I am pregnant with my fourth and for the first time I am severely tempted to get induced.
A little history: I have always gone into labor naturally and always past my due date (nobody seems to go into labor early in my family so I consider that probability a pipe-dream). My due date is [name]November[/name] 21 which is the last day that I can ensure that his birthday won’t be on Thanksgiving (US) and maybe I am letting my hormones think for me but the idea of having a birthday between Thanksgiving and [name]Christmas[/name] is abominable (I know, crazy!).
Also, the more I look at elective induction the less scared I am of considering it. The biggest problems seem to be associated with first pregnancies and earlier inductions (particularly before 39 weeks). I have also been told that if your water hasn’t been broken you can back out if things aren’t proceeding favorably, though that seems like a question that can really only be answered by my OB.
Ultimately, I am on a quest to weigh the REAL potential risk of elective induction for someone in my situation. When trying to find answers on the internet I find my self in the land of un-backed scare tactics and voodoo. What are your experiences good or bad being electively induced (ideally for a second child after your due date)
I’ve had three elective inductions - for my 2nd, 3rd and 4th children. They went fine. I had no complications and fast labors (3-4 hours). I had AROM and no Pitocin with my 2nd daughter. AROM and Pitocin with my 3rd and 4th. My experiences with elective induction were all very positive. All four of my babies were born in the OP, “sunny-side up” position and I had days or weeks of prodromal labor prior to their births. By the time I reached 39 or 40 weeks, I was exhausted and quite ready to give birth.
I was induced for my first and fourth child, both about two weeks past my due date, and I don’t have anything positive to say about it, especially my fourth child. By then, I knew my body, knew that going past my due date was normal for me and I knew my baby would come out when he was ready. But I allowed myself to be persuaded by scare tactics - namely, that the baby was over 9 pounds and his skull was getting harder…I don’t remember everything, but it was enough for me to give in very reluctantly to being induced. (I realize those are valid concerns, though.)
My son was slightly under 9lbs and all went well but ten years later I still think I should have waited a little longer and he would have come naturally in a day or two.
However, since you actually want to be induced, attitude could make all the difference in your feelings afterward. I don’t know if being induced affected me in terms of pain or length of labour.
Honestly, inductions are terrible and are probably worse than regular labor. Mine was more of a forced induction than an elective one, but it was definitely not a pleasant experience which ended in a c-section.
My husband’s birthday is Nov 25th and his brother is Dec 12th. Not a big deal. Definitely not a reason to be induced early. As to induction experiences, my friend was induced and said it was awful. She wished she had elected the c-section instead of induction. She had pre-eclampsia and had to deliver five weeks early.
I honestly think that is a selfish reason to elect for an induction. Maybe you should have thought of this the month you conceived. I’m not trying to be rude at all, but COME ON! I think elective inductions are super selfish and in the best interest of the mother not the baby. Please do not be offended by my opinion, you asked for opinions. [name]Just[/name] let what is meant to be - be meant to be.
I would never recommend induction to anyone unless it was a must for the safety of the baby . I was induced two days after my due date as the OB thought that bub for whatever reason was losing weight in the womb. Growth charts put her in the 5th percentile for weight while she was previously in the 50th and we were understandably worried. LMP was not concerned as baby seemed to be doing ok , no concerns over placenta etc but doctors were pretty insistent (and one someone puts that out there, what do you do). Anyway , I was induced - took three attempts before anything started to happen(first attempt weds eve, third on the thurs eve. By this point I had been in hospital for two days, very little sleep and mild contractions . Movement is limited as you are under obs to check on the babies reaction to the chemicals. My contractions intensified after the third dose of chemical , water broke 4 hours after this but I was only 2 cms dilaated. On checking bubs heart , there was massive panic - within what seemed like seconds I had a gown on and IV in my arm and was ready for an emergency c-section as LOs heart has dropped to 50. After a few seconds and a very brave midwife going beyond the call of duty , bubs heart rate recovered and it was decided not to go ahead with surgery .
I remained strapped to monitors for the next 10 hours and had to labour lying down . Contractions were more intense because of chemicals and in the final stages started to stop so that progress slowed down.[name]Baby[/name] would progress 1cm and then pop back up a cm due to there being no strong contractions to help me push. I had ‘breathed her down’ to this point but now had no contractions to help with that final push. After over an hour of pushing , the senior OBs was called and I ended up giving birth with the aid of small forceps. My beautiful bub was born, luckily with no damage from forceps etc , a bit on the skinny side but perfect. I have no experience to compare it with, but believe that the risks of induction are not given to parents. You are much more likely to have to have a c section or forceps/ ventouse delivery when induced. A woman in my coffee group was also induced despite not being that much over due as they could only ‘fit her in’ on that date. The same thing happened to her , but her bub’s heart rate didn’t recover and she went on to have an emergency c-section.
If you can wait and give birth naturally at no further risk to your baby then wait .
Thanks for the comments. We did consider the due date before conceiving and it didn’t bother us one bit. I’m not offended since I used to feel very similar. The more I learn, from other resources mostly, is that there is practically no risk of C-section for someone who has given birth as many times as me, especially after the due date. Thanks for your comments especially, Triss. I am sorry that you were coaxed into an induction and also glad that it went well. I am not sure that I [name]WILL[/name] get an induction, I have a lot of time to decide. I just want to make an informed decision and if I really want to get induced I don’t want ignorant fear to keep me from making that decision. There seems to be a lot of fear on both sides of the arguement and i’m still convinced that the greatest risk (c-section and baby in distress lies) with first deliveries. I have yet to find anyone who has been electively induced on a later pregnancy after the [name]EDD[/name] and had medical problems (which is what I was looking for).
I actually had a more positive experience with an induction than going into labor on my own. My labor with my daughter was tough and we ended up using a vacuum to get her out. My son was an induced labor and it was easy as pie. Now, I would likely never suggest an induction to anyone, particularly if you’re body is nowhere near ready. I was 4cm dilated and about 50% effaced. My body really just needed a little nudge and we were off to the races. That is not normal for moms being induced from what I’ve experienced with friends and family having little ones. Any other inductions I’ve been told about ended badly and the common theme was that the mothers were either dilated only a cm or 2 or not at all. If I weren’t as far into prelabor as I was, I would have told my OB to take a hike. I think once you’re close to your due date, that’s the only time you can really make that decision, you know?
[name]Ive[/name] never gone into labor on my own.
[name]Ive[/name] alwayd been induced early for.different reasons, but the 3rd and any more I have will be the same.
Induced labor is much more painful, whether its in the hosp or if you try to induce it yourself with homeopathic remedies like castor oil…
I was induced for my first, I knew it was going to be painful, I didnt know the difference between pain levels, ya know.
My 2nd, my body wasnt ready for labor yet. They Pumped me up with pitocin, and really that labor was Unbearable!!
My 3rd, I was ready for it, and bc I had such a high pain tolerance from the last experience, it was such a breeze, I didnt even think of wanting any pain modification. (All my labors were epidural free)
Id say the biggest thing with induction is : its better with your first so you dont know.that it is actually more painful, but in your case, i guess just prepare yourself. and Also, Make sure your cervix is soft and ready to go. You dont want too much pitocin.
Other than that, I [name]LOVE[/name] being induced. We have to Plan for childcare as we dont have anyone in case of emergencies. So thats a huge plus when you already have little ones.
hope this helps and congratulations!
I have zero qualms about elective induction as long as you don’t attempt it early. Due date or past, for me. I don’t believe a lot of the BS scare tactics and accusations of “selfish” - blah, blah, blah, keep it to yourself, don’t be a judgmental cow - not everyone “plans” the month they conceive, their just happy to be able to conceive at all. I think it’s a very personal choice and not one I will stick my nose into or judge someone for.
My personal feelings, for myself, would be along the lines of klcalder2 - if I were already starting to dilate, but it’s just not going anywhere, I would likely push it along. I also think there are legit reasons that are not medical to potentially induce, but again - those are personal and really depends upon the person and what they want / expect out of labor and their own life circumstances.
A purely elective induction for social reasons, like the ones you’ve listed, is very rare. Most OBs won’t do them as it’s a bit of a waste of resources (takes you longer, you use up a labor & delivery bed while you’re slowly dilating and beginning to labor, the overall hospital bill to insurance/gvt is higher, etc). So-called social inductions are usually done only for really good reasons, like a husband’s deployment overseas or something.
Most of the women on this thread-- myself included-- had medically-indicated inductions for what sounds like postdates & IUGR. I requested mine, so to speak, at 41wks, since I didn’t like the intrauterine death rates starting then (they climb throughout the 41st week, and then skyrocket after 42wks, mainly due to placental calcification and insufficiency). I was a nullip so I took forever, which will likely not be your experience, especially with an augmented labor (pitocin).
That’s a huge issue for us, too. We don’t have any family or real neighbors to help with childcare if I were to go into labor on my own, I would be left dragging a 4 year old to the hospital with me. I would plan to have family down right around my due date, but they all live 500+ miles away, so it’s not like they can even just drop work and get down here in an hour.
This is true, too - my midwife won’t induce unless there is a reason. ETA: I’ve only talked to one of the midwives about it and it could just be her own personal thing, I don’t know if it’s true for all of the providers at my office since they have both OB’s and Midwives.
And I had no idea that fetal death rates started skyrocketing after 42 weeks. I remember one of my older relatives saying she went close to 44 weeks before delivering. O-o
This has not been my past or current experience. For 2 out of 3 of my pregnancies (not including my current) I have been been given the option of scheduling an induction at 39 weeks or later, and I’ve given birth in three different states! My current Midwife/OB clinic will allow me an elective induction at 39 weeks gestation. I also have 2 SILs in [name]CA[/name] who have been electively induced at 39 weeks multiple times. In my experience it is completely dependent on the clinic and hospital.
Here are the stats from the CDC. Unfortunately since it’s a pdf I can’t just paste the image, but the relevant graph is at the bottom of page 7. You can see that the lowest death rates/ safest time is from 34-39 weeks (for fetal demise only, not perinatal mortality or anything). Right at 40, the risk starts to climb. It really climbs throughout the 41st week and from 42 on, shoots nearly straight up.
@skarbassoons your experience is interesting. I guess things are different in private practice but all the OBs I know (all academicians) feel fairly strongly against social induction, likewise maternal request c-section.
The hospital/clinic I went to will not do elective c-sections or inductions unless there is a medical reason like high blood pressure, fetal distress, etc. or unless you’re past 40 weeks and are having complications. A friend of mine was 41 weeks and she practically begged for an induction but everything was fine so they kept telling her to go home and wait. I think she was 42 weeks when she delivered. I was 40 weeks +4 days and they said my blood pressure was slightly high and I should go to the hospital to be safe. Once I got to the hospital, they pretty much forced me into an induction and guilted me into not going home. My blood pressure was normal the entire induction, and I ended up with a c-section. Looking back, I wish I would of waited a few more days and naturally went into labor. I might of still needed a c-section, but at least I wouldn’t of had that horrible cervical balloon.
I don’t think I have anything to contribute to the medical side of things here, but I’ll put my two cents in as a late [name]November[/name] baby. [name]Reading[/name] your post got me thinking, “[name]Gee[/name], when WAS the last time my birthday fell on Thanksgiving?” So Google found me this guy who hashed out the algorithm for Thanksgiving birthdays. In short, your child will only have a birthday ON Thanksgiving 4 times every 28 years (but it’s not every seven - go figure!). My guess is that he will care very little by the time the 3rd or 4th one rolls around, birthdays are just tiresome by then
