For those who have/had gestational diabetes, did you refuse induction?

[3rdbabytime]

Hi all,

I'm 39+2 and have gestational diabetes, with blood sugar levels borderline so it's been controlled by diet.

This is my 3rd baby, 1st was an EMCS due to his positioning and 2nd baby was a VBAC. Both were spontaneous labours, 1st baby at 40+2 and 2nd baby at 41+3.

I really want to have a spontaneous labour this time too with another vaginal delivery but consultants are eager for induction at 40+4 with lots of advice on risks of stillbirth due to GD. Consultant checked me today and I agreed to a membrane sweep just in case it helps things to get going but cervix is posterior. I know things can change quickly though as did with my 2nd baby so I'm not too worried that my cervix isn't ready yet but do hope things get going in the next week.

Would love to hear from anyone in similar position where they refused induction and had a spontaneous labour with GD after due date.

Thank you!

Hello no spontaneous labour here, failed induction then EMCS. Both babies born with respiratory distress, was not given steroids with the first (I should have been) and given with the second. I’m not sure what I’d do to be honest, I’m not sure of the risk compared to not inducting and waiting. I am aware of my friend where GD was not found and she had a really tough time birthing a large baby. It’s great it’s all well managed but I did read somewhere about deterioration of the uterus during GD.

would I change anything? I guess maybe I would have liked to go longer and deliver vaginally without induction but think DH and I are too risk averse. I still ended up with two very poorly babies.

Thank you for sharing @goldfishbowl2025 really sorry about your experiences and I hope your little ones are ok. How far along were you when you were induced?

Both my babies were just under 9lbs so expecting similar again but really hoping to go into spontaneous labour again.

Bump

Not quite the same but in my two pregnancies I had GD. The first waters broke at 37 weeks but no contractions and ended up on the oxytocin drip as the pessary didn't work quick enough and due to waters being gone for over 48 hours I was high risk for an infection. That labour went smoothly though and I had a vaginal delivery with gas and air.
The next pregnancy unfortunately nothing happened before due date. I didn't quite refuse induction but put it off a little longer and I accepted a couple of sweeps from 38ish weeks and at 39+3 ended up agreeing to the propess induction as I just worried incase something went wrong and I was done being pregnant tbh. I had my LO 12 hours later and went into active labour VERY quickly, almost didn't make it to the labour ward. I was 8cm when a midwife checked me as I started to struggle. No gas and air for that one as no time and it was a brilliant birth.
I read so many horror stories on induction and I've had two positive births so I wanted to highlight that as it doesn't always mean intervention.
The placenta is more likely to fail in the later stages of pregnancy with GD than a non GD pregnancy which is why induction gets offered. I understand the not wanting to be induced as I felt the same with my second pregnancy but in the end baby arrived safely (and quickly!). I should add first baby was 6lbs and second 7lbs 7. I hope all goes well for you 💕

I didn’t have GD although they said I showed signs. Baby was measuring too big so they wanted to induce me both times. First I let them. Second I said no, what was the latest date they would let me go to. After that I said I wanted a C-section as no induction.

Not with the risk IMO for just having a desired birthing method over the risk of foetal distress or death

@jellyfish2 Thank you so much for sharing your positive induction experiences. My 2nd birth was really quick too and extremely painful so I cannot imagine doing it without gas and air so that's amazing you had that experience! Thank you for your lovely wishes!

@Namechangerage Thank you for sharing!

I would have refused, but didn't only as my baby had stopped growing so yhw risk was too great. I wanted at least intervention as possible

@chunkybear Totally agree with you which is why if there were any signs of my baby being in distress or something going wrong I wouldn't hesitate to be induced or have a c section. I had an EMCS for my 1st because my baby was in distress and thank God all turned out well. My issue is if baby is well and I am well, is induction necessary and can ctg monitoring help instead for a GD patient. My 2nd was 10 days late but she didn't show any signs of distress and I had a very fast and spontaneous vbac with her. The hospital were very keen to induce me but as baby was ok I held off. However at that time I didn't have borderline GD so just trying to weigh up all my options and to hear of different perspectives :)

@Isitreallysohard I totally understand why you had to in your situation, really sorry you had to go through that but I hope all turned out well in the end. I would do the same if baby showed any signs of risk. Thank you for sharing.

I agreed to the induction and everything went well, though slowly. They gave me a pessary, so no sweep. Delivery was vaginal, baby was larger than they had anticipated, but not my biggest. Still well up there percentile-wise.

I had been induced before, so I knew what to expect.

I had planned early to wait out til 42 weeks as my other two were both born late. The consultant was happy with that too. However by about 35 weeks I was struggling to manage my levels even on insulin, I had a couple of skin infections and multiple periods of reduced movement from DD. So I had an induction at 38 weeks. It was fast 16 minutes from 4cms to DD being in my arms. I was in labour slightly before that as I got up and had a shower for a bit then told my partner to get my mum and the midwife. Probably from first contraction to birth was closer to 1.5 hours.

It was a far cry from the lovely home water birth I had envisioned but we both are all good now. And I was cared for with respect and had my wishes about monitoring etc listened to.

GD babies can be large, and there's a danger of shoulder dystocia. The placenta can also be seriously compromised because of GD if the pregnancy goes too long, making oxygen availability for the baby a problem.