Would you recommend being induced?

[applekitten]

Speaking as a first timer here. What are the pros and cons of being induced?

My due date is July 3rd, I have GD and baby boy is a healthy weight.

Last week at my OB appt. the Dr. asked if I wanted to be induced and my initial reaction was, "I'd rather not and see if he comes on his own" but I've been thinking and it would be nice to get him out before he gets any bigger and I don't want to go over my due date more than a day just because of the baby's size already.

Last week I was 1.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Tomorrow is my next appt. and I will be getting checked again. I'm just not sure if I should agree to being induced or not. Is it a dangerous procedure? Painful? Etc?

[Tenk]

Honestly, you're going to get lot's of "No, don't do it" here. With all of my other children, i would have prefered they come on their own, and not have to be induced. The Pit makes the contractions TERRIBLE, and so painful. I think if I had gone into labor on my own I totally could have avoided pain meds, but I needed them to handle the pit. Avoid Cytotec too, it can have terrible side effects to baby and mother including death. Cervidil to soften isn't nearly as bad.

I'd say, read up, and make an informed decision tho.

[peskyflylady]

Absolutely would NOT recommend it, and I had a better-than-most experience with induction. I, too, have gestational diabetes (well-controlled) and was okay last time with being induced at 41.5 weeks. But, this time, I will not feel comfortable with it until after 42 weeks.

Yes, I had a vaginal delivery, freedom to move around in labor (until I got the epidural), no adverse reactions to meds, etc. But, it took eight hours to even get me started having contractions, and being in the hospital for the whole part of early labor made things seem so much longer than what they actually were. Which set me up for getting an epidural, etc.

All you need is google to do plenty of research on inductions. Even if inductions wouldn't increase the risk of C-sections (and other complications), they are just plain harder and sometimes longer than going on your own.

If baby is a healthy weight, why not wait and see? Or, if you really feel uncomfortable with that, why not try some non-med methods such as stripping membranes or nipple stimulation?

[Lorette]

How do they know the size of your baby? Ultra sounds are often off by 2 pounds.
"Big Baby" is not a good reason to induce-- especially before your due date.
Due dates are also often wrong.
Your baby is not ready to be born. He will be born when he is ready.

[catnap70]

No. No. No. Unless there is a REAL health risk that outweighs the risks it will create. Remember that a "due date" is just a best guess and, especially with first time mamas, 41 weeks is much more normal. Even if you go 2 weeks past your due date, the babe isn't getting that much bigger right now. And your body just isn't going to grow a baby that you can't get out.

Being induced can begin a whole cycle of interventions (pitocin+epidural+who knows what) that further interrupt your body's normal processes and make labor and birth more difficult. Hang in there, mama. You are almost there and you are built to give birth to a baby!

[ekblad9]

Since it's your first baby I would lean towards no. It does make contractions worse (much worse) and can lead to all sorts of interventions that you probably hadn't planned on. I ended up with a hospital transfer (planned homebirth) last time b/c my water broke and still no baby 8 days later. Anyway - I was already at a 6 and she was my 7th baby but still ended up with an epi because I was in so much pain.

I would just tread lightly here. You have to do what's right for you. I know it's so hard to decide what to do. I hope you can find peace with your decision.

[Emily12581]

I actually have to agree. Inductions are painful and terrible and with your first you probably won't need one. Unless there is a history or health problems presenting themselves, I wouldn't. Like Teneal said, read and make an informed decision!

[Materfamilias]

Have you read Henci Goer's Thinking Woman's Guide? I would check it out. She's really good on all the things induction can lead to.

[veganf]

While I've never been induced, I know they just increase the likelihood of other interventions and csecs, so I'd avoid it at all costs.

[Amila]

I had Pitocin due to my water breaking with no contractions for 24 hours. Looking back I should have NEVER agreed.

It was the most painful thing i ever went through in my entire life and I would have never been able to do it without an epidural. Heck, I was begging for a C-section at that point. Horrible horrible. If you don't want a cascade of interventions, including an epi, I'd avoid it.

Also, I don't know one single person who was induced due to "the baby being too big" who actually had a big baby! They were all either normal size or small.

HTH.

[queenofchaos]

this site is a little calculator type thing that can help you determine the odds of a successful induction (i.e. getting your body into labor w/out a ton of interventions)

http://www.childbirth.org/interactive/induction.html

Only thing is, there is no way of knowing how your body or baby will tolerate being induced. Which is really my biggest reason for saying that in your situation, even if you cervix is quite favorable, I would still not do it.

I have been induced twice, once with just cervadil and the other w/just pit. The time w/ cervadil, I don't know if it really worked. BUT my labor was 45 mins from start to finish, which was actually too fast. I have to wonder if the cervadil had something to do with because even tho I do tend to go fast (2 hr. average), that was TOO fast, and I've never had a repeat. Oh, and that was baby #3, and I have had 2 more since then, and one more any day now. I was induced because I was really close to term and my liver was starting to get weird and I had a blood clot in my leg.
The 2nd time was my last pg and pit was used. I will admit that there was no actual medical reason for being induced. I had not slept in a week due to stupid prodromal labor that kept me up all night long. Nothing I did would either stop the ctrx or make them more intense. I reasoned that at the end of that week, my body was just tired and needed a little kick start to get going. Which is was did happend when I got the pit. Tho it still took over 12 hrs to get seriously into labor.
I did fine, baby did well. Tho they ended up turning the pit off because we reached a certain threshold and baby started acting not too great. But by then my body took over and once the pit was off, she was fine. I can't say that pit ctrx were any worse than my normal. The problem was the labor went on far longer than I expected. Instead of a 10-15 transition stage, it was over an hour. Which was pure torture and always the hardest part of labor for me (and a lot of women as well) anyway.
Even tho things went fairly well, there was some touchy points, and all in all, I would not recommend it to anyone unless their life or baby's life was in danger. And in that case a CS might be better anyway.
I think you are better waiting it out and letting your body do it's thing considering the indications you have given for the induction.

[yamilee21]

Two separate failed inductions are what led to my son being unnecessarily surgically extracted, so speaking from experience, I would never recommend induction unless there was a very serious health risk. A "big" baby according to ulrasound and not wanting to go beyond your due date are not serious health risks, in my opinion.

Here are some links that might help you examine induction a bit:
http://www.hencigoer.com/articles/elective_induction/
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/ties.asp
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/gdhgoer.html
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articl...otecwagner.asp

[prairieo]

There's a really beautiful article by Sarah Buckley, an Australian OB entitled, "Undisturbed Birth: Nature's Blueprint for Ease and Ecstacy". I have a copy of it on my desktop, I would be happy to email it to you if you are interested. In the article, she explains in great detail the hormones that are released by mother and baby, how they work in the brain and body, and contrast those to their synthetic counterparts. It's a rather long and technical article, but also very beautiful.

In a nutshell, oxytocin is released by the mother in waves, which not only produce a very rythmic pattern of uterine contractions, but also combine with other hormones to produce what is known as the "love cocktail" right at the time of birth. At the same time the mother is producing oxytocin, the baby also releases oxytocin, which crosses the placenta and works together with that of the mother. When finally the two meet, this complex combination of love hormones create an optimal situation for deep emotional bonding that sets into the baby's neurological blueprint right at the time of birth. Neurological imprints in this very important time will literally have a lifetime effect on the makeup of the child's brain, as well as bonding and attachment with their mother.

When pitocin is used, it comes in a continuous drip, there is nothing rhythmic about it, and it does not stimulate the same resulting 'love cocktail' that oxytocin does. The baby does not release her own hormones in the same way either. If other interventions are added to the mix, for instance epidural, the initial brain imprinting and bonding will be totally different. the mother may be dazed and confused from the numbness of the epidural, coupled with the shock of having experienced the fast and furious pitocin train.

That's just a little snippet from her piece, there is a lot more about how these substances actually work in the body and the effect that they have. I know that a lot of moms end up in situations that are not what they were thinking of, and a lot of compromises have been made, and many women end up feeling very traumatized by their birth experiences, which are a very big deal to all of the women that I know. Then again, what happens happens, and we all have to make our choices and then make peace with them.

I personally have had three hospital births, two of which were highly medicalized premature births with more scary drugs and wierd interventions than I ever thought possible. I have always planned homebirths with my babies, and haven't had one yet...although I plan to this time. Thankfully, in all that madness, I never had pit, or anything else, and birthed as naturally as I could given the circumstances. At each one of my births I felt violated and undermined in many ways....it has been a huge thing for me to come to terms with. I would never, ever accept an intervention that wasn't absolutely necessary, and it's hard to tell when it's actually necessary because of pressure and guilt tactics used by OB's and hospital staff. I guess that's why I have armed myself with as much information as I could get ahold of.


sorry about the book! I hope you find an answer that is right for you, and like I said, make peace with it.

[JunebugsMom]

I've never been induced. But from all of my research, I am avoiding it at all costs. It's so unnatural, which makes it more painful and leads to more interventions since your body isn't ready (epidurals, c-sections, etc). If you can get ahold of one of Ina May Gaskin's books I would highly recommend it. OR The Thinking Woman's Guide to A Better Birth.

[applekitten]

Thank you all for your lovely comments. I've been researching it a bit more and its something I want to avoid if at all possible. Before I thought it might be the easy way out but now I know better. It's just hard when you don't feel anything exciting happening, any progression.

[xixstar]

Originally Posted by prairieo

There's a really beautiful article by Sarah Buckley, an Australian OB entitled, "Undisturbed Birth: Nature's Blueprint for Ease and Ecstacy". I have a copy of it on my desktop, I would be happy to email it to you if you are interested. In the article, she explains in great detail the hormones that are released by mother and baby, how they work in the brain and body, and contrast those to their synthetic counterparts. It's a rather long and technical article, but also very beautiful.

In a nutshell, oxytocin is released by the mother in waves, which not only produce a very rythmic pattern of uterine contractions, but also combine with other hormones to produce what is known as the "love cocktail" right at the time of birth. At the same time the mother is producing oxytocin, the baby also releases oxytocin, which crosses the placenta and works together with that of the mother. When finally the two meet, this complex combination of love hormones create an optimal situation for deep emotional bonding that sets into the baby's neurological blueprint right at the time of birth. Neurological imprints in this very important time will literally have a lifetime effect on the makeup of the child's brain, as well as bonding and attachment with their mother.

this is another reason that I would avoid it - in addition to the cascading of interventions - is that people still don't know everything about birth and what doesn't happen when labor does not start on it's own. I've been slowly looking towards research on the impacts on the child of inductions and c-sections.

but, this is a decision you should make for yourself. look into the research for your situation and make an informed decision - don't just go by what your doctors tell you and also honestly consider if the fear of having a "big" baby is making you consider something you wouldn't otherwise and decide if that is a rational fear or not.

[BetsyS]

With my first son, I went into labor spontaneously. But, that's about the only "natural" thing that happened with that labor. I ended up with the whole cascade of interventions--ending with a c-section. His size had A LOT to do with the c-section (he was 11 lb, 14 oz), but not everything.

When time came to process all my feelings about that birth, I was very, very thankful for spontaneous labor. I felt like I had given my body and my baby the very best chance to come out naturally. I didn't have to second guess "what if I hadn't induced". Cause I hadn't.

It made dealing with a non-ideal birth a little better. And that is my two cents.

[Snugglebugsmom]

I agreed to an induction with my second baby. There was no sound medical reason for it, really, but I wanted to be done with the pregnancy. I was young, and didn't really know about the effects of pitocin. It was by far my most painful labor.
My midwife offered to induce me last week during an appt. because I mentioned having a lot of anxiety over my baby's well-being. However, I will never agree to an induction again, unless there is a serious medical complication.
It is so much easier for your body to deal with labor when it gets to decide for itself when it's time.
If you do decide to agree to an induction, it would likely help you to know what kind of interventions are likely in store for you. For example, it becomes much harder to deal with the pain of an induced labor than a natural one. I know there are women out there who still managed a drug-free birth with an induced labor. For me personally, I would opt for an epidural in that case for sure.
For what it's worth, when I was pg with my last baby, my OB thought I would birth a really big baby. She ended up weighing only 7 pounds and 12 ounces. Women have birthed way bigger babies than that. He scheduled me for an induction several days later. After discussing it with my husband, we decided to try to move things along on our own before the scheduled induction. We had heard that having sex 3x in an hour can help. I had already been dilated to 3cm for a couple of weeks, so my body must have been ready. Dh and I got to "work", and my water broke within 24 hours. I think the only reason that worked was because my body was ready. It wouldn't have worked so easily otherwise. At least we were able to avoid the induction.
Anyway, do what feels right! Good Luck!

[pazerific]

Originally Posted by applekitten

Painful? Etc?

IME pitocin took my ctx from "intense" to "very painful." i managed to go 6hrs on it w/o an epidural, but it was miserable. i was a HB transfer and got the pit i.v. at the hosp when i was already at 9cm. i don't think i would have been able to avoid an epi if i had been on pitocin from the get go.

take that fwiw. i would personally do anything and everything i could to go through that again though, but that's just me. you have to do what's right for you.

[loveandgarbage]

i was induced because of a "big baby" (who was actually big-- 11 lbs 14 ozs) but i wished that i hadn't agreed to it! what would waiting a few more days do? once a baby is already almost 12 lbs, what's the difference of a few ounces, you know? as many of the previous posters, i couldn't handle the pitocin contractions without an epidural, which sealed my fate of having a c-section. if your baby is larger than average, he/she needs all the movement and help he/she can get during the labor process, and mama being paralyzed in bed isn't gonna do squat. it is my regret that i didn't educate myself on hospital interventions. good for you for doing some research before hand!