Being Induced?

[Toms Mummy]

Why are medical professionals so keen on inducing? Is it really needed? Are there dangers of going to far past your due date?

Thanks x

 

[lovingmumma]

sometimes there are complications like gestational diabetes and pre pre-eclampsia which may call for a medical induction, but when the baby and mum are both healthy I don't think there is a problem with waiting until the baby is ready to come out! doctors can do regular CTG scans and ultrasounds to make sure an overdue baby is still thriving and the placenta hasn't stopped working instead of jumping straight to an induction.

 

[lovingmumma]

I was 2 weeks overdue and made the mistake of being pressured into an induction, still wish I had not gone along with it because my baby was fine and scans were proving it, when he was born he did not look overdue at all either! and I wasn't able to have a natural water birth because of the scare tactics used by the doctor.

 

[Dream.dream]

They do it out of convenience for them. They control when you go into labour

90% of inductions for being "overdue " arnt needed. Your not actually over due until you go past 42 weeks and can actually go as far as 44 weeks safely.

You don't have to accept an induction if you don't want to

I won't be because I don't want pitocin , habit with my son to augment labour and it made me sick and the contraction 10x worse

 

[Toms Mummy]

Thank you.

I've done a bit of reading about why not to have an induction such as increased c-section risk and baby more likely to end up in scbu/nicu.

I just can't find much on risks of not inducing. I know that the placenta can start to fail after a certain amount of time but what is the actual likelyhood of that happening?

Surely your body knows what it is doing?

 

[Pielette]

I found interesting information on here about the risks of induction versus the risks of waiting

https://midwifethinking.com/2010/09/16/induction-of-labour-balancing-risks/

Basically summing up that they believe the placenta starts to shut down after 42 weeks, but the supporting evidence is pretty darn flimsy. Following on from potential calcification of the placenta is an increased risk of baby dying. But as it says in the article that risk is still less than 1%. I know I have read somewhere else that the risk increases from 0.2% to 0.4%, unfortunately I can't find where I read that. Yes it's an increase but its exceedingly small.

They also think that the longer your pregnancy lasts the higher the chance that your baby is becoming too big for you to birth naturally. Utter rubbish in my opinion. Unless you have gestational diabetes, I don't think any weight should be given to this argument (pardon the pun). Growth scans can also be wildly inaccurate so I will never take much notice of any estimates of weight before birth.

I find it really irritating that some healthcare providers will push to induce you at 41 weeks, when term is regarded as 37-42 weeks. As dream.dream says, it's about control. The suing culture has gotten wildly out of hand and birth is now viewed mainly as a medicalised event which must be managed. Medical professionals are scared of something going wrong so they try to keep it under their control.

Babies signal when to begin labour. They send the signal to the body and the uterus will start. This is why inductions can be so much more painful, the body and the baby aren't ready for it. Leading to an increased chance of distress, intervention and c-section.

I will not have an induction or c-section unless it is proven to me that baby and/or I are in trouble. I will request fetal monitoring if I should go overdue.

 

[Toms Mummy]

Thanks Pielette. I'm hoping I don't go too over due to worry about this but it's nice to be informed x

 

[Dream.dream]

Very well said pielette.

I will be doing the same. They can see if your placenta is still functioning and monitor baby, since due days can be up to 2 weeks off I don't want to end forcing baby before they are ready , plus pitocin made me so sick last time and labour ten times harder I really want to avoid it

 

[lau86]

I will be asking for proper research on this when I see a midwife. I was induced with my first due to being two weeks over. It wasn't a horrendous experience by any means but I would like to avoid if possible. I don't buy that it's all about doctors convenience, it is much more convenient to let us labour naturally IMO. They must genuinely think there is more danger going past 42 weeks than there is risks of induction. I must admit I'm not sure I would have the guts to question it if a doctor is recommending induction
At the end of the day a c section is a very safe way to be born, its us mums that suffer

 

[summer rain]

I agree with the PP, I think in many UK hospitals it is out of genuine worry and concern for the baby and the pressure isn't put on mums like it is elsewhere. They let my MIL go over 3 weeks over with her youngest before advising induction and even then they said it is ultimately her choice, in the end her baby was found to be transverse as her second youngest had been and they had to do a c-section anyway but before this they didn't pressure her into induction. My second eldest they did scans and other tests before advising induction at 42 weeks, however they said if I was willing to come into the hospital for monitoring on a daily basis then I could go on for quite a bit longer, I was up at my parents though, my mum doesn't drive and my dad wasn't yet retired then so I had no-one to take me in to be monitored and I was very uncomfortable and fed up by then so I agreed to be induced at 42 weeks, they set the induction date and time at 10pm and 42+1, I did go into labour by myself in the early hours of the same day. Xx

 

[Pielette]

To be fair it probably varies by area, I'm very impressed that your MIL was able to go to 43 weeks summer rain

For me when I had my 12 week scan the lady doing my bloods and NT testing said to me, 'So we'll book you in for induction for 41+2, what time would you choose to come in, 10am or 6pm?' I was shocked by this I have to admit. I politely said that I would refuse induction at that stage and request fetal monitoring, she looked at me like I had two heads. I left it there because it wasn't worth a 'fight' at that point, I'll deal with it if and when the time comes.

I'm probably being cynical in saying that its 100% about control, but I do believe in some areas it plays a large part, in others less so. Concern for the well being of the baby makes sense but in that case why is fetal monitoring not enough to make sure all is still well? Not arguing just genuinely curious.

 

[Dream.dream]

I think it varies depending on where you are definatly . The uk is better then the states and Canada.

They try to push and scare moms instead of offering . It's we we need to get baby out now because its not safe and your risking baby and them they give a date. It's not an offer its a you have to do this or your hurting your baby.

 

[irish_cob]

Also remember that your EDD is only that, an estimation. Dating scans in the UK are done at approx 12 weeks but I've read they're only accurate within + or - 5 days, I would argue they're less accurate than that as they put me forward a whole week with my daughter when I knew my dates were accurate.

This means that when I was 40 weeks by their dates, I was only 39 weeks by my dates. I went to 41 weeks by their dates then went into labour spontaneously thank goodness but even if I'd have gone to 42 weeks by their dates I'd have only been 41 weeks by my dates!

So think carefully about your dates, did they change your EDD a lot at your dating scan? How sure are you in your head of your own dates? Does that match with what the scans are saying? Remember the scan is a diagnostic tool, it's not a crystal ball to the future.

So I guess my point is to think carefully about how many weeks you actually are if you're being pushed into induction. They may be insisting on this and that because according to them you're now 41 or 42 weeks or whatever. But are you really? Think carefully about your dates, you know your cycle the best, you probably know when you ovulated and when you conceived so have some confidence in yourself and your dates if you don't agree with your EDD from your scan. I made them write in my notes that I disagreed with my EDD and I wouldn't agree to induction based on the incorrect NHS dates but then I'm a stroppy cow lol!

 

[summer rain]

To be fair it probably varies by area, I'm very impressed that your MIL was able to go to 43 weeks summer rain

For me when I had my 12 week scan the lady doing my bloods and NT testing said to me, 'So we'll book you in for induction for 41+2, what time would you choose to come in, 10am or 6pm?' I was shocked by this I have to admit. I politely said that I would refuse induction at that stage and request fetal monitoring, she looked at me like I had two heads. I left it there because it wasn't worth a 'fight' at that point, I'll deal with it if and when the time comes.

I'm probably being cynical in saying that its 100% about control, but I do believe in some areas it plays a large part, in others less so. Concern for the well being of the baby makes sense but in that case why is fetal monitoring not enough to make sure all is still well? Not arguing just genuinely curious.

That's crazy-it's amazing how it differs! Quite a few other ladies I know were allowed to go up to 43 weeks as well. My SIL was induced the other day, but only because her baby seemed to not be growing or doing as well (11 days over but born just over 6lb) and again they advised, and didn't railroad her into it. If you look on birth choice UK it is shocking how induction rates vary though xx

 

[xxlovexx]

I had an induction at 41 weeks. My doctor says she only wants her patients going 1 week over due if the are first time moms, and 2 weeks over for every baby after the first. Her main reasoning is that she doesn't know how big baby will be. (and she said my body needed help and I probably wouldn't go into labor on my own since I was showing no progress from 36/37-41 weeks) The reasons I went with it is because DH and I were ready to meet LO, and my induction was for the day I was hoping to give birth anyways. I know, not good reasons. Thankfully, I was able to give birth naturally with no pain relief...I was very worried that I would "need" an epidural or c-section after reading horror stories about inducing with pitocin. And my son was average size... 7 lbs 6.5oz and 20.5". I'm currently ttc #2, and really thinking about switching doctors...although I don't have many choices. Maybe I'll switch to the doctor that delivered DS!! The hospital I delivered at sucks! Every 10 minutes, a nurse or doctor would ask, "do you need an epidural yet?" Even though I told them from the beginning, "DO NOT OFFER ME ANY PAIN RELIEF. IF I NEED IT, I WILL LET SOMEONE KNOW!!" And I guess the longer you wait, the more chance of the baby passing meconium.

 

[SimoneMK]

To be fair it probably varies by area, I'm very impressed that your MIL was able to go to 43 weeks summer rain

For me when I had my 12 week scan the lady doing my bloods and NT testing said to me, 'So we'll book you in for induction for 41+2, what time would you choose to come in, 10am or 6pm?' I was shocked by this I have to admit. I politely said that I would refuse induction at that stage and request fetal monitoring, she looked at me like I had two heads. I left it there because it wasn't worth a 'fight' at that point, I'll deal with it if and when the time comes.

I'm probably being cynical in saying that its 100% about control, but I do believe in some areas it plays a large part, in others less so. Concern for the well being of the baby makes sense but in that case why is fetal monitoring not enough to make sure all is still well? Not arguing just genuinely curious.

I agree that medical practicioners like being in control and they don't want a liability on their hands. They would rather induce you and cause an unnecessarily difficult labor then wait and have something happen to the baby. I think they dont like taking any risks to avoid being sued. I don't have any medical reason to be induced so I will absolutely refuse induction as well as pitocin. If i am not progressing then we will wait until i do progress. Things dont have to happen right away.