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Your experience of induction
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04-06-2014 5:40pm#1
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I was induced with oxytocin.
My waters had broken and they were stained with meconium, so I was given oxytocin to induce the contractions.
Now I had started to dilate myself (1 cm) so it made the oxytocin more likely to work.
The contractions started fairly quickly and I was told they were very strong but they didn't feel that bad to me as I was lucky enough to have all my contractions in my back so I think I had it very easy. My daughter didn't really react well to the contractions so I was being monitored constantly. I got to 7cm in a couple of hours and then asked for the epidural (the contractions were manageable for me, but there was no way I was going to give birth without pain relief if I could avoid it).
The whole thing from being put on the drip to giving birth was about 6 hours.
I realise I was lucky, but hopefully a positive story will make you feel less anxious.
In the 70s and 80s my mother was induced 7 times ( once for each pregnancy) using oxytocin due to high blood pressure and found all deliveries fine.
It's different for everyone but whatever way your labour goes the outcome will definitely be worth it
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Thanks a million girls. I'm keeping a totally open mind about what may or may not be needed on the day but it's interesting to see what effects and implications it has for labour and the baby's heartbeat etc. I suppose I want to see how different people reacted to it so that I can prepare myself if it is required and out of any other forum I always find dear Boardsies the most honest, no sugar coating! 0
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I've had 2 inductions (almost 3). My first was to speed up labour with my first girl (7 days overdue). I had erratic contrations through the night and it was decided to break my waters at 9am and put on the drip at 10am. My daughter was born at 11.32am
no hanging around!!
My 2nd experience was on my 2nd girl (14 days overdue). I was brought in the night before and given gel at 8pm. The gel is used to soften the cervix and can often lead to spontaneous labour if you're overdue. I was to be given another gel at 6am and then put on the drip at 10am. My waters started going at 3am and she was born at 6.03am.
My (almost) 3rd was my son. I was brought in at 10am to be given gel at 6pm but I was already in early labour when I got there (14 days overdue). It was 2010 and very bad icy weather so was brought in early in the day. My 8pm I was in full flow and he was born at 10.52pm with no indution. My last baby was also spontaneous with my waters going at home.
The main difference I found between natural and induced was the speed and intensity of the contrations. The baby's heartrate always dips during contraction and what would concern the medics is the time after contraction it takes for it to come back up. My last baby was natural birth but as I was in labour for hours (actually unknown to myself) he was getting distressed and his heartrate was dropping very low, they were getting ready to vacuum him out but I got there myself with 2 huge pushes.
As was said before, labour with every baby is different. An open mind and a trust between you and your carer is essential. Sometimes doing a lot of reading up before you have a baby can scare the bejaysus out of you. The end result is well worth the effort. Ask lots of questions at your appointment so the confusion is taken out of the whole process. That's what will ease you're mind most if anything goes awry. Sorry for the essay ..
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Excuse my ignorance but is the oxytocin given in gel form or is the gel something else entirely? Some of you are saying you had gel but no oxytocin so I'm a bit confused!
I got it as a drip. At that stage my waters had already broken (on their own) and I'd started to dilate a little. I think the gel is given to get things started off, whereas Oxytocin is given to speed things along.
I've already posted about my birth here, so I won't go into all the gory details again! Basically, to me, it all felt like it was going really well up until I got the Oxytocin. There was some meconium in the waters, but everything looked fine on the trace, and I could feel him moving away, so I really wasn't overly worried about the meconium.
They gave me Oxytocin mainly because of my high blood pressure, I really didn't think it was necessary just because of that (my blood pressure fluctuates a lot, and I'd had it checked only that morning and it was fine.)
However I guess I kind of thought, best to leave the decision to the professionals. With the benefit of hindsight, in future, I'd be more likely to go with my own instincts. I think it's important not to underestimate the connection you have with your baby. They are growing inside you. I genuinely think you'd feel it if they were in danger.
Basically it speeded up things way too much for me. And sent the baby into distress, his heartrate was constantly dropping, it had been fine before. Up until that point in my labour, I was delighted at the fact that my waters had broken naturally at only six days past due date, and the contractions - while painful - were surprisingly manageable. With the Oxytocin, the contractions were far too close together and the pain was just unimaginable. I actually asked to go to the loo at one point - I wasn't allowed, they said I could use a bedpan if necessary - but I didn't even need to go to the loo, I had an idea that I could climb out the third-story window and run away, anything to escape from the pain! Labour should not be that way. I genuinely feel - and felt at the time - that I was progressing fine on my own.
If they have concerns about your wellbeing or that of your baby, there's nothing wrong with asking for extra monitoring. But definitely go with your own instincts. It's brilliant that we have the means available for intervention, when things aren't going well, but just make sure it's necessary first.
Also keep in mind that pretty much all forms of induction or intervention significantly increase the chances of a C section. Much as I whine about my birth experience (:o) at least it didn't end in a section, and my physical recovery was pretty much immediate. I had no pain in the days afterwards, I think I had one Difene tablet the following day and that was it, I never even needed a Panadol after that. Recovery from a section, from what I've heard, takes a lot longer and I can only imagine how tough it would be while looking after a small baby as well!
Anyways in my own experience, Oxytocin is evil and I will not be accepting it again in the future. Maybe it just didn't suit my body for some reason. Even bearing in mind what I said above about recovery from a section, I'd actually take that over Oxytocin! I guess it's different for everyone, and I'm sure some people have really positive stories about how it helped them.
When the time comes, my advice would be to really trust your instincts. Have faith in yourself and in your body. If pain relief or induction or intervention is necessary, it's great that the options are there, however I believe in most cases, intervention should be the exception rather than the rule. I think that sometimes the medical staff just want to get you in and out as quickly as possible - that was my experience anyways - but for you, it's your firstborn. It's a bit of a big deal! You can only have this experience once, and hopefully it'll be a positive experience. If intervention is required, fine, but just be sure at the time that it's medically necessary.
And have the daddy prepped as well so that he can stand up for your wishes if you're not able to at the time!0 -
Wow, thanks all so much for being so open and forthcoming about your experiences! Each birth really is unique isn't it? Tbh I have avoided too much voracious reading while pregnant as I've been extremely chilled throughout and am enjoying every moment so wanted to leave any reading until closer to the time lest I give myself the heebie-jeebies! I've very much been taking each day as it comes and living in the moment rather than stressing or worrying too much about what will happen come delivery day.
I'm keen on knowing more about induction however because Baby Merkin is quite a big boy and the midwife said that standard procedure is induction four days after due date here and they won't go over more than that (if he is going to be a big birth weight) so I suppose it's useful to hear what other people went through. I've got my home visit antenatal day soon with the midwife so it's great to hear a few stories from other Mummas directly before I got through everything with her.0 -
Wow, thanks all so much for being so open and forthcoming about your experiences! Each birth really is unique isn't it? Tbh I have avoided too much voracious reading while pregnant as I've been extremely chilled throughout and am enjoying every moment so wanted to leave any reading until closer to the time lest I give myself the heebie-jeebies! I've very much been taking each day as it comes and living in the moment rather than stressing or worrying too much about what will happen come delivery day.
I'm keen on knowing more about induction however because Baby Merkin is quite a big boy and the midwife said that standard procedure is induction four days after due date here and they won't go over more than that (if he is going to be a big birth weight) so I suppose it's useful to hear what other people went through. I've got my home visit antenatal day soon with the midwife so it's great to hear a few stories from other Mummas directly before I got through everything with her.
That's the best attitude to have. It'll make everything easier. Good to have questions to ask alright and get the official line on things from the midwife. When I was pregnant I forced myself to read the what to expect book. No idea why I didn't enjoy it and I didn't learn anything. I just thought it was what you should do lol
Best of luck with your delivery whatever happens!0 -
Awww thank you so much, that's lovely Yes, I believe knowledge is power but you can also go totally overboard as well I think. So I'm just trying to strike a balance between being aware of all my options and what they entail and also sticking my fingers in my ears while singing la-deee-laaa-lee-laaa and convincing myself that it is the stork who will deliver the baby after all......! 0
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Thanks Jerrica, that's just it. I will adopt a wait and see approach and see what feels right at the time. I don't feel in any way coerced and if I wanted to wait I don't think there will be an issue but I will still trust their advice etc as I reach due date. I know it's not an exact science but the midwives, foetal medicine consultant and my obstetrician have all said he's a big boy who loves his grub (he always has a full little tummy at our scans!). I still have another seven weeks left though so it could all even out and he could be an average weight - will just have to wait and see! 0
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OMG xalot, the little one was quite happy in there obviously! Did you have a little boy or girl in the end? I'm sure at two weeks overdue you thought the little one would walk out by themselves!
Would people agree that oxytocin seems to cause such violent/painful contractions that an epidural is invariably needed then? I'm curious about this as I thought an epidural takes some time to actually take effect so would you say it's better to have a prophylactic epidural and then induction if an induction is deemed necessary? Seems like the AMR and the sweep (if the cervix is ready) are a lot more gentle whereas the oxytocin seems to take people by surprise somewhat!0 -
OMG xalot, the little one was quite happy in there obviously! Did you have a little boy or girl in the end? I'm sure at two weeks overdue you thought the little one would walk out by themselves!
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Yeah, my not so little 9lb 7 baby boy did not want to budge!
Any of the midwives I spoke to seemed to agree that oxytocin can make it a lot harder to have a natural birth as you can go from very manageable contractions to massive ones without a chance to adapt, it makes sense if you think that the cervix usually dilates slowly and gives your body the ability to deal with each pain level. That's why the tens is so great, you can pump up the level along with your contractions.
For me the epidural kicked in very fast and they give you a little button to top it up if you feel it wearing off. It really is fantastic stuff but can slow down labour. I would definitely give the sweep a try first, I didn't find it very invasive and it did get things moving each time - just not fast enough!0 -
Awwww, what a bruiser! I love pudgy bubbas though. Thanks a million for your input. I have booked the TENS machine and should have it at 37 weeks so I can practice on it after that, it's supposed to be amazing! I've only heard really positive things about it so looking forward to giving it a try. 0
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OMG xalot, the little one was quite happy in there obviously! Did you have a little boy or girl in the end? I'm sure at two weeks overdue you thought the little one would walk out by themselves!
Would people agree that oxytocin seems to cause such violent/painful contractions that an epidural is invariably needed then? I'm curious about this as I thought an epidural takes some time to actually take effect so would you say it's better to have a prophylactic epidural and then induction if an induction is deemed necessary? Seems like the AMR and the sweep (if the cervix is ready) are a lot more gentle whereas the oxytocin seems to take people by surprise somewhat!
What the midwives told me at the time was that, in their experience, 90% of women who get Oxytocin will end up needing an epidural at some point during the labour.
I really hadn't read up on it, I had a vague idea of what an induction was, but I had never really heard about Oxytocin specifically. My thinking was that I was only six days over at the time - I had been set a date for induction at 14 days over if I didn't go any sooner, but I kind of thought I'd wait and see if I went into labour naturally before really researching the possibilities, I'd have probably just done my reading the night before when/if the time came. I guess I didn't really realise that sometimes you'll be "induced" when you're actually already in natural labour.
So when I was told that they recommended an Oxytocin drip to help things along, and that I'd probably need an epidural, I said that if I was getting one I wanted it in ASAP - no point going through more pain than necessary if I had to get one anyways! This didn't happen, the epidural was delayed and didn't kick in until after the baby was born.
The epidural itself was extremely uncomfortable because it involved sitting still for fifteen minutes, which isn't easy so far into labour. I could feel his head starting to come through even as I was sitting there getting it, and still was told not to move from the position! The needle itself isn't sore (well it wasn't for me anyways) just the discomfort of the position, when you have a big wriggly thing trying to make his escape! So if you're getting an epidural ... the earlier the better, and be assertive about it!0 -
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Merkin, have you heard of a Bishop Score?
My advice would be, if you do go overdue and induction is mentioned, to ask what your bishop score is and go from there with what you decide. It will tell you a lot about whether induction is likely to work or not. If all is well with baby you could buy more time by waiting out a few more days or just go straight to an elective c section if you wanted to avoid a long hard labour that might end up in a c section anyway. (I've heard elective c sections are a lot easier to recover from than emergency ones but I've never experienced an elective!).
I had all the intentions of asking my bishop score before being induced but forgot all about it at the end
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Merkin, have you heard of a Bishop Score?
My advice would be, if you do go overdue and induction is mentioned, to ask what your bishop score is and go from there with what you decide. It will tell you a lot about whether induction is likely to work or not. If all is well with baby you could buy more time by waiting out a few more days or just go straight to an elective c section if you wanted to avoid a long hard labour that might end up in a c section anyway. (I've heard elective c sections are a lot easier to recover from than emergency ones but I've never experienced an elective!).
I had all the intentions of asking my bishop score before being induced but forgot all about it at the end
Yes, this! It is something I would definitely have asked about if only I'd known to ask about it. 0 -
Merkin, have you heard of a Bishop Score?
My advice would be, if you do go overdue and induction is mentioned, to ask what your bishop score is and go from there with what you decide. It will tell you a lot about whether induction is likely to work or not. If all is well with baby you could buy more time by waiting out a few more days or just go straight to an elective c section if you wanted to avoid a long hard labour that might end up in a c section anyway. (I've heard elective c sections are a lot easier to recover from than emergency ones but I've never experienced an elective!).
I had all the intentions of asking my bishop score before being induced but forgot all about it at the end
Wow, this is brilliant. I hadn't heard of this at all so it's great to be able to reference something tangible like this to use as a guide if an induction is recommended, thank you! 0 -
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Is that the heparin? I got 4- 2 in each arm. Maybe it was the nurses technique but I had massive bruises from that, and I take a fair whack before a visible bruise will show. Then again, it was anti-clotting. Derp.
Yep heparin, I had to have it every day I was in hospital, had it in my stomach though not in the arm.
I bruised really badly this time Everyone was shocked, every time a nurse looked at it they sucked in their breath and went 'oh wow, you are really bruised...' I didn't realise how much until I got home. 0 -
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