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INDUCTION?.....what happens these days?

Hi guys, I am really worried about induction. I was induced with my son 11 years ago after my water broke and contractions didn't start at 38+5 and that birth is the primary reason for me not having any more kids until 11 years later!

I've done a hypnobirthing course and was feeling totally confident and honestly didn;t even consider i'd go over.

I now have no signs of anything starting and am getting more scared by the day.

What happens with iductions these days?

Do you HAVE to have a catheter? last time i was just given it (about 12 hours BEFORE i had an epidural) and told I wasn't allowed to move from the bed and had to stay there for 24 hours!

Can you be mobile? last time I was stuck on the bed for the entire time but was thinking that they have mobile continuous monitoring now don't they?

I know I can't expect to have the birth that I'd hoped for if i'm induced but just want a little control over my birth!

Help!? I'm freaking out

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    Hi Jubilee
    I was induced due to my waters breaking and labour not starting.
    To cut a long story short, I was mobile for the first part of my induction - when the pessary was in - up until 4cm. I was then monitored up until the birth but that was mainly because I had the synto drip and epidural. I wasn't able to get up off the bed when the baby became a bit distressed as they put a clip on the babys head and that was wired up tp a computer thingy.
    I didn't have a permanent catheter even when I had the epidural, they just emptied my bladder every few hours but Olivia got quite distressed when I was at the pushing stage so I went to theatre for forceps or a possible csection if the forceps failed. At that stage I was given a total spinal block and a catheter was inserted and that was taken out the next morning.
    It really wasn't that bad and the midwives encouraged me to move around as much as possible especially in the early stages.
    I really didn't want to give birth on the consultant led unit as our Midwife led unit is really lovely and I wanted a totally mobile labour but it really hasn't put me off having more children.
    Try not to worry too much - easier said than done I know - and I hope you get the birth that you want.
    Isabellawella & Olivia (12 days today)
    xx
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    I can only say what happened to me i'm afraid but to answer your questions:

    Yes I had to have a catheter and due to that and the epidural no I could not be mobile? I ended being forced in to stirrups when I couldn't get bubba out and had a forceps delivery. I won't tell you any more about it because to be honest after what I went through I was absolutely never going to have any more children, enough said lol!

    The only thing I would say is I wish that someone had told me that I didn't have to be induced and could have just requested daily monitoring, but as it was my first i didn't realise, won't make that mistake again, they're going to have to knock me out before I ever go on an induction ward again!

    Sorry, that's not making you feel any better is it, have a trawl through here and the Traumatic Births forum, there's always plenty of induction stories on both, I believe there was a very recent thread about it on Baby too ;\)
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    Hi hun,

    I have a very positive induction, I was induced due to PE and I didnt have a catheter (but I had no pain relief) I had the drip in and I was able to move from the bed to the rocking chair. When I was an hour into labour I asked for an epdural so I was helped back onto the bed and then I started pushing (I was still 4cms at this point) within 10 mins I went to 10cms and there was no time for pain relief and they put my legs in stirrups (which were really comfy at this point) I had to have an episotomy to get dd out because she came so quick but I was in labour for all of 2 hours and 4 minutes.
    The thing is everybody does have different experiences and if you do have an induction they are monitoring you closely so if anything happens they will be there to take action.
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    hi, they suually start u off with the gels (if ur waters haven't gone) then if thats not worked, either pop ur waters or move u onto the drip. u need to be regulalry monitored whilst having the gels etc, but u don't need continous monitoring until the drip...and then like u say they do ahve mobile monitoring. my induction experience wasn't great (ds is now 16months) so won't go into to detail, but they started me with gel on the wednesday, thrusday, friday, my waters then broke, but nothing happened so then went on the drip. the monitor kept losingt he trace which meant i wasn't able to be at all mobile and had to lie on my back, i had an em c section on the saturday. many women have fanatstic inductions though, and u may find u only need the gel, which will mean not much will change at all, they'll just want to monitor u every hour or so for 15minutes or so...i didn't ahve a catheter until i was taken to theatre for the c section, and they didn't do that until after the spinal block.
    i totally understand wha u mean about not wnatinbg to be monitored all the time though, i'm hopefully going for vbac in december and apparantly they will want to monitor me nonstop, i'm gutted about that, but if i can get the mobile monitoring then i'm hoping it'll be ok. xx
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    thanks for the in depth answers guys. I just had no idea about what the procedure was and what was standard etc. I think I feel a bit better about it after doing some more googling. I am having a sweep tomorrow and if my cervix looks good and they give me a good sweep I'll be having an acupuncture session later that day. fingers crossed!
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    I was induced with my son 2 years ago at 41+4 - I was already 2-3cm dilated but had been for a few days, so they borke my wtaers and a couple of hours later started me on the drip. I had no catheter and no mention of epidural, I did stay on the bed but that was my 'choice' as I didn't want to move, I was told I could move around if I wanted to. Yes the contractions were very intense but manageable.
    TBH the thing I found worst about the whole experience was the going overdue itself, the waiting in limbo for something to happen, and that's why I worried about going overdue with no2. I did go over, with no signs of anything happening - but then just after midnight at 40+5 my waters went with no prior warning and she was here 2 hours later.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is not all inductions are awful - and it might not come to that, the baby still has plenty of time to arrive on it's own, I know the waiting and wondering can be very stressful. I remember saying to hubby I could not manage to run around after a toddler for a whole week and a half while I was overdue and he was at work - as it happened I only had one day and then baby arrived!

    Good luck x

    [Modified by: *Sunflower81* on August 08, 2010 06:14 PM]

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    thank you guys so much. the reassurance has been invaluable, it really has. I feel much better x
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    generally speaking i think hospitals will allow you to go about 12 days over your due day i hear hypnobirthing is excellent there are 2 ways to be induced which is with a syntocinon drip or via prostaglandin gel as induction means articfically bringin on labour it does not happen spontaneously. all experiences are different so dont let what your first pregnancy was like put you off every one is different. if u try and wait unil your about 4cm dilated before you get epidural if your are thinking along those lines as from 4cm you are considered in active labour i used a birthing ball and the entonox gas and was mobile as been mobile brings the babys head down it makes sense the gravity will bring baby out however i got epidural at 6cm as pain too much and during this time you will have a catherher inserted because you are not able to go to the toilet and if your bladder is full it will stop your babies head coming down the epidural will make your legs feel like gelly and when you get to 10cm without been crude you need to push into your bottom like your really constipated not into your face and you will be ok at the end of the day the aim is for a nice labour experience and for your baby to be born healthy my advise is to ask your midwife or consultant gone be with the days that women dont ask questions it is your body your baby and you can ask all the questions you want i hope it goes well for you keep us posted
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