Induction Stories Please

29 replies

HashB · 29/08/2024 03:32

Hi All,

I have passed the 41 week mark pregnant with first baby. The midwives have tried a few sweeps on me so far but haven’t been able to do it because my cervix isn’t at all dilated.
I’ve been walking, curb walking, swimming, on my birthing ball every day, drinking all the raspberry tea under the sun, it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
I’m now looking at being induced but feel nervous about this. The only stories I know have been very long drawn out labours that in all but one instance have led to emergency c sections.

are there any positive induction stories out there from women who started at 0cm dilated? The positive stories I can find tend to be from women who turned out to already be a little bit dilated anyway.

thanks!

OP posts:

Tofu35 · 03/09/2024 00:35

HashB · 29/08/2024 04:44

@Tofu35 how did you feel on day 2 of being on the ward labouring? Maybe I just need to get a grip of the reality of child birth but I already feel so worn down by the lack of sleep and trying to keep up all this physical activity to encourage labour, I can’t imagine labouring for 2 days without any major progress, I think I’d be begging them for a csection by this point (and I really don’t want that either!).

I probably sound like such a prima donna but I’m going in to this already feeling so drained and worn out. It’s a bit sad really as the rest of my pregnancy has gone so well.

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It's a weird time, I was in a ward with three other women who were in various stages of birthing. It's quite freeing to hear everyone just able to vocalise their contractions either with big deep breaths or (like the woman next to me) mooing. But every contraction is a step closer to that baby being in your arms.

They strapped me to a monitor so they could measure the contractions and fetal heart rate, so it was interesting to see when I was getting to the peak of the contraction "wave" and when it was starting to diminish. Lots of pregnancy yoga/ mindful exercises. Plus a lot of that time you aren't actually experiencing labour, I got through a lot of TV/films, and had a good bag of snacks to get through!

You've got this! 💪✊

Soitis83 · 05/09/2024 14:30

NutsAndMay · 30/08/2024 10:44

I’d heard stories like this (“get the epidural straight away if you go on the drip”) and it put me into a real spin - I was more scared of the epidural than labour. In the end I did have the drip, and for 2 hours it didn’t do anything so then I was panicking about needing a section after all. Again, having heard doom and gloom online and from friends didn’t help my mindset here. But eventually it started up contractions, and it worked so slowly and steadily. I liked that the dosage is controlled and can be turned up and down to modulate your contractions. It really helped me to know that they’re aiming for 3 in 10 minutes - exactly the same as a spontaneous labour. I used a TENS machine and a bit of gas and air from 6cm through pushing. It’s still your body - your uterus muscles - doing the contracting, the drip doesn’t change that. I don’t know that it was any different from my first labour actually. Just wanted to provide a counter narrative OP. The drip doesn’t have to be a horror story! No one can tell you how your birth will go. Make the decision that feels right for you and your circumstances. Good luck!

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That's very true. Everyone's experience is different!

LondonFox · 05/09/2024 14:56

HashB · 29/08/2024 04:06

Thanks all. I wasn’t expecting any responses at this hour (yay for insomnia).

My due date was estimated at 25th then the dating scan brought it forward to 21st.

I think my fears mostly stem around pain (I am a big wuss). I don’t know how it’s ran at other hospitals but at my local you start off on a different ward where I believe all they can give you is codeine until your waters break or are ready to be broken, at which point they’ll take you to labour ward. My worry from others stories is that some spent almost 24 hours on this initial ward in lots of pain despite only being 1 or 2cm dilated and the codeine did nothing for them. It seems like the attitude was very much ‘this is all we have here so put up and shut up’.

my induction is booked for 41+5 but the anxiety is enough for me to put it off even more!

You can always:
A) cancel induction
B) ask for c section

In reality, babies do get out.
If there is no other concern than you being overdue you can wait. There is no foolproof way to deliver.
Natural and induced can both end up in c section.
If you are afraid of pain, ask them on pain management plan and drugs available.

Pyjamatimenow · 05/09/2024 14:57

So mine supposedly went very well. I didn’t feel it went well. I was a couple of cm dilated but they said it might be because
I had previously had a baby ( make of that what you will!) so they went straight in and broke my waters. After they do that they told me they I only had two hours to go into active labour and then I had to gave a drip so when not much happened I went on the drip. I went more or less to 10 within about half an hour. It was excruciating and I had no pain relief. Without doing into detail I was very shaken by it as a birth experience, my first being a natural birth with no pain relief either. As others say I would be inclined to have an epidural in before a drip. I think the pains on the drip are really different to normal labour pains. That said you may not need the drip if you’re over due. I think pessaries etc are more likely to work if your body is ready.

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