Possible Induction @ 39wks - pros & cons?

OK so had an OBs appt a week or so ago and it's been playing on my mind more and more.
I am currently PG with DD2 and will be 21wks on friday, at my OBs appt they told me due to my first labour being so quick etc etc there is a chance they will induce me at 39wks if i don't labour before then.
Avas birth story http://forums.bellybelly.com.au/foru...ome-birth.html will explain what i mean about quick labour etc.
I assume they are also worried about another breach birth and that i might not make it to hospital again.
I would prefer NOT to be induced as i can quite clearly handle natural births with no intervention and it's not something i had ever thought about doing.
I know i need to do whats best for my little girl and they said a quick labour can often be more distressing for the little one than a long labour but i really DON'T want to be induced.

Can anyone tell me a bit more about pro's and con's of being induced, just to set my mind at ease a little, i am really against the idea so am keeping my fingers crossed lil miss wants to visit us before then.

Is it true the pain can be worse from induction as your body hasn't started the process itself?

I laughed at my OB as i always think of being induced for babies who don't want to come out not because they might happen too quickly!

Thanks for reading, probably silly to even worry about it, it may not be in my control.
Also do you think as Ava was breach and so quick etc they may request a scan at 32wks just to be sure?

i'm not sure i can answer all of your questions but i can comment on the pain side of things..
i was induced with DD1 with no signs of cervix being ready at all, no pre-labour etc. had to have gels to prepare cervix and dialte enough to break waters. really bad pain.

DD2 was induced again but cervix was open 3cm already, had a bloody show that morning and all in all was pretty much ready to go. pain built up and i handled it MUCH better.

so i wouldnt be induced if after an internal you show no signs of being ready yet.

I can only comment on the pain myself too, I was induced with Charlie on his due date & the contractions started a min apart from the word "go"....so there was no take some panadol & have a rest IYKWIM. It was full on from the start. His head was also around the wrong way & this meant pushing for a VERY long time & resulted in suction (almost forceps) and one distressed baby that I d?dn't get to see first up. Now that may have or may not have been due to the induction but I often wonder if we had waited til he was ready. I can't comment for sure, but have heard that many inductions end in c-sec also, someting to look into.

It's a tough one, you really need to look at all the info you get & make the decision that feels right for you and your bubs.

I would personally wait till 38 - 39 weeks to be even thinking about making a decision like this. By then your OB would know bubs position, and you can make a decision based on facts then. Just cause it happened last time, does not mean it will happen this time, and anyway, you know what labour feels like and can high tail it to the hospital when it starts.

And if bub is breach there are ways to try and turn her, and also, you can work on positioning to encourage this little one to head DOWN. Google spinning babies. I am following some of the ideas there, as my last baby was posterior and didn't engage, so I want this to come out naturally.
I don't like the thought of you discussing induction now just on a "what if".

I am trying for a VBAC and my OB and I have agreed that we wont even discuss any other alternatives till a month before I am due, and keep an open mind, knowing we need to book a c-sect a week in advance...

Good luck hun... xoxo

There are different ways to be induced. You may just need gels administered and that will be enough to start your labour. Or perhaps you'll need your waters broken, or the assistance of syntocin. Obviously there is no way of knowing until you are at that point. I was induced for medical reasons with my first daughter. They broke my waters and i walked up and down the stairs for 3 hours trying to make some cx happen. I had no luck, so then i was put on the drip. The Cx from the drip felt much more uncomfortable than my second labour when i went into spontaneous labour. Obviously i preferred not being induced. But if i needed to be induced again for whatever reason i wouldn't be opposed to it, but i would do my best to avoid it.

If i was in your situation i guess i would play it a bit by ear. How far do you live from the hospital? You could always go in at the first niggle....

I too have heard that super fast labors can be traumatic for the baby. I don't really know anything about that statement though....

After having had an induction that ended in a CS after 12 hours I would advise anyone to do everything they can to avoid having one. Yes there are some circumstances where it is necessary to induce, but if it isn't then why do it...

In my case my hind waters broke and my OB agreed to give me 96 hours to go into labour naturally as I had my show while I was at the hospital. But DS had never engaged and didn't, so four days later I was induced. After being in position he turned and ended up posterior and his head lodged in my pelvis at the worst possible angle. In the end I had to go for an emergency CS.

I think if you are going to be induced I would personally try and have the gels to start with over the syntocin drip, from what I've read they are a lot gentler than the drip. I had to have the drip because my waters had broken and within an hour of it starting I was having contractions every two minutes that lasted 70 seconds, not long after I ended up with terrible nausea from the pain and opted for an epidural after 3 hours after initially hoping to only use the TENS machine. I'm not a medical expert, but an induction isn't just hard on the mother, I believe it is also very stressful for the bub and in my case think that it was the stress of the extreme contractions from the beginning that caused him to freak out and change position.

After the labour the midwife who was with me through it told me that while she had never given birth she thought that the intensity of induced contractions is twice that of contractions you have in a spontaneous labour. I don't if it is true or not, or if she was trying to make me feel better about having had the epidural, but for me it definately wasn't the labour experience that I had hoped for.

I hope I haven't been too negative, but thought I should share my experience with you. FWIW if it was me I wouldn't agree to an induction unless there is a very good medical reason for it.

I don't imagine that an induction would be too much more painful than a very fast labour, unless you started a very fast labour at say, 5cm and an induction at 1 or 2cm dilated. Either way, it's probably like the difference between stubbing your toe on the coffee table or on the filing cabinet - they'll both hurt a bit!

I understand about you wanting to consider your options ahead of time just to get your head around things, but as others have said, it's not really a decision you can make til later in pregnancy. I don't think breech births are that common, so it's very possible that this time bub will engage head down and a speedy birth at home won't be as tricky.

How are you going logistics-wise in preparing? Do you have people who can come over at the drop of a hat if things go quickly again? Have you processed the last birth okay?
All the best with your preparing. xo

I was induced at 39 weeks in my first pregnancy due to health reasons also, and my body clearly wasn't prepared for it. Before I was admitted for induction, my cervix was still hard. I had gel put on at 6, again at midnight and started having contractions at about 12.30. I only dilated 2.5cm's up to 11am.
I had to be stretched to have my water broken and that was agonising. Never again!

Good Luck with everything. You'll know whats best for you

Thanks everyone, it's not something i really WANT to think about right now and i thought it strange the OB bring it up this early but she was very concerned that i only had 15min of pushing with Ava and that even when i called the hosp they did not think i was in enough PAIN to have been that far along.

No matter what they say i am heading to hosp at the first sign of contractions but it's just been playing on my mind and thought i might aswell see what other ppl's experiences were to get it off my mind/chest etc.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, am seriously hoping that my body will do it's own thing and i wont have to worry about it at all.

I chose an induction for dd3 because we had a longish trip to the hospital (1 1/2 hours) and my labours are quite gentle and then "bang!" at the end before anyone really knows what's happening.

I was very ready for the induction - the OB did a stretch and sweep the night before, and when they broke my waters I was already 4cm the next morning. They only used a tiny bit of drug for the induction and the labour was pretty much pain free.

But of course, different women will respond differently to induction. Will you call an ambulance as soon as labour starts, rather than risk a car trip?

We live about 45min from the hospital so the first signs of labour i think i will head in, the ambulance side of it is something i think i may just have to consider once we get that far.
Don't really want to waste the resources if i think i can make it but if Ava is anything to go by they could be my best chance. I know just because she was fast doesn't mean this one will be but i have to cover all bases.

I am so over having to tell Ava's story @ every midwives or Dr's appt though, they treat me like some kind of freak or they say oh really it happened that quick, why didn't you ring?
I DID RING - 3 TIMES... hmmmm
This time am not listening to a word they say, am just going to go in and camp in the foyer if i need to... hehe:p

Hun, I just read your story!

TBH, the last part was pretty fast, but your labour did start a few hours before. I think you will have plenty of time to get to the hospital. I think its going right over the top to suggest induction when you clearly have no problem birthing bubs - and a breech one at that!

XOXOXOXO

What Lulu said!!!! I was going to come and say the same thing! Good luck hun :)

Thanks guys, am hoping #2 is here before 39wks so it's not an option.
After everyones comments have decided not to stress about anything until the time comes the Dr can suggest what they like but my princess WILL be choosing her own birthday and she will come out in her own time (fast or slow).

Yeah labouring seems to be no problem for what my partner calls my "twin bearing hips"... lol

Even if you get to 39 weeks, you don't have to agree to an induction. It seems like an odd reason to be induced to me. If bub is head down and everything is otherwise fine, I think that inducing purely for the reason that they don't want your labour to be too fast is bit of overkill.

By the sounds the only reason they want to induce you is to make it easier for them. You have had an unexpected breech home birth, in my book your a birthing goddess hun and can handle anything :dance:.

Don't let an OB's desire to control a natural process make you choose an option you don't want/need. By the sounds your babies know when they are ready for the world and just can't wait to get here and meet their mumma :D.

You do what you feel is right for you and your bub.

I was induced as DS was 9 days overdue (now that was the worst ever!). I had two lots of gels, but neither worked...I was then put on the drip at 7am...DS was born at 3:55pm. One question I'd ask is that who's to say that an induced labour would mean a slower labour? I would wait till closer to the end of your preg and see what happens. If and when I have another I would try my hardest not to be induced. Our bodies know what they're doing, as I'm sure mine would have if it were given the chance :)

If in the event you do be induced then it would be hightly likely that all they need to do is break your waters to get things going without needing the Synto drip which is no worse then having your waters break at home and going into labour. I don't mean the procedure of doing the ARM but the after effects. Often women who have quick labours need very little intervention to get things going.
As for a scan at 32weeks I wouldn't recommend it to check position as it is along time before bub will come in which time they CAN change position again. The closer you get to term the less likely bubs will turn however there are cases where the baby does turn right up until labour. A scan at 36-38weeks would be much more accurate in determining the position she is most likely going to stay in.
Also even with your quick labour it sounded like you have some warning and if you were to know Ava would have come so quickly you could have got to the hospital on time so there is every chance that as soon as you have a sign there will be time to get to hospital or at least an ambulance. And if not you will be more knowledgable from your prior experience and I am sure you will do brilliantly what ever the situation is.
My friend was sent home from her GP at 4cm on afternoon telling her she wasn't in labour and could go another few weeks. She had a VE at her request knowing her last labour was quick it was 1hr and she was 200kms from the nearest hospital. That night she felt like she needed to poo and as she stood up her baby was born. She had no pain or warning what so ever until she stood up and whoose out came her son which obviously did hurt but she had absolutely no warning that he was about to be born onto her bedroom floor. She was in shock but everything went well and they were both fine apart from the shock of it happening so quickly. When she told me she was 4cm I told her to get to the hospital but as she had no pain she thought the Dr was right.

Thanks everyone, just going to go with my gut (and thats big enough .. lol) and hope no induction necessary.
Strangely enough i haven't been at all worried about quick labours etc or even worried about the pain but i'm sure within the last month it will all come flooding back... lol

Fingers crossed my little princess is allowed to choose her own birthday, i have a feeling b/w x-mas and new yrs around 2 wks early... hmmm any bets anyone?