Confinement

[Gromit78]

You know I am not surprised why women of old went into confinement when they become full term, it's to avoid all the stupid questions and comments and being made to feel guilty if they haven't 'popped yet'.

I have just been been to the MW and she has booked me in for an induction on the 27th July. My hubby is sighing at the very thought, my mum wants to go home already and I just want to be left alone. The due date isn't until tomoz and already I am feeling the pressure to deliver the kid. I think if I have another baby I will go into confinement and hire a maid to do my errands and just ignore the rest of the world.

That sounds great. Could I do that at 15 weeks, do you think?

According to the forms we still go into 'confinement'. My boss laughed when he read my MAT1B.

I have always maintained confinement is a good idea. I'd like to retire to a nice country house with servants and nurses, where your food is cooked for you, the washing up is done and someone takes the baby away when you just need to sleep for 3 hours.

Sorry for your woes, try and hole yourself up in a room somewhere.

You stand your ground!!

If you just want to be left alone make sure they do just that.

Your mw is going against NICE guidelines by booking you for 40+11 anyway - it should be 40+12 minimum. It drives me mad that they do this when you are not even overdue yet - its the best possible way to stress you out of going into labour yourself and making you doubt your body.

Don't go along with induction just because they book it - there is no risk to going up to 43 weeks provided you are both well and baby movements still fine.

I would urge anyone to refuse induction until at least 42 weeks - it is a hugely invasive thing to do, often results in forceps/vontouse deliveries, makes you 3 times more likely to need a Caesarean and risks not only ruining your birth experience but also forcing a baby that is not ready yet to come out under stress of drug induced labour.

No-one except the baby knows when its is ready - in the 24 hrs before spontaneous labour the baby packs a 'picnic' of glycogen stores in its liver to help it cope with labour.....why on earth do we interfere unless there is something wrong with mother or child????

ARGGGHH! Rant over - but do think about not just accepting these ridiculous inductin bookings at term. If we all fight it we might get somewhere.

Forty years ago our mums stayed in hospital for 10 days when we were born, and had an NHS maternity nurse come to their home every day for a few weeks afterward.

Now we're discharged after 6 hours, get a few brief visits from a midwife, and that's it.

Nice as it is to be able to do your own thing, it's even nicer not to have to do anything!

I agree, bring back (some aspects of) confinement.