Induction Waiting List

[islandhopper13]

Hi Everyone

I am 41+4 weeks pregnant and was given the option of induction, which I agreed to, at 41 weeks (last Saturday 19th July).

I had already tried 4 sweeps by this point but my cervix was only open by 1cm. On Saturday I had the propess induction where I stayed in hospital overnight and on Sunday I was reviewed and the balloon was attempted however it would not fill with water and after 3 attempts I was told I was able to have ARM induction for my waters to be broken but that my cervix was no further dilated, but it had softened . I was allowed to go home and was told I would get a call in no more than 3 days and that I was on the "wait list".

I have had to attend my maternity hospital every day since then where the baby has been monitored and have been told that I should not be allowed to go over 42 weeks as this is dangerous. Every day I am told that I am on the waitlist but they can't tell me when I will be induced.

I have had a horrific pregnancy - I have had HG since 7 weeks and still now at 41 weeks continue to vomit. I starting to become anxious about my birth having been quite positive throughout. I am consultant led due to having Ulcerative Colitis but I am low risk and my baby is healthy.

I've been told they could ring me any time 24/7 but the labour ward is busy and the only other option if I want to be induced quickly is another hospital which I am not keen on. My hospital is a teachings hospital and I am confident and feel safe there.

Has anyone else experienced this and what happened?

It’s not clear from above, did they manage to break your waters? If they sent you home I am thinking not.

i had HG up until the moment I had DD. It was hard. I was so sick and in and out of the hospital. I understand wanting it to be over.

if you are on the waiting list it is because you and your baby are not in any danger. Your baby is nice and safe inside growing and getting ready. Not knowing is hard, but you and baby are likely to have an easier time of it if things progress naturally. Statistically, that will probably happen soon.

I had this with my first pregnancy. It was ivf and I was told all the way through that I wouldn’t be allowed to go over 40 weeks. I was finally induced at 40+10. I found the whole process very stressful and I went in every day to have checks done on the baby. I don’t know when you will be called but I hope it’s soon.

Hi @Ponderingwindow

Sorry no they didn't break my waters. That's what I'm waiting for.

I agree that baby is happy and healthy in there and I should be positive but I'm finding it really hard having to go into hospital every day to be monitored but there is no indication of when I will be induced.

I thought that I would go into labour naturally too but after 4 sweeps and the propess I am not got any further dilated than what I was at 39 weeks!

It's my first baby so I am not sure on how everything all works 😊 my midwife told me that going over 41 weeks increases the chance of still born by 65% hence the monitoring but surely because of this I should be induced quicker?

Thanks

At this stage I would ask for a section and see what they say. That's just personal opinion though.

I hope you have the baby soon!!!

@LuckysDadsHat I am not keen on a section but do you think that this would result in my waters being broken sooner? My husband has had to start paternity leave this week as we are back and forth to the hospital and he wanted to be with me. I would really like a VB but understand it can end in an emergency c section anyway.

The problem ultimately is that if there are no beds then their hands are tied unless you are prepared to go to a different hospital.

This is a huge issue at our local hospital currently, if the beds are all taken then there really isn’t anything they can do and birth is unpredictable. They can’t really say we will have a bed at 3pm tomorrow because at 2pm tomorrow 3 women could turn up in active labour.

You will either need to sit tight or be prepared to go elsewhere unfortunately.

This. If your cervix isn’t looking favourable there is a good chance an induction would lead to an emergency c section anyway so I would rather elect to have one than go through a failed induction and have one anyway.

If you definitely want to proceed with the induction then unfortunately it’s a waiting game until a bed becomes available and there is no way of knowing when that will be

@Peanut91 thank you for your advice. They haven't said that it is not favourable and have said it has softened and that they're able to get through to break the waters, but I will mention this tomorrow and maybe ask if they can check if I have got any further dilated since Sunday. They have not offered me a c section or even discussed this.

I suppose what I wanted to know from my query is whether anyone had been through the same situation as me. I know that there's no way any of you will know when they will call but I haven't been through this before and it's always good to know and compare situations. Thanks so much!

Bless you, it’s very positive you’ve got to 1cm although it doesn’t feel it.

Its difficult as they are prioritising daily on who they feel is more at risk.

Are you being very aware of movements and whether there have been any changes? Straight to hospital if you do.

I’d also ask for a c-section. One cm after all the interventions you have had is really not much! I’d be very interested in the percentage of first time mothers who have to have an emergency C-section in your position. I had a failed induction leading to EMCS and wish I’d just had a C-section from the beginning. They have to give you one if you request it.

Yes, CS is major surgery but induction left me with PND due to how long it took, how nobody listened to me, not being able to sleep and then hallucinating from sleep deprivation and then the absolute awfulness of the postnatal ward. The actual C-section was totally fine and really not the big deal I had built it up to be in my head.

Maybe ask for your Bishops score tomorrow and decide off that?

It might increase your risk of stillbirth by 65% but depending on your specific situation that probably means going from something like 0.4% to 0.6%. Also, those figures typically come from the whole population and include babies with vulnerabilities like congenital abnormalities. Some people think that's a big increase, some don't.
Appreciate you may be thinking less about risk of stillbirth and more about just being fed up with pregnancy and monitoring and sweeps etc. Totally reasonable!

Hey everyone.

Thanks so much for your advice and comments! I feel much more positive now.

I contacted my community midwife and spoke about what's been happing at the maternity unit and she has managed to find the waitlist and confirmed I am at the very top now due to being 41+5. She has reassured me that it has to be today or tomorrow which is great news. Apparently they cannot go to 42 weeks which is Saturday under any circumstances (at my hospital anyway).

Hopefully we have our little baby by the weekend ❤️