I think every birth, and every woman, is such a different experience from the next that it all really falls to fate in most cases, kwim?? Others have said that induction increases the likelihood of the mother wanting pain relief too early, or asking for more pain relief than they would otherwise have considered... I used gas and was very open to the idea of it well before being admitted to hospital (I have a great pain tolerance but I knew birthing was going to be very hard on me and I was happy to use pain relief if I felt it was needed), but although it was extremely intense and very hard on my body, I refused an epidural purely because I'm terrified of catheters lol... After going through what I did, and reading about the experiences of other mums (who weren't induced), I do realise that my experience *was* actually quite traumatic, but as it was my first baby I really had no idea what to expect so I assumed at the time it was all completely normal to feel what I felt, and I thought everybody had the same experience, kwim? If anything, the knowledge that an induction is so much harder on a mother's body has made me feel much stronger and more confident, as I know now that I got through it okay, and a perfectly healthy daughter at the end of it, so if I have my next one spontaneously I think I will handle it better than if I had gone into labour spontaneously, purely because by all accounts it will be a bit easier on my body, and I'm actually looking forward to labouring this time so I can get a taste of what it 'really' feels like.

I suppose the key here is educating yourself - I knew quite little about the risks associated with inductions until well after DD was born - I'd never even HEARD of PPH until I lost over 3L of blood within minutes and, to tell the truth, I thought *that* was normal as well until I saw my husband's face after speaking to a midwife and I knew something was going wrong. I didn't know that inductions weren't all, 'We'll just pop your waters and bub will be here soon', I didn't know that inductions had such a high rate of ending in c-sec, I didn't know exactly how they worked or what effects they had on mums and babies... I just knew that the pain in my back and hips in the weeks before having DD were so bad that I just wanted her OUT, I didn't really care how!!
I think if you're aware of the risks, the statistics, and the facts, you can make a much better-informed decision - as you've seen, some of us have had quite positive experiences with induction, some haven't, but if you know the 'tricks' to help you through it it may be an option that leads to a good outcome for you (eg, I avoided an epi for totally different reasons, by the time I started yelling for one DD was crowning lol, maybe if you know an epi ups the risk of a c-sec you could say 'no' to it, kwim?).

I'd best be sitting down to complete my birth plan too lol, all I've written so far is, 'No epidural, no episiotomy/forceps', good luck with yours, great to see you're arming yourself with as much knowledge as possible and that us BB members are able to help you in some small way