When will we be discharged after induction and can I manage induction/labour alone

[Coffeemadness]

I will be getting induced around 38 weeks due to GD and big baby. Have a few questions running through my head. My husband may have to stay back with my daughter if we couldnt sort out any childcare.

If you're induced, how long did you have to stay in the hospital after the baby was born?
Is it possible to manage alone at night during induction and after birth, especially if your partner can’t stay overnight ?
Any tips for what to expect if you're on your own for parts of it?

I was discharged same day after induction with my now 3yr old, they asked me if I wanted to stay overnight but I requested to leave asap, haha.

with my second born, I laboured completely alone with nobody but the midwife. The hospital were amazing with me and I was never left alone so it didn’t matter that I didn’t have anyone with me. If anything, it was easier as I just had to get on with it.

When I was induced it took a looooong time, so I sent my husband home in the evenings. We live close so I said I would text him if anything happened. Most other women had their partners on the ward (which was extremely annoying as it was mostly the men snoring!). I just couldn’t understand why have them there when you’re not even in active labour yet as then you’re both exhausted when baby comes! Was totally fine on my own for large parts of the day (just treat it like a long haul flight).

In terms of staying after, I don’t think induction impacts your time on ward after, just mode of birth and how well you are recovering. It was good to have husband there on the other side with new baby but if it was my second child and vaginal birth then I might have been okay on own overnight there too. It was our first and I had a c section so definitely needed an extra pair of hands/we were obviously both very excited to be with new baby!

I can't talk about induction but I labour through the night when I was expecting my daughter and left my partner in bed. My waters broke at midnight we got back from the ward around half 1 and I sent partner to bed but I couldn't sleep. The contractions started around 3am I woke my partner up about half 7-8 am. They were 3 in 10 minutes and 30-60 seconds long right from the start so quite intense which you might also get with an induction. Finding a position that helped during the contractions and getting in the right headspace. For me I drew on strategies that help when I have panic attacks and I had to be stood during the contractions so spent most of the time hugging door frames and swaying.
I'm expecting number 2 and if I had to labour on my own due to child care I think I would cope on my own.

I was alone overnight due to covid and managed fine

In terms of what to expect, it just depends how long it goes for you - I had contractions for 36 hours of varying intensity so would bounce on the birthing ball and do breathing exercises or pace around to get through them and then nap or watch Netflix on my phone with AirPods during the breaks. Take great eye mask, ear plugs, entertainment, phone charger, toiletries bag so you can have a shower if your induction takes a few days.

I would also find out exactly what position your baby is in and research spinning babies website so you understand how long the various stages of your labour might take (very dependent on position of your baby).

Also know that if induction is going south and not progressing you are able to request a c section at any time - you don’t have to continue with induction or let them break your waters etc.

I was discharged 8 hours after I gave birth. However you have GD so they might need to keep you a bit longer to monitor baby's blood sugars. In our hospital they need 3 normal pre feed blood sugars before you can be discharged.

Thats good to know :) Hopefully my hospital is equally supportive !

My baby is heads down but in a awkward position. Will take a look into the website, thanks xx

I had gd and they said we needed to stay in for 2 days for baby to be monitored.
We ended up being in for 4 days because ds was jaundice and need light therapy.

I’ve had inductions for both of mine and the second, which was a few months ago was much quicker than 1st, although still relatively slow and would have been plenty of time for my partner to get there for the birth. In reality he stayed overnight- I knew from previous experience that second births can be super fast- when I was being induced first time lots of second time mums came and left the pre-natal ward having been induced and gone into active labour within hours whilst I was waiting for things to get going for 5 days.
So if you really want your husband there, I would say he would need to be there from when you get induced including staying overnight. It’s really difficult to predict exactly how quickly things will progress, but could be quite fast for a second birth.
It’s also really hard to predict how things will be after the birth. I was determined to get home as soon as possible to be with my toddler, but although the birth was relatively very smooth, I ended up having to stay two nights as they were worried I’d contracted an infection. My partner stayed over the first night, but not the second.
We actually paid a lot of money for childcare and in hindsight, I think I could have actually managed fine on my own. I was induced around lunchtime and nothing seemed to be happening for hours, then I started getting contractions overnight which were painful enough to keep me awake all night and I could have done with a handhold, but partner was fast asleep and I figured no point waking him for us both to be exhausted. Early morning I was transferred to Labour ward and asked for epidural. Once it was administered I was completely pain-free, but very sleepy and drifted in and out. Was barely aware that partner was there -was advised ready to push late afternoon and I was pretty anxious about that as it took ages and loads of energy with first, but this one was out in 2 pushes. feel bad saying it, but I really felt the midwives gave me all the support I needed and could have done it without a birth partner. My partner is great at practical support, but I always have to tell him exactly what I need so most of the time he was just there not helping. However, if your husband is better at that and if the labour is more complicated or you don’t have such effective pain relief, that could well be different for you.
Everyone’s experiences are all so different and unpredictable, so it’s hard to say what to expect I would just try to think about what might help you feel most relaxed. I would also fully expect the midwives to be very supportive both on ante and postnatal wards and during delivery. Don’t be afraid to ask for exactly what you need and make them aware that you are on your own. They are often overstretched of course, but if they know you don’t have anyone else to make you comfortable they will be much more likely to try to attend you quickly where possible
Sorry for the stream of consciousness- hope there might be something helpful in there!

My partner is exactly the same :)
Great in practical help but no so much helpful emotionally - cannot expect him to be of emotional support. I can ask him for food, hot water bottle and other things that he will be able to bring it to me no matter how hard it is. But emotionally and to handhold , i think he will be of not much help.

For me induction was at 39+1, done at 6pm, partner went home fir the night. Baby was born at 9pm the next day. Partner went home as wasn't allowed to stay on postnatal ward (think that's changed now, it was still COVIDy).
He came back at 10am the next day and we left at midday.
So for us it was fine. I had some stuff to do on the night after induction, colouring, listening to affirmations, ball bouncing. Then the night after she was born she was sleeping and I was just staring at her in shock 😅

Thanks for sharing your experiences :)

Yes mine was almost back to back but not quite, with back to the right side. According to spinning babies my labour would always have taken about 5 days as the contractions have a lot of work to do to move the baby into proper position, also higher likelihood of needing instrumental/c section. The spinning babies has lots of exercises to do to help get baby in better position. None of this was explained to me by any midwife so after 3 days induction and still only 1cm dilated I opted for c section. Probably a good choice but if I had gone in with the knowledge of what my contractions were trying to achieve for my particular baby, I would have been way more prepared!

https://www.spinningbabies.com/pregnancy-birth/baby-position/

I went in for induction and gave birth 2 days later, was fine on my own for most of it but would not have got through labour alone. Ended up with a side on baby that got his shoulders stuck and had to have forceps delivery, he had low oxygen and an infection as my waters had broken initially at the start of induction 2 days prior to birth. All in all I was in hospital a week, 2 nights until he was born and then 5 days as he needed antibiotics.
Not to scare you but just want you to be prepared as I had no idea they would keep me in that long.