Induction time to labour

[Potato1234]

How long was it for everyone from induction to the start of labour? Especially for a FTM! TIA

I'm a FTM, I went in on the Monday at 40 weeks, had 3 gels Monday and Tuesday, had the balloon induction on Wednesday and unfortunately it all failed. While waiting for a section I went into spontaneous labour on Saturday. Hope you have better luck than me! X

Oh god that sounds awful!! I’ve heard few positive stories of induction :( thank you I hope so too xx

Hi,

I had an induction last year as a FTM, at 39 weeks. I went in to hospital at 1pm on a Sunday, was given the gel pretty much straight away. Contractions started about an hour after that and we waited until about 8pm to see if waters broke naturally, which they didn't so my waters were broken. Then I started on the drip and baby was born at 7am the next day.

We had a straight forward birth with no further intervention and I healed really quickly. I know a lot of people have bad induction stories but mine was fine.

With my first I was induced at 39+0. Had the pessary put in at 5pm, started contracting at 5am the next morning and baby born about 7.30pm that evening.

I was 40+6 and had the pessary around 10pm then had mild contractions all night.

Next day around 12pm my waters went and DD was born at 2:15 x

2 days for me with DS (2nd birth). They were threatening me with C Section and saying he was over 2 weeks late but I knew he wasn't
It wasn't awful in terms of birth as I felt in control and got my Epidural when requested (after making it very clear what would happen if I didn't) but being in a crowded noisy labour ward for that long was awful.

3 days from the start of the induction to giving birth.

It was my second, but I had the gel and had to lie with the monitor thingy on for an hour afterwards and I was definitely having contractions by the time the monitor straps were taken off. DD2 was born 11 hours after the gel was given & I was 37 weeks.

4 days and ended in a failed induction, she was not ready to be ejected though 😂 38+ 3 at induction born at 39 weeks. I will say though I think my case was quite uncommon, no end of woman in my 4 bay room came and went during those 4 days. On the first day 4 of us arrived together and went into that room, one by one we were all induced. The second girl to be induced was being wheeeled out of all 4's after about 4 hours.

I became part of the second lot of inductions and all of those went before me to 🥲

Take something to do, because it'll either be super quick 🤞🏻 or a really long wait and you will be bored beyond measure, I started going for walks with other mums around the hospital because sitting in that bed for days on end was driving me mad.

@Potato1234 I had a pretty positive induction! The first gel (about midday) I felt nothing, but apparently it had very slightly opened my cervix. The second gel (about 7pm) started irregular contractions. I did a lot of walking around that evening, then started having the fabled clear out. The downward pressure increased and increased but because I wasn't having regular contractions it wasn't getting taken too seriously. Eventually I was begging my husband to find someone to get me pain relief and when he got a midwife I was checked (about 2am) I was 4cm and in active labour (I could have told them that!). There were no beds on the delivery ward so I was kept on antenatal until about 8am, when I was brought down and given an epidural. I was 9cm at that point when I was checked after the epidural, but my baby had been back to back and hadn't finished turning, so I got a lovely calm nap while using a peanut ball to open the pelvis up and let him get into position. I only had 7 pushes over 2 contractions when the time came, which took 7 minutes and he was born at 12.42pm.

When I look back yes some of it was pretty painful (despite my hypnobirthing calling them power surges, my back to back contractions were shocking) but it was also a completely new experience and I was on a complete high afterwards. I really hope yours goes well xx

There are lots of people with positive induction stories - you just don’t tend to hear about them as much as the negative experiences! I was induced at 40 weeks with my first. Had a balloon at about 14:00 and that fell out around 23:00, had my waters broken around 00:30 and baby was born at 02:30. I then went home that morning. Good luck with everything!

Mine wasn't horrific, I had the pessary and it went in at about 6am on 15th June 2022 and my little girl was born at 8:51am the following morning. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't the most enjoyable experience but she got here safely and I'd have another one again if I have to.

I have not seen good reports for FTM and induction.
When I was expecting DC1, I read about induction in a few places but I did not see a positive story for FTM . Perhaps they exist but, both on MN and in RL - women I actually knew - induction did not work.
Induction seems to work well for subsequent births. I had it for DC2 and it worked well. Bodies seem to recognise the signals better for the second.

Gel applied at 5:30am. In labour by 7am, baby born 3hrs later. FTM, baby born at 36+2

40+5 Gel applied on Monday at around 10am followed by more gels, no space on delivery ward until Friday when I was put onto the drip had my waters broken, was in actual labour for 23 hours and had an emergency section anyway! But the mum next door to me had one gel and was 10cm, the midwifes didn't believe her until they examined her! Goodluck x

My sister and my best friend were both induced with their first babies and both delivered naturally with not to much drama. My sisters waters had already broken but just trickling, she didn't realise untill she told me she kept wetting herself and I insisted she went to hospital, they decided to induce to reduce the risk of strep B and her daughter was born 24 hours later naturally.

my best friends son was 10 days early and she was induced because they thought he'd stopped growing. Again I think he was born the next day, natural delivery.

I had a hard time and an emergency c-section but mine was actually my second child following a spontaneous labour at home with my first. She was just too comfy I guess 😄

I understand wanting to hear other peoples experiences I really do, I was the same when I was pregnant. But in reality you can never predict or plan how it will go, because it's totally out of our hands. You may have a fantanstic experience and you may not, there's no way of knowing, Try not to worry to much, I actually had a shit time of it, but once she arrived it didn't matter. Scars heal and life goes on. I wish you all the luck in the world OP 🩷

I came to the hospital to be induced already having contractions. I believe I was already in early labour but I was only 1 and a bit centimetres dilated so they said it didn’t count and did the induction anyway. I had the pessary inserted around 5pm and my contractions got much worse shortly after. They kept telling me it was normal and just the pessary starting to work and I wouldn’t be in labour yet. They finally believed that I was in active labour and let me go to the delivery suite at around 7pm, by which time I was already 7 centimetres dilated. Baby was born at 2am the next morning.

37+3- went in to have pessary but already 2cm dilated and could stretch to 4cm. I had clearly been in early labour for a couple days but didn’t know. Sent home to have my waters broken when there was space on the labour ward. Got a call 3 days later, broke my waters, had one single dose of synotocin (where my body over reacted l so they stopped the drip) baby arrived 1hr 7 minutes later. Set my midwife’s record for fastest induction. No pain relief (no time for anything even if I wanted it) and only a tiny graze which I put down to baby being small 5lbs 11oz which I am thank for considering the way she flew out.

I was induced at 38 weeks as a ftm, pessary at 10am Saturday and baby born 1am Sunday. I kept as active as possible in early stages, walking miles round the hospital and refused an epidural. So they can be relatively short experiences!

I was induced at 37 weeks with my first. Had the pessary at 9pm Friday. Waters broke early morning Saturday. Started the drip at about 5pm Saturday and she was born at 5 past 5 Sunday morning. No forceps, I had a small tear which healed really quickly. We did have to stay in a few days but that was because both me and the baby had really high temperatures so they kept us in to do some blood tests on her. This was during Covid.

1st baby, Went in Tuesday night at 10pm, 1 gel, no pains. Next morning 11am broke my waters and started me on hormone drip (should have let me mobilise after breaking my waters, no idea why they didn't) and my contractions started immediately and he was in my arms less than 3 hours later. It can be quick and positive, but can also be 3-4 days.

Mine was super quick although this was 3rd baby. Pessary went in and dissolved in a short amount of time. Then went from 2cm to delivering him in 15 minutes. Hope that gives you some hope. He was 39 weeks so not "overdue" and he still came out super quick..

You won't as women with good induction stories don't tend to post online.

I know a few women personally who have good induction stories with just a pessary were their baby was born within 24 hours. I am one of them.

Went in at 11am, pressary inserted at 1pm, removed around 3pm (after DP made a fuss due to frequency of contractions), DD born at 11pm.

FTM 12 hrs labour after induction at 42 weeks - absolutely fine

So pleased that the FTM's with good induction stories are posting here.