Positive induction stories!

[x1994x]

I've had 3 sweeps within the last week and I've started to get cramping but not much movement seems to be happening for a natural birth so if nothing happens from now until tomorrow, I'm booked in to get induced tomorrow.

All I've heard are negative stories about how it leads to forceps or a c section etc... so I wanted to see if people had any positive stories about when they were induced just so I have something else to go by rather than all negative!

I'm aware everyone is different but it's nice to hear the positive side of what I'm about to go through!

Any advice is always welcome as I'm a FTM.

Also for awareness I'm 41+1 so I am ready for him to come out now!!

Hi, I was induced with my son after two failed sweeps at 42 weeks I had the pessory put in at 10:30 in the morning and went for a walk for an hour. By the afternoon my contractions had started and all be it were painful but that was because I had back labour coz my son decided to turn back to back. By 8pm they took the pessory out and I was 4cm. My waters went on their own not long after. By midnight I was fully dilated. I did end up needing forceps but that was just because my son's head was on the 99th percentile so was too big for my hips. However I had no issues with that and he was born happy and healthy. Found my birth to feel very calm and not bad at all. My recovery was fine and I was up and about in a few hours. No lasting effects.

I'm now pregnant with a little girl due in June. If I need to be induced again I'd hope it would be similar. (So far her head is not as big as her brothers was) so hoping I can do it without forceps.

Hope this helps. X

Very positive induction for me.
Waters fully went at 37wks but no contractions. I was left 48 hours but nothing happened. Got two pessaries, again not much happened except some light period cramps. Ended up on the drip at 2am, used gas and air throughout - it was quite intense but I managed. The midwife advised me to try some pethadine (I didn't want an epidural) and as she went to get it things changed and I was fully dilated. By midday baby had arrived with no intervention. I had a second degree tear which was stitched up fine. No other issues. Good luck! 🙂

4 inductions, 3 with epidurals and no other intervention, delivered unassisted and a tiny 1 stitch for the 10lb 6oz baby!

2 were long events with 3 lots of induction gel/pessary & ARM once dilated. These were at 40 & 41 weeks.

The other 2 were 9/10 hours of getting into labour but labour very quick.

I was induced at 41+10 and it was a great birth. 2x pessaries (over 24 hours) didn’t do much, so I was given the drip.. it was very intense, and I went to fully dilated quickly, but was fine on just gas and air (I did ask for an epidural but was told it was time to start pushing, and it was!) and the Labour was 5 hours with no interventions at all. Hope that helps! Xx

I forgot to say, small tear and a stitch or two, but no other damage.

Induced at 37 weeks with DD2 and she was out 11 hours later after one dose of the internal gel and no other interventions.

It was fine. Quicker than my spontaneous labour with DD1, and I reckon similar pain levels.

Hi op. I was induced and if they're going to put you on a drip for this. Ask if you can have an epidural first. Went well for me and my little one!

I was induced for my second and it happened really quickly, twinges started straight away, was having contractions within a few hours. Then I had to be wheeled down to delivery because I progressed so fast I couldn't walk! I was induced late afternoon, in full labour by 1 and baby delivered at 6am (by contrast my first natural birth went on for several days!!!).

I think the most important thing is to listen to your body and keep advocating for yourself. If you want pain relief, if you want to be examined etc etc. I've met some fantastic midwives who really helped me and some who were bleeding useless and wouldn't listen to me. Keep asking to see someone else.

24hr of very slow labour, then induced with epidural and took another whole day, but natural birth, no stitches, no forceps, all perfect. Except being absolutely knackered! Good luck.

Induced for all three of mine. All were fast - 6h for my first 2, less than 2h start to finish for my third. I did tear with my eldest though I suspect the doctor had something to do with it (he was adamant that an episiotomy was required for a first-time birth and only relented when I quoted numbers from the WHO stating that it's only necessary in 20-25% of first time births). I think if he'd been more careful it'd have probably not torn as much. Even so I made a full recovery, it was just painful to sit for a few weeks.

No tear with the other two. My third was by far the most comfortable because I was already beyond 6cm dilated (no contractions, dr was baffled by the whole thing...)

I know this is just an anecdote but I had a far easier time than my SIL who was NOT induced but laboured for 36h before having an emcs. So induction/no induction is not necessarily a predictor of what your experience will be like.

I had the pessary and rods to start with but not much happened so ended up on the drip and having my waters broken. Had an epidural, fully dilated a few hours later and out she popped. I did need forceps because they turned the hormone drip off once I was fully dilated so my contractions slowed right down so wasn't having them frequently enough to push on my own. Even forceps was fine though as I had the epi anyway. I don't know why inductions are generally so demonised. It was honestly absolutely fine. Best of luck and enjoy your new bundle of joy

So you might read this and think it's a negative story but stick with it... healthy baby delivered in the end with no forceps etc. Also many people are not induced and still end up with c sections / forceps!

I had an induction with my first. Had the pessary about 8pm or 9pm, husband was sent home. I couldn't sleep as I'm rubbish at sleeping anywhere but my own bed! Started getting mild contractions just after midnight (on no sleep) was not dilated much so was given paracetamol (did f all). Couldn't sit or lie down so just walked around for hours, eventually about 6am/7am they said I was dilated enough to move to labour ward and called husband back, was bloody exhausted and still couldn't sit down or relax (only relief I could get was sitting on the gym ball but had not been to sleep so that was tiring) they gave me pathogens, which did nothing, so got an epidural about 9am. Epidural was amazing (though still couldn't sleep) but I wanted to lie on my side but I wasn't allowed to as they couldn't monitor the baby when I did that. But at least I didn't have to be constantly moving. Baby was born a few hours later (with the help of syntocinon) at 12.40pm. I didn't have any complications and I didn't tear, though I did have a little graze.

The only thing I ever said was that if I was ever induced again I wouldn't want the pessary at night, I'd want it in the morning so I had a full nights sleep behind me!

Thank you all for your stories, has definitely helped me!

Change of plan, my hands and feet started to swell really bad this evening so called triage and I went in for some checks and I've now been put on a ward so they can keep an eye on preeclampsia!

If all is well I'll go ahead with an induction but they may end up changing this to a c section 😩 either way I'm glad I'm in the right place and just goes to show to always check things out and not feel like you're worrying for nothing!

Induction at 37 weeks, ended up on the drip and epidural. An hour of active pushing, small tear, great midwives and healthy little one. All positive, good luck!

Good luck! 💐

@x1994x glad you went in for triage.

Dismiss any idea of a "perfect"birth focus on options and safety for you & baby