Can I request to be induced?

[Bethandfreddie]

Hi, so as I'm getting closer to my due date I'm starting to become quite nervous. I lost 2L of blood with my last birth, and though there are plans in place for the actual birth I was wondering - could I ask for an induction when I'm around 39+ weeks? Though I had to be induced last time and didn't have the fastest of labours, I'm worried this time it may be different and I could go into labour at home and end up having a fast labour and birth then bleeding out and dying.

I know it's unlikely but it's still a possibility and it's starting to keep me up at night at the thought of haemorrhaging again and leaving my children behind.

Yes you can, I did with 2 of my pregnancies.

It sounds like a reasonable request. It also sounds like you understandably have some birth trauma from your last pregnancy. Have they offered you any MH support with this or additional wellbeing appointments etc? A birth review etc? Your fears are perfectly understandable and I'm sure they will want to do everything to support you in feeling more confident and comfortable about your upcoming birth. 💗

Yes you can! I did today for underlying medical conditions that are just making the pregnancy too much for me, but no clinical reason in terms of the actual pregnancy itself. It goes down as maternal request, they won’t do it before 39 weeks though just a heads up 😊

Yes you can! I was induced at 38 weeks with my first due to pre-eclampsia they'd missed for 3 weeks along with IUGR ended up being rushed in and induced bany born 7 hours later along with other birth complications so 2nd pregnancy I demanded to be induced at 38 weeks and it was accepted although it was was very last minute when they realised IUGR was happening again and I said I'm not carrying on with the pregnancy due to high risk of pre-eclampsia again. I did haemorrhage but that was partly due to other pregnancy issues but baby was fine.

You can request an induction but the risks and benefits for your individual circumstances will be taken into consideration, it's not a given that they will agree to it. A lot of research has demonstrated that induction is a risk factor for PPH, so it may be that your medical team will feel that it is not necessarily the safer option, although its totally understandable why you don't want to go into spontaneous labour at home.

There is some research that suggests there isn't necessarily a correlation between induction of labour and haemorrhage, that the higher incidence of haemorrhage was likely due to other risk factors that were the reason for induction in the first place- it really depends on your team and their feelings about your individual case. I work in obstetric theatres and within our guidelines is that induction of labour is a risk factor for PPH.

There are different causes of haemorrhage too, so they will have access to your notes and be able to discuss how likely this is to happen again and whether induction could exacerbate any risk.

Hope you can discuss this with a consultant and come up with a plan that puts your mind at rest a bit.

Yes, you can. Have you spoken to your midwife about this? You can ask to see the consultant (may be a registrar you actually see) and talk it through. As pp says, it's about weighing up risks (including your mental health) and making an informed decision based on medical advice.

I asked to be induced with both of my children and was at 39+ weeks.

I was having therapy for a while after my first baby, but it was for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and not what happened last time I gave birth. The hospital have been supportive though and have told me what their plan of action is for when I give birth next time which I'm really grateful for!

Thank you all for your replies, I will definitely discuss this with my midwife and consultant when I next see them!