural.
Hang in there OP, you're on the home stretch now!

I was the exact same 2 weeks ago inserted at 7pm was inserted wrong too so was too painful to walk, waters broke at 11pm back to back contractions straight away with no breaks like the other poster said gave birth at 6:52am so 8 hour labour. I will say it was very very painful but so worth it I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! Good luck OP!!! Soon you will be in your newborn bubble ❤️ keep us posted!

Yes I had the pessary with both mine. The first it was painful immediately but did not progress despite the contractions and pain.. it went on 12 hours then they had to put me onto the hormone drip.. and they gave me an epidural at that point thankfully. If they put you on the drip get the epidural that's my advice. Coz it was another 24hrs for me on the drip too so..
My second I had the pessary and it was painful straight away but it did work and I gave birth in 6 hours no drip or epidural.

Yea this happened to me too. The pain is absolutely horrendous. I stuck it out but was the worst night of my life. How regular are contractions? They will be reluctant to examine you for dilation because that means they’ve got to take the pessary out BUT if you’re ok with it being taken out there’s no reason it can’t be.then if you are dilating they can put you on the drip. If you are not dating (not in labour) you have the option to request category 3 section if you can’t face any more pain.

I cannot stress enough - ask for an epidural once you do go to Labour ward! There is no shame in it. Induced contractions are more painful and you’ve already endured a lot of pain.

you WILL get through this OP.

Thanks everyone for your reassurance! Just had an exam and looks like despite the contractions I'm only at 2cm 😓

Hopefully the next portion is quicker. They've offered me some pethidine and I'm going to try it as I think it's the only way to get some sleep. Think tomorrow is going to be a long day!

Agree with the above, very painful unfortunately and seemingly slow progression dilation wise not proportional to pain. I actually requested they take it out at 2-3cm but continued to dilate without and baby was born a few hours later. It will be worth it - listen to your body though and advocate for yourself. Hope all goes well and you get some relief.

@Firsttimerugbymum Can they not transfer you to delivery suite and try breaking your waters OP? I had a pessary induction a few years ago now and started contracting after 2 hours. When it was time to take it out I was only 0.5cm dilated 🙃 it took 3 pessaries to get to 2cm then they took me and broke my waters.

I know for lots of women, breaking waters usually takes things up a notch and gets baby moving.

It won’t be long until you have your lovely baby ❤️

Yes I had this too with pessary induction. I do really hope you get some sleep but as a heads up some people's induction takes days and they get no sleep at all in that time. Hopefully that won't be the case for you 🙂

Ps, I also had very very slow progression too 🤦‍♀️ is baby's head engaged?

Also had the quick back to back contractions, it was really tough, had the epidural as soon as possible but it was a long 24 hours. Also couldn’t have the epidural until they had given me something to stop the back to back contractions. Then ended up having the drip to keep contractions going, was a very intervened labour as what was measured was a big baby - he was big-ish at 8lb8.

Yes unfortunately it's a real waiting game and quite a lot of pain! You've got this

Thanks everyone! Got my head down after the pethidine and got a few hours!

Got another exam this morning - hopefully I've dilated more when I've been asleep

I suppose I feel fairly fortunate as it's my first, and I thought it likely to take more than one pessary etc. At least it is doing something!

They took mine out the morning after it was inserted and nothing else was needed after that. I hope it goes well for you today 🙏🏾

@Firsttimerugbymum Glad you managed to get a few hours sleep 😊 Will keep fingers crossed for you this morning that things have progressed 🤞🏼

I know induction can me a long slog (mine was!) but your baby is nearly here 🥰 won’t be long now! Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?