i agree that information is power. i knew there was a good chance of me being induced - high BP diagnosed (and treated) at 6wks PG & GD. i was offered an induction at 38 weeks but refused until i was at term. i had done a lot of reading & watched the business of being born to prepare myself for the eventuality.

i really wanted to avoid the induction & am angry that i didn't fight harder to give DS more chance to come naturally but in the end gave in to medical pressure but felt somewhat empowered by the knowledge i had - it meant i was able to question the hospital staff as to whether i would just be taken for a c/s if i didn't dilate/respond within certain time limits etc & found out a bit about their policies.

i feel my experience was horribly medical - i did not envisage my labour to involve my waters being broken with a rubber glove or having a drip in my arm or monitors internally attached to DS's head. after being relieved as i dilated within time frames, DS's heart rate dropped when i got to the pushing stage & all of a sudden the whole situation was even more out of my control. while i am thankful that my DS was born safely & that it was just an assisted birth & not a c/s, i can't help feeling that the situation would not have occurred if he wasn't put in the position of being forced to come before he was ready! the induction/contractions were incredibly intense & there was a stage when they had to turn the drip off completely because i'd basically been having contractions on top of each other for about an hour.

sorry - in my verbose way, i am trying to say that information helped to empower me to a certain point but could not change the outcome, which is supported by statistics that say you are far more likely to have an assisted birth or c/s if you are induced. oh - and while it may seem that it was a medical necessity, it wasn't really. there was no protein in my urine, by BP wasn't too high & the GD was well controlled with insulin & weekly CTG monitoring showed that DS was just fine - not over-sized or in any distress.