What precautions does your midwife take after 41 weeks?

[laurac5]

My first baby went to 42w1d, and here's what I remember:  I got a non-stress-test a couple of times that last week, and an extra ultrasound to check amniotic fluid levels.  My midwife stripped my membranes at 41w6d as a means of induction.  I was seeing a CNM for that pregnancy.

I'm 40w4d now and am seeing a CPM, and I'm wondering what lies ahead if this baby stays in a few more days.

What has your experience been?

[laurac5]

Bumping this up now that I'm 41 weeks...

[scruffy too]

I'm 22 weeks with my first, so I haven't been there, done that.  I asked my midwife when we first met what she would do and she said she wouldn't do anything at 41 weeks.  Or 42 weeks.  But she went over 42 weeks with all 6 of her pregnancies.

Hope all is well.

[LightForest]

It does seem to vary so much depending on your caregiver!

For my first pregnancy I was seeing a homebirth midwifery team consisting of one CPM and one CNM. When I got to 41 weeks, 5 days, the CNM stripped my membranes and gave me the homeopathic version of blue/black cohosh (sorry I can't remember the name) - this got labor started and I delivered my baby about 18 hours later (41 weeks, 6 days). I actually had a non stress test and U/S (to check fluid levels) scheduled for the day I ended up birthing my daughter. Oh, and I had an acupuncture appointment scheduled for that day as well, with the goal of getting labor started. I ended up cancelling both of those appointments With that pregnancy, I found that most of the stress around hitting the 42 week mark came about because of the situation for homebirthers in my particular city -- had I needed to transfer to a hospital during labor, there would have been very few "friendly" options available to me after 42 weeks.

This time around, I'm living in a different city so I had to find a new midwife. During the interview process, one of the things I got a feel for was the "post dates" issue. I ended up choosing a midwife who is very relaxed about this topic. I don't expect her to automatically make a big deal out of it if/when I go past 41 weeks (and I assume I will).

[ananas]

I see a team of midwives. I will be 41 weeks next week (Well, depending on how things go this week!), and I will start getting an NST twice a week (20 minutes fetal monitoring, quick ultrasound to check fluids), until induction (which they will only offer after 42 weeks, and if everything looks good, I will be able to refuse), or until baby comes.