help to avoid another induction.

Hi all,

I am getting concerned now that this little man is going to stay put.

My DD was induced due to pre eclampsia, I had one lot of gels inserted and went down to the ward, were my waters broke on there own and my baby was born in 4hrs and 40 mins. No tears etc.

My DS i was induced at 40 + 10 days, i had gels put on, then was sent to the ward to sleep, had a repeat gels in the morning then had my waters broken at lunch, result DS was born in the shower 40 mins after. No tears etc again.

This bub I have had loads of BH, have actually lost my plug, had regular contractions for 6 days at 36 weeks but all has stopped. I have been told my cervix is very posterior, this was the same with my DS.

I am now approaching 38 weeks. I would dearly love to go into labour on my own as this will be my last bub.
Is there anyhting i can do in the next few weeks to get my stubborn cervix to move so i can avoid another induction.
Dont get me wrong i dont want to go into labour right now, i just want to avoid another induction.

I don't know how to move your cervix - Mine wasn't in the right place with DD1 & the ob 'pulled' it down under her head. Owww!

But if you wanna help to get labour going on your own, I reckon get walking.

DD1 - 7 days over due, Went shopping in Coffs for the day with IL's. Waters broke at 12.30 that night. Was born at 6pm the next night. Had done alot of walking through the pg too.

DD2 - 7 days over due, Contractions started at 2.15am & stayed 15 minutes apart all day. At 3 or 4 in the afternoon I decided to go for a walk. DH & I walked about 5 k's slowly. 10.30 that night it all got full on & she was born at 7 the next morning. Had done alot of walking in that pg too.

DS - walked about 2 kms. Was born at 10.15 next morning.

I don't recommend walking for k's like I did. I only did that coz I walked every night through my pgs. About a k a night. I was pretty fit, so I was able to do it.
Just go for a walk whenever you can. It might help. Well it worked for me.

You could try inserting EPO (Evening Primrose Oil) capsules at night times (don't forget to wear a pad to bed!) as they help soften/ripen your cervix. And Rose Leaf Tea is supposed to be good too (to drink this time!).

Other than that, unless there's a good reason (ie: baby is distressed etc.) for them to induce you before you hit 42 weeks, simply don't let them. If you find it hard to say 'no' then just say 'yes' but don't turn up for your induction. You can always have ultrasounds to check on the functionality of your placenta.

Have you checked out the natural induction articles here?

Good luck :)

Both my girls went after 41 weeks. My second came 4 days earlier than my induction with my first. The things I tried were:
1. acupuncture to ripen my cervix. Most cervix are posterior until close to labour, mine was the day before I went into labour.
2. RELAX... its easier said than done LMAO but stress causes you to clinch your jaw which in turn clinches your babies exit. Your cervix will not ripen, relax or start to dilate if you are stressed.
3. massage, I went into labour the day after a good massage.
4. I tried EPO & didn't find it changed things, but it can't hurt.

Also remind yourself & your care givers that normal human gestation is 38-42 weeks. You have plenty of time. Its okay, some bubs come early and some later. Its best for bubs to stay put as long as they want too, they will come when the time is right for them.

My acupuncturist said : The cherry will fall from the tree when it is ripe. No earlier.

:hug: super hard to do I know but if you tell your brain it enough & say it enough you may start to listen to that rather than worry about when it will happen.

Good question - I am in the same boat re: wanting to avoid induction again. Actually I am kind of jealous that your first two inductions sounded so easy compared to mine! I had a very long agonising labour since the contractions peaked early due to the pictocin and since my bub was not moving it just meant I had to put up with serious pain for a lot longer than I would have had I not been induced. While I had wanted to have a drug free birth using relaxation and hypnobirthing techniwues to handle the pain, I could not cope any longer after about 10 hrs of serious contractions no more than 3 minutes apart from the beginning (since the pictocin was introduced). At that point I was told that I had to have an epidural (my cervix was swelling due to the seriously bad contractions which was conteracting any dilation that was happening) as they had the pictocin at the highest dose, bub's heart rate was very slow and I wa not getting any further than 4cm dilated. If I refused the epidural, I was told I would need to have a ceasar under general anesthetic at that point as the epidural was the only chance left of me having the baby vaginally, the idea being it would relax everything a bit more and let the pictocin do it's job.

In my case induction was not able to be avoided as my waters had broken 2 days earlier and I was already 10 days over. The longest that it is deemed safe to have waters broken is two days, and most obs won't let you go more than 10 days late as the risks increase dramatically after this point. Speaking to an ob friend (in my mothers group) the other day she said that 10 days is picked because after that there are more still births and also it is unlikely that you will go into labour on your own after 10 days past your due date.

In the lead up to my due date (from about 38w)I had tried all the natural induction methods I could think of - two EPO capsules orally a day, plus... ewww - inserting them at night (hey I was desperate to have a natural birth), walking an hour a day, accupunture, raspberry leaf tea, sniffing/burning clary sage oil, sex... anything I knew of that was deemed safe (not the caster oil as I read it is quite dangerous). My waters broke on their own, but labour didn't start. When I was admitted for my induction I asked that only the minimal induction was done, so they gave me the lowest dose but increased it every hour as nothing was happening other than the painful contractions. Austin was born after a 14 hour labour, with the cord around his neck twice, which had to be cut while he was still inside me and he wouldn't breathe until rescusitated. He was still quite blue the next day and had to stay in the humidicrib to keep his oxygen levels up for two days before i could even take him out for a breastfeed. There went my ideas of lifting him to my chest at birth and letting him feed straight away, and it also meant I found it harder to bond and had a terrible time with my milk flooding in as he was ravenous by the time I was eventually allowed to feed (despite having been drip fed for the two days) and I was engorged very badly by the time I left the hospital (glad I asked to stay the extra day as I would have had the problems on my own at home if I hadn't stayed longer).

I am not trying to scare anyone, just want to make it clear why I don't want to be induced again, and why a simple "no" to the ob doesn't always work - if I wan't induced, I probably would not have a healthy little boy now. At least the ob tried everything she could to follow my wishes but after so long doing it my way and baby in danger, we had to try soemthing else.

So what I want to know is, what can I do this time around to make sure it's different? How can I make sure things progress once labour starts? I don't care if it's another long labour as long as it's not an induced labour - I think I could probably handle natural contractions a bit better than that!

well i managed to avoid induction

Lachlan Stewart arrived on the 6th of July, a week overdue.

I had a stretch and sweep on the wednesday night and lost my plug over the the Thurdsday, by Sat nothing had happened so a girlfriend came around and applied accupressure and clary sage, no real reaction, on the Sunday my waters started to leak, i had no contractions but went in to get checked and bang contractions started 1 minute apart, bubs came in 55 minutes.
I had also been drinking Raspberry leaf tea and think this help, as i had no sticthes, tears and a natural labour.

Jaysus Tan! I was wondering if you even made it to the hospy in time. How did you cope with the 'fastness' of it all?

Oh wow! What a great labour... I want one of those!

Hey jgal,
I feel for you. I have had two inductions and one natural. I would like to go before needing to be induced but I was induced due to high bp so if I need to be done again I would do it. I also had good experiences but reading your story has also reminded me that being induced could also take me down your road. I hope you get the natural unassisted birth you dream about.

Well done Tan, you have given us courage.

jgal,

The risk of still birth does not change until after 42 weeks (EDD+14) and it only becomes statistically significant (i.e. higher than the risk at 38 weeks, which is what is normally considered term) at 43 weeks (EDD+21) at which point the risk is statistically similar to that of a baby born at 37 weeks. The stillbirth risk is related to the age of the placenta and you can be scanned every 3 days once you pass EDD+whenever you're comfortable (i was at EDD+2 when first scanned because my BP was high and they said i had to make sure my placenta was ok to go ahead with the homebirth) to check the placenta is working ok. There is truly NO reason to induce a normal pregnancy before 42weeks.

Also, 48 hours is only the maximum time you can leave someone with broken waters and no contractions IF they are at risk of infection. I have a friend whose waters broke 5 days before her baby was born. She had to have oral antibiotics after 18 hours, but she declined induction. My own sister was born on a Thursday, at 43+2, 5 days after the waters broke. It is not "done" but it isn't necessarily dangerous either. If you decline a medical induction until the Ob can show you something which PROVES your baby is in trouble they will treat you preventatively.

If you look at PROM (preterm rupture of membranes) you can see the possibilities. If you were 22 weeks PG they would give you drugs to prevent labour, put you on antibiotics and make you lie down and drink plenty of water in the hopes that the waters would re-seal or at least that you would keep the baby inside as long as possible. They would do all examinations by scan to avoid infection and not put anything into your vagina. There is no difference in your body or vagina when you are at term - there is nothing inherently more dangerous - Obs just know the baby will be fine out of you so they push to induce. If your membranes rupture you can decline all vaginal exams and take antibiotics if necessary, you don't have to be induced.

Was your baby stressed before the induction was begun? Did he have poor tones before there were contractions? If so it's likely the cord around his neck was stopping him from starting labour (babies are smart and don't put themselves in danger if they can help it) and chances are with a few more days he might have rolled it off or begun to show signs of distress without labour.

If it was the cord and position causing the problem then it's unlikely to happen next time. If it does there are lots of things you can do:

Walk and climb stairs, this nudges the head against the cervix as you climb/stride which will help begin the oxytocin/contraction cycle that begins labour.

Crawl around the floor, this helps bubs use gravity to get into the best possible position for birth which usually lets labour continue sooner rather than later.

Clary sage is a contractant - you can't use it if you have high BP but if your BP is ok a clary sage oil massage can really help get things moving.

Accupunture or accupressure can help too, as can chiropracty on your spine/pelvis if bubs is being troubled by some small anatomical thing inside you.

Massage can make a difference purely because it relaxes you, and oxtocin flows best in a relaxed body.

I think the biggest thing any woman can do is be educated, and trust your baby and body. If everything is fine, your baby KNOWS when the best time to be born is, and if everything is NOT fine, the baby will let you know. It is especially hard after one dificult medicalised experience of birth to have faith that you can do it without having to go through all that again, but you CAN! NO ONE can make you do anything you don't want to. If you are post-dates and baby shows every sign of being perfectly fine, you can know that no matter WHAT the ob/mw/well-meaning relatives say, your baby is just fine where it is. If your membranes rupture but nothing is put into your vagina and you take antibiotics if it's been a long time and continue to have the baby's tones checked to make sure all is well you can know your baby will be fine and begin labour when it is ready.

Best of luck

Bx

Great post, Hoobley! Wanted to give you rep points, but they won't let me give you points as I seem to be doing that all the time :) It's so good to have you on here. You manage to state your point, back it up with research and at the same time, you don't sound offensive or pushy about it. Well done!

I agree with pretty much everything in your post. I never had to really worry about induction as DD was born at 39w2d. I do feel that her date of birth was not only a coincidence. The night before she was born, a lot of things fell into place for me. We managed to stall a house extension we were doing (long story, but instead of it being finished before bub was born, the builders delayed it and decided they wanted to start on my due date!), my mum arrived from Germany (she was supposed to be there for the birth) and I finished an important work project, at 1am Sunday morning. I knew, from now on I could concentrate on the impending birth. I woke up at 4:30am on Sunday morning (3 1/2 hours after finishing the project) with bloody show and my first contractions. Maya was born at 4:45pm the same day.So I guess my point is, trying to get rid of stress gives your body the signal that it is now safe to bring a vulnerable baby into this world.
The day before DD was born, I had gone for a long walk with my mum. Well, not a huge one, but maybe 1 1/2km. it felt long to a pregnant lady with oedema so bad, she couldn't fit into her thongs ;)
I also drank Raspberry Leaf Tea from 26 weeks (built up from 1 cup a day to 3 cups a day). I don't know whether that helped, but I don't think it did any harm.
And I took EPO, just 1000mg orally, none vaginally, that was just too much for me...

In your situation, I would try and move a lot to get things moving into the right places.

Also, From what I have read, the position of the cervix before active labour doesn't really have much meaning. Most posterior cervices will move forward during labour. And that move from posterior to anterior could take days or minutes, depending on you and your labour.

Jgal, I really don't understand the logic behind your doc's actions. First he gives you pitocin to strengthen your contractions. The he realises it's too much and your cervix is swelling and instead of backing off on the Pit, he blackmails you into an epidural. The epidural wouldn't weaken the contractions, though, just stop your perception of them, so I don't get how he thought that might reduce the swelling...
I also agree with Hoobley's point on the cord being wrapped around his head most likely being the reason for labour not starting/progressing. Quite possibly, you woud have been able to do it on your terms a few days later after bub had untangled himself without the stress and with a better outcome.

All the best and I really hope you can avoid an induction this time around!
Saša

Yay Tan! Congrats - I'm a bit late coz I've been away for a week, but good on you!!

Just to add,
My cervix was still posterior and had an anterior lip at 7 cms dilated.
Lachlan was born postrior and the cord was around his neck, so we did pretty well.
Things just moved very quickly but i do have a history of fast labours. my other ds was 40 minute labour.
I had gone to the hospital to be checked out as i was strep B positive, when i got there i had no contractions, bub and i were monitored for 2 hrs. I got up went to the loo and thats when it all started. It was very intense and i didnt get a break in between my contractions but the thought of bub coming kept me going.

Well done Tan32! Congrats to your beautiful baby boy!

I am here with same situation. Induced for #1 & #2 pg. #3 went overdue 4 days, I am fine with that. I am 3days over now with no real niggles. Dr appoint tomorrow and no doubt induction will be discussed. I usually develope h/bp so will be interesting.

I know bubs is still not engaged cause I can feel head floating. Is there anyway I can encourage this bubs to engage or do I let my body just do it when the time comes?
Tan hope you don't mind me using your thread seeing your bubs is already here.
Thanks

Rose 2nd and subsequent babies frequently don't engage until labour begins, so it's not a marker for anything. If induction is discussed don't allow them to rupture your membranes unless bub is engaged - there's an increased risk of cord prolapse. Over 90% of babies are born within 42 weeks, so there's every reason to hold off until then and even longer if you can get in to be monitored every few days after that.

Bx