Induction

I wouldn’t be induced again. I’m a FTM got induced and it took 3 days for them to be able to break my waters and then the pain was unbearable immediately. There’s no build up. The pain is like the last stage of labour in the beginning. I personally wouldn’t get induced again. I would either wait to start labour naturally and if I didn’t in time get a c-section. I ended up with a C section aswell after 4 days of on and off labour 😭 C-section recovery was really good for me

From 41 weeks onwards I was being induced and my team of midwives/drs tried everything: foley balloon, induction pills (can’t remember the name), acupuncture, castor oil, massages, various teas, ect. Nothing seemed to work. I agreed to have a planned c-section at 42+1, if nothing took any affect. So at exactly 42 weeks we had one last hail mary attempt and broke my waters. Not even an hour later I was in full blown labour, and my son was born within a total of 8h later. Even though it was a lot and mostly not very affective I still had a good experience and wouldn’t be against another induction in the future

I wouldn’t be induced again… I was given a pessary to start me off, I was 0cm dilated, not in labour at all. My body reacted VERY fast, I went from 0-10cm dilated in 40 minutes. I had back to back contractions, no break, no time for pain relief. My daughter went into distress & I had to have an episiotomy and forceps to get her out. My body didn’t have time to “adjust” to size obviously within 40 minutes, so I had to have surgery to fix all the damage (3rd degree tear) I missed over an hour bonding with my newborn because of this. Then afterwards had nurses chuckle and say “wow 40 minutes! That can happen with inductions sometimes!” (Wasn’t told this before). So I would say if you’ve exhausted every other possibility and there’s a danger to you or baby if you don’t have one then do, but if it’s not medically necessary. DONT. My whole birthing experience was completely ruined & totally traumatic because of an induction. Sorry to scare anyone! But you asked for bad stories too 😟

FTM who was induced at 41 weeks. My obgyn did a membrane sweep about five days earlier since I was only 2cm dilated. Labor actually started a couple hours before my scheduled induction, but I decided on an epidural and the OB said to do the induction anyway. Labor went from 9pm to 12pm with 13min of pushing. At first, my body took to the epidural very well and I didn't feel the contractions as strongly. By the next day though the contractions were very painful even through the epidural; my teeth chattered and I was shaking from the pain. In my case my baby was sunny side up and his head was pressing up on my pelvic bone. My OB was able to rotate him about halfway (so his face was toward my left thigh). For me, it was worth it. My husband stayed by my side and I had a great nursing team and the energy in the room when I gave birth was electric. A great finale to my pregnancy journey.

There are so many other medical interventions that often happen once you start going down that road. My first was induced for the reason you are wanting to, I was uncomfortable and was offered an induction, I was stupid and didn't know better. It is not fun and I've had natural births since then which were so much better. Your body knows what to do when it goes into labor in its own time. The baby won't stay in forever

I got a balloon catheter induction at 41 weeks which I wouldn’t recommend too anyone , it done absolutely nothing for me and was definitely one of rhe most uncomfortable parts of my Labour ! , I then was taken into hospital and had 3 rounds of pessery gels inserted ( they didn’t work very well for me either however Iv heard lots of good experiences on them and it’s not as awful to get them in ) I then had to have my waters broken and be pure on a hormone drip which got things moving pretty fast . The pain for the drip is worse than natural Labour but by that point I was just determined to get my baby out , I took an epidural at 4cm which was perfect timing as it lasted me right up until I had too push . The gels I would try again if I had too , it’s worth it if your over due because i was extremely uncomfortable but if I have another baby I won’t be in as much of a rush to get them out I’d wait to try to naturally x

Let your body do it naturally if possible. Inductions are quite painful as they force the body to do something it’s not quite ready to do yet without warning. As a result, there is no easing into pain, it’s full blown pain and contractions.

I was extremely against induction when I was told I had to have one and I just kind of had to get over it. I had an incredibly positive experience with it. It was quick, easy, and relatively painless compared to how most describe it. With that being said it’s not something I would choose to do unless it was medically necessary

I was induced after my waters ruptured and labour didn’t start. I had the hormone drip. It was my first baby so I didn’t know how a non induced labour felt pain wise however, when I got to 9cm they turned off the drip and the contractions were so much more manageable. I was lucky and had a quick induced labour (5 hours) and didn’t need any instrumental intervention /c-section which I know is common with an induction. If it’s just that you want to meet baby and not a medical need then I would just wait for baby to come when they’re ready- it’ll be less painful and you’ll need less medical intervention (statistically). Hang on in there 😊

I had a very positive induction at 39 weeks. Pessary inserted at 17/12 at 17:00. Baby came out at 18/12 13:30 Less than 24 hours in total Was lucky and blessed for the experience There are a number of negative induction stories but there are also lots of positive however know that no pregnancy is the same and you need to decide for yourself

I was induced on my due date. Had pessary inserted 10am Monday morning, contractions started at midday, weren’t regular enough and I was only 1cm dilated. Wednesday morning around 2am, I had to have an injection to stop my contractions and second pessary pulled out immediately as I was in so much pain and babies heart rate was going so erratic and clearly distressed. Fast forward my waters were finally broke Thursday morning at 6am, was put on hormone drip at 8am, epidural failed and I had an emergency c-section at 7pm Thursday evening. It was a horrible experience and I have a lot of regrets about not just letting my body go into labour naturally or opting for a C-section from the beginning which is what I’ll be doing with my next. But then some people are induced and have their baby within 24 hours and love their experience! Everyone’s body works differently. Personally I’ve heard more negative stories that positive ones! Only you know what’s best for you and your baby! X

@Ki my experience was very similar! The C-section was the most enjoyable part of my induction!🤣 and also recovery wasn’t bad at all! Definitely opting for a planned c-section next time!

As with all types of induction the level of success depends a lot on where your body is in terms of readiness. If you are going to come into labour soon anyway induction will probably e quick - if your induced two weeks early and baby wanted to be two weeks late then it’s not going to work so well. It’s a guessing game and a weighing up of risks. My mum had 3 kids, all of us were really late and I was pretty confident mine would be too and he was. Learn everything you can about your options and the process and decide if it’s for you. There are loads of positive and negative stories but honestly when you are so close to giving birth negative stories will stick in your head more, lead to worry and stress all of which is counterproductive when you want to go into labour. So educate yourself, make the right decision for yourself and then avoid all the negative stories so you can relax and get the oxytocin flowing!

I was booked for an induction but my waters broke naturally the day of my intended sweep. I did end up on the hormone drip though and I can’t know for sure what caused my after effects of birth but I definitely think it was the drip. I had a retained placenta which caused me to haemorrhage 1.5litres of blood, meaning I had to have manual removal on the bed and I didn’t go down to theatre which they suggested. I do agree with above, unless it’s medically necessary don’t do it, it can cause so many more complications

I had a really positive induction at 38w 3d after reduced growth! I had my first gel inserted at 11-ish on the 22nd and she was born at 15.09 on the 23rd after 6hr 17 minutes of labour and was out less than 24 hours later! It’s really hard to only hear about the negatives of induction and never enough of the positives. I was absolutely petrified from only hearing the negatives x

I opted for an induction by choice due to anxiety and it was very positive. I went in for induction Monday 25th March at 3pm, unfortunately had to wait around due to doctors needing to scan to make sure he was still head down. I went for the dilapan, they inserted this at 10.45pm Monday night, had a few cramps through the night but this was like period pains. They said to leave the dilapan in for 12-16 hours, so woke up Tuesday morning and waited for a bed in the labour suite so I could go down and a midwife could break my waters which happened around 5pm Tuesday afternoon. The midwife said she was then going to start me on the hormone drip to start contractions, but I asked if I could have a hour to see if my body took over first, and it sure did, I started contracting naturally within 20/30 minutes. And my little boy was born 10.26pm on Tuesday 26th. So all in all it took near enough 24 hours from the start of my induction to my little boy in my arms.

@Saskia literally just going to have another c section next time loool. The stories I’ve heard about recovery down below made me thankful I had a c section 🤣

I had a pessary put in on the Thursday and went home but it didn’t work so I had to go back to hospital on Friday night and stay in. They offered another pessary or to attempt to break my waters, I chose the latter. At about 2am Saturday morning they said they had a slot on delivery so would attempt to break my waters and it worked. I was put on the hormone drip about 3am Saturday and I gave birth 7am Sunday. Don’t get me wrong 27 hours is a long time to labour but I honestly cannot remember a thing now. I had gas & air, paracetamol and a pain relief injection in my bum and I was ok. Don’t get me wrong it’s uncomfortable but you just do it I gave birth vaginally and just had to have an episiotomy. Recovery wasn’t bad, I took nightly salt baths and wiped with baby wipes after I went to the loo so I didn’t get infections. Was walking fine after about 10 days

I was induced at 37 weeks, I went in Wednesday for an ecg on her, because LO was measuring small, they were monitoring her weekly, i was told at that appointment i was being kept and being induced the Thursday morning, so we went ahead with the Propess pessary, and nothing happened, so the Friday morning we used the gel, that worked and i started having contractions at quater past 2, they thought they would have to break my water but they broke on there own at quater past 3, i started pushing at 10pm and she was out in 38 minutes, I had to have an episiotomy, but it healed really well, i also had to get my placenta surgical removed, but that's because it was so thin and I couldn't deliver it myself, but i was very happy with it , especially with it being my 1st 😊