Any good experiences with induction?

I did ☺️ I was induced at 40+2 due to concerns around growth. Went in on the Wednesday morning at 11. Had gel at 1:30pm and reached 3cm by exam at 8:30pm. Had contractions but unfortunately no space on delivery ward to break waters. Next morning contractions had stopped but we were taken to delivery at 10:30, waters broken at 11:30, hormone drip put on lowest and she arrived just shy of 1pm. X

I was induced at 39 weeks with my second baby last September. It was a better experience than my first and I would 100% opt for it again. We had difficulties but that’s because my body generally does need a little more help but I knew all this due to what happened with my first baby that was “natural” Put it short, Hormone drip and waters broken at 7:45am baby was born at 14:01 and no intervention like I had with my first baby. It was amazing 🩷

I’m being induced at 39 weeks too Jenny

I was induced at 11am on the Saturday and baby was born 2:30am on the Sunday. Had my first contraction around 11pm, water broke naturally a few hours later and then baby was born. I do have a family history of quick births, but they said it could also have been the induction process or high blood pressure which sped things up! Hope all goes well xx

There are generally negative experiences with inductions as it forces the body to do what it’s not ready to do yet, which can lead to complications and then interventions. I highly recommend doing a Hypnobirthing course or even any online course on natural birthing. They explain it so well what happens with the body. I was almost bullied into having an induction purely because I’m an older mother. There was no other medical reason for it. I refused and ended up having a wonderful natural birth experience. Of course I would agree if there was a medical reason like high blood pressure, but I had a healthy pregnancy with 0 health problems so no reason really. Do some research yourself and remember it’s your body and your choice. Do what’s right for you and your baby 💗 The medical system doesn’t always know best. Xx

I was induced at 38 weeks 4 days and had the most positive birth experience ever, baby girl was fine the whole time no scare of heart rate dropping, yes it was painful but then I had the epidural and everything went well from there had the baby within just over 24 hours! And the recovery was well too.

Worst decision I made was to be induced. If it's a medical emergency I would say C section, I would never ever get an induction again. Natural birth or c section for me 🤍

I’m being induced today, due to placenta not working as well now - I’m over 40 weeks now and baby is measuring small. Dropped from around 25th percentile to 5th. Really nervous about it but trying to stay as positive as possible and hope it works fairly quickly and doesn’t result in emergency c section - I’m still unsure if I’ll try all methods of induction or opt for c section if first method doesn’t work. X

I was induced due to preclampsia, i was induced 4pm, started contraction at 3am next morning gave birth at 7.30am

I've had 2 inductions one at 36 weeks due to growth restriction and it was a fantastic experience and at 36 weeks I'm sure my body hadn't told me it was ready yet I had only the pesecarry and was a quick labour my second similar was induced and lovely experience only pessecary again but took a little longer your going to hear horror story's and good but honestly it depends on your body and your situation

Induction at 39+5, baby born on her due date. I had the balloon put in which to be honest was painful for the first few hours, but it did the job and I dilated enough to have my waters broken after 24 hours. Once I got into the delivery suite, I had a great experience - waters broken (no pain at all) and hormone drip started at 7:30am, by noon I was 8cm dilated and had an epidural so felt relaxed and comfortable, and by 4pm I was fully dilated. At this point they let me rest for an hour and then started active labour. Due to baby’s cord being around her neck and decelerating her heart rate I also had a ventouse (suction cup) after pushing for 90 mins, but baby was born within 3 pushes with ventouse in place. Honestly a great experience overall

I was told induction at 39 weeks so I have opted for a planned c section instead

People are generally more likely to share negative experiences. I’ve kind of had an induction (augmentation after my waters broke, but it’s a similar thing) and compared to spontaneous labour I thought it was much more painful so had an epidural. Some people are more sensitive to it and think I’m just one of them. Wouldn’t say the experience was negative though. As a midwife, I’ve looked after more people being induced who had a vaginal birth than go for a c-section. There is more monitoring to ensure baby is happy throughout, and there can be more intervention. I always encourage people to be as mobile as possible to help labour along and for them to make a playlist, always have the lights turned down/off and some subtle lights to help relax people. A lot have spoke positively, even those who have gone for a c-section in the end. I guess a lot depends on the environmental situation: your mindset, staff involved and the room itself x

Great experience! Both pregnancies I was induced, the first was medically necessary since babe wasn’t growing well and there were other complications (he’s healthy as can be now). The second was elective, I’m a control freak so being able to plan things was better for me. I labored for less than 20hrs the first time and only pushed for 3 mins. Second time I labored for maybe 13 hours and pushed for 6 mins. Obviously inductions aren’t for everyone, to each their own, but I was happy with both inductions.

I was induced. The only thing I would say is the. Interactions are worse in labour so be prepared.

I was induced at 40+5 due to high blood pressure and had a really positive experience. Went in on the Saturday tea time and had the pessary. By lunch time on the Sunday things were progressing. Went to labour ward on the Sunday evening. Progressed so well on my own I didn't need the hormone drip and he was born at 5:24am on the Monday ☺️

I was induced with my daughter, gel did nothing apart from a few cramps so they went straight to drip. Labour progressed pretty fast from then on, and I had her naturally with no additional intervention. X

I was induced and mine did result in an emergency c section but I think mine failed because my back waters leaked at roughly 10am. It took me till 11pm to put two and two together. There was a faint line on the test they did in maternity triage. I was induced at 4pm the next day so I'd already lost 24 hours & they didn't want me to go beyond 48. 8 hours later with zero pain releif (my choice) they put me on the drip after good contractions but no progress. About 15 minutes into the drip my baby pooped. The induction process for me wasnt too bad really as it was relaxing, but they pushed more then I think they would have if they hadn't been trying to get her out in 24 hours.

Induced at 39 weeks. The pessary didn’t work for me and due to midwife shortage I had to wait a few days to go on the drip but I took the time to relax 😅 It took a while for them to get the drip right (things happening too fast then too slow) but I found it manageable with gas & air. Once it all settled down it was a really positive experience!

@Emily good luck x

Induced at 39 weeks big baby and glad I did or she would have been ever bigger, I did need assistance but I believe this is because she was big not because my body wasn’t ready, didn’t need balloon as could just break waters, I would do it again if needed

Thank you everyone for sharing you experiences 🙏 ❤️

I’ve just given birth via induction at 39 weeks and it was so much more positive than I could have imagined. I heard so many bad experiences and focused on them so much. The pessary was the most uncomfortable part which lasted only 24h and vaginal examinations sucked too. I had the gel and my waters broke naturally. I then received the oxytocin drip at 6:30pm and my baby was born at 3:17am - with no contractions happening until 9pm and me going from 2cm dilated to 10cm in under 2h. My active labour was only 8 minutes. Gas and air turned out to be a lot more effective than I ever anticipated and I had amazing care + lots of support from all the midwives and nurses which I’m sure played a huge part in it. I had zero interventions and no tearing or stitching needed either. Honestly a dream labour. Hope yours goes smoothly too! Good luck ☺️

I would never be induced again. If the baby needed to come out I would opt for an elective c section. Inductions will very often lead to emergency c section and everyone is aware of that. What there is less awareness of is instrumental birth with forceps or ventouse, which is also much more likely with induction. Forceps and ventouse will often leave the mother and baby with lifelong injuries, I suggest you read the birth trauma inquiry and note how often forceps are referenced. Everyone I know who has had forceps (including me) would take a c section any day over them, the recovery from forceps is much much harder and longer than the recovery from a c section.

I was induced but as far as them breaking my waters for me. I was 2 cm already so luckily didn’t need balloon or pessary. In regards to the intervention of hormone drip. I would absolutely not consider it WITHOUT an epi Dural. It goes against nature that thing and can take hours. You’ll be exhausted and fed up and out of control and then potentially most commonly end up in section. X

I was induced at 39+1 and had a positive experience. Gave birth at 39+3. My waters broke on their own the morning after I was induced. Contractions were painful but once epidural in it was all manageable. Baby’s heart rate did drop and I had to have ventouse and episiotomy but everything went well ☺️

Induced at 39 weeks due to baby consistently below 10th percentile. Baby was born in 3 hours after waters were broken with only gas and air. Absolutely positive experience. And baby actual weight was at 13th percentile at birth, he caught up to above average in 2 months

Not my own experience, but my mum had to be induced with my sister (liver complications) and she was out within 40 mins, no complications, 3 weeks early but totally healthy. Mum’s recovery was “normal” (I was 12 and have a very vivid memory of the tiny screaming creature brought home 😂) To this day my mum swears it was her least stressful delivery 💚

I had an induction on Monday this week at 41.4 weeks. Overall I had a really positive experience but it did unfortunately irritate my body too much. I was induced with the pessary at 5:15pm at 1cm dilated. Skip to 11:20pm and I started having one really long and painful contraction. Turns out the pessary had irritated my cervix so it needed to come out. Just before the midwife was about to remove it my waters broke on their own and when the midwife checked I was 5cm dilated. I got down to the labour ward and hour later at around half 12 and I was then 7cm dilated, and by 1am I was fully dilated and needing to push. I pushed for 4 hours and all of baby came out in one final push at the end. I only had pethidine and gas and air as pain relief, although the pethidine was given to me before I even got down to the labour ward. Considering how intense my contractions were to start with they did ease off once the effects of the pessary eased off. I went the four hours of labour with just gas and air.

Why 39 weeks?

@Ellie many reasons why people are induced at 39 ,baby's weight ,GD etc mine personally is because our nearest hospital is a 30 min drive and I have had a previous hemmorage and I my quickest labour was 23 minutes so they want to prevent anything bad happening

I had an induction! At 41 weeks. It was very smooth and felt relaxed, well looked after and organised. I did have a lot of blood loss post birth which was unexpected, lots of clots I had to go to theatre to get them removed and had a blood transfusion but it's difficult to say whether that was caused by the induction or not, they thought it was maybe to do with how fast it all happened and my body wasn't ready or something but that was just a theory I think. The hormone drip speeds up contractions and birth happens kind of all at once after a while of contractions building so it's intense but it wasn't anywhere near as painful/ long as the labour of my first baby which was not an induction. Vaginal birth and 2nd child.

I was induced at 41+1 weeks. Had the propess inserted at 10am, went into labour that day at 3pm and delivered at 9.30pm. Total labour and delivery was 6.5 hours. Vaginal birth, however I did need an episiotomy (no forceps or ventouse though). NHS leaflet says 75-80% of people deliver within 24 hours of the propess being fitted. Good luck, hope it all goes well!

I was induced at 41+1 in April. Was in at 3pm began process at 9pm. 4:32pm the next day he was here safely. Just had gas and air. I really recommend buying the Freya app to help with labouring. I had a completely positive experience. Feel free to message either any questions. I was really anxious about being induced as all stories I read were very very negative. Really bugs me how people have commented on this with the negative experiences when you’ve clearly asked for positive stories. It was exactly the same when I asked the same on a Facebook page. You’ve got this. Sending positive vibes your way x

@Ellie because of my age there is a chance they will stop growing

I was induced at 41 weeks as there was no sign of her coming out anytime soon, I would say mine went very smoothly, I had the pessary, then had my waters broken then the oxytocin drip, the drip worked a treat as I went from 4cm to 10cm in around 6 hours, I didn’t have a C-section for delivery. I ended up having the vacuum cup as I was getting tired (I had covid so this didn’t help at all) and so was my daughter, the induction process took around nearly 3 days x

I had the best induction. Very smooth, just some gas and air, no interventions and birthed my baby with no complications. Message if you fancy chatting about it x

Hi, I have had two inductions, one at 37 weeks and one at 38.5 due to me having ICP or obstetric choleostasis both times. Both my experiences I felt in control and I was able to make certain decisions that aligned with my birth expectations. My first induction felt a long time, but the day went faster than expected. Went in on 1st Jan had pessary in eve...waters broken 9am on the 2nd of Jan, drip started around 10am baby born at 1:05am on the 3rd Jan. Weighed 6lb 8oz. Boy. Baby number 2...went in at 2pm in 1st Jun had waters broken at 3pm drip started at 4pm.baby girl born at 12:15 am 2nd Jun 9lb didn't have pessary this time as was further on and 3cm dilated so much quicker. I think my big 9lb girl helped 😂 she was a really easy birth though pushing for 10 minutes and out she came! 🙌 Good luck! ❤️ You'll be amazing xxxx

My waters broke at 38+5 and I was induced with the hormone drip the next day after having no contractions for 24 hours. It was really intense but I had gas and air and morphine to help! I had contractions for 6 hours and pushed for 19 minutes, no c section needed 😊 good luck!!

Induced at 41+3 days and baby arrived on 41+5 days. Induction process was fine itself however when labour started it was 21 hours of 6/7 contractions every 10 minutes.. After 9 hours of no more dilation (stuck at 6cm) haf to end up having emergency c sec! Wasn't fun tbh but so worth the end result once baby is in your arms! Everyone's experience is different though so when you read people's comments don't let it frighten you as I've read plenty of positive induction stories when I asked the same questions as you before I was induced. Congrats!