Experiences of going past 41 weeks and declining induction

79 replies

MCMP13 · 12/07/2026 20:09

How far overdue did you go with your baby?

Pregnant with my second and hoping to go naturally due to a bad induction experience. I got induced at 39 weeks for measuring ‘too big’ but turned out to be very average weight.

Ive read a lot on NHS website lately as the time is coming around and our trust offers induction at 41 weeks. Has anyone had experience going past 41 weeks or declining induction? (Unless medically necessary of course, I don’t want to put myself or baby in any danger) If you get to a certain point do you get extra monitoring or whatever?

OP posts:

retrainingmaybe · 14/07/2026 10:09

Wingwalk · 14/07/2026 10:04

"The risk of stillbirth only increases after 40+14"

Sadly not true. I would recommend reading the NICE guidelines on Induction of Labour for actual evidence based medicine (over any book or podcast which will not be peer reviewed, however "official" they might sound).

NICE recommends that mothers are advised that "some risks associated with a pregnancy continuing beyond 41+0 weeks may increase over time and these include:
• increased likelihood of caesarean birth
• increased likelihood of the baby needing admission to a neonatal intensive care unit
• increased likelihood of stillbirth and neonatal death. [2021]"

The data is at appendix A, the risks remain quite low but it's simply wrong to say they don't arise until 42 weeks.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng207

Edited

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All of these risks are associated with induction. There is conflation on the data.

sadly maternity care is very much lacking a robust evidence base

curliegirlie · 14/07/2026 10:13

teaatdawn · 12/07/2026 21:23

Declined induction at 40+ 10. Had baby spontaneously at 40+ 11.
The risk of stillbirth only increases after 40+14.
They induce days before this as sometimes it doesn’t work/takes days. I had it in my birth plan, if there is a specific risk go straight to c section over an induction.
(Most inductions result in forceps or emergency c sections)

I was induced due to age at 39+4. I wanted balloon induction but my cervix wasn’t favourable, so I had two minimal doses of the gel the next day. I think I had my first dose of the gel at 5pm on Monday, DD was born at 22.11 on the Wednesday, no C section of other interventions, I didn’t even need stitches! I wasn’t keen on the idea of induction but it was much better than I feared.

Survivingnotthriving24 · 14/07/2026 10:35

I was pretty averse to induction too, thankfully I didn't need to be induced. In all honesty, labour and birth isn't exactly pleasant anyway and we have no control over how it goes whether induced or not so I'd go for the safest recommended option.
If I was to have my time again and medical teams recommended induction, I'd want to know my Bishop score and decide from there whether to opt for induction or c section.

greglet · 14/07/2026 19:18

I was induced twice. The first time was at 40+0 as my waters had gone but I’d failed to progress. That ended in an EMCS as the rapid increase in contractions put DS into distress.

The second time I’d initially booked an ELCS for 40+1 (it was that or 40+6 and they discouraged waiting till +6 owing to my age) but I changed my mind at the last minute and asked for an induction instead. I was induced at 40+1 and DD was born at 40+2. The last fifteen minutes of her birth were a bit hairy (shoulder dystocia for her; massive haemorrhage for me), but the overall experience was actually very positive and I preferred it to the c-section.

I’d have been happy to wait till 40+6 to see if labour would start naturally if the consultant hadn’t been so against it, but I suspect I’d have ended up needing some sort of intervention anyway as both my babies have been big and awkwardly positioned.

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