Induction:

Probably not what you want to hear but mine wasn’t the best.. Although loads of women have had positive experiences. Do a lot of research on this so you know exactly what’s going on and be prepared that a lot of inductions end up in C-sections xx What’s the reason they’re inducing your birth?

I was induced at 38+2 and I had the pessary inserted. Within an hour my contractions had begun. I hyperstimulated (reacted too well to the induction and was contracting back to back) so I had it removed after 6 hours, but it didn’t matter as it had put me into labour and was 2cm dilated. Waited to be moved to delivery and have my waters broken, this happened about 16 hours after induction began. Unfortunately once breaking my waters my baby began to experience fetal distress so was taken for an emergency c-section, however this was a positive experience for me and I didn’t find my c section stressful at all 🫶 My biggest advice is mentally prepare for the outcome that you’ll need intervention as induction massively increases the risk of requiring intervention

I had a fantastic experience with my induction. I was induced at 39+2. We got to the hospital at about 9am and got settled in the room pretty quickly. The nurse went over the plan, all our questions, my birth plan/preferences, etc and made sure we were ready to start before anything happened. At about 10am they broke my water and gave me a low dose of pitocin. I'd talked to my doctor beforehand about wanting to avoid or minimize pitocin and they were happy to work around that and only give me a little bit to start and just see what happened from there, so don't be afraid to talk about your preferred methods ahead of time and make an induction plan you're comfortable with. I also wanted to be able to move around so they set me up with a portable monitor so I could walk around during labor without messing up their ability to monitor baby, so if that's important to you that might be an option.

About half an hour later contractions started, and they ramped up really quickly but were very manageable pain-wise. I labored unmedicated for just over 2 hours before I started feeling a lot of pressure so got checked and was already at 8cm. Within about 5 minutes my body started bearing down completely on its own and baby came really quickly after that. I was in labor for about 2 and a half hours from first contraction to birth, 3 hours from the start of the induction. Baby was born healthy at 1pm exactly, 8lb 4oz, I didn't have any tearing at all, and I was up walking around with pretty minimal pain a few hours later. I loved everything about it.

I was supposed to be induced due to (what they though) placenta issues. It was all very quick and I had to go back the same evening but I had a cervical check around 11pm and within the hour I was having back to back contractions! No intervention as such needed in the end. I always like to share how it ended for me as you could also be lucky and have a similar experience. I was only 2cm when I went in without knowing 😊 xx

@T…. His movements have been really up and down and they think it would be safer for him and me x

Okay, do as much research as possible and ask as many questions as you need 🙂 xx

I was induced at 41+1. It honestly wasn't bad? They inserted the balloon to try and push my cervix open and that wasn't really painful. The most annoying part was the catheter of the balloon hanging on your leg. When I tried peeing it just went down the catheter and on the floor rather than in the toilet. My water broke about 6hrs later. Then I got to the hospital and they tried natural labour first and then when I didn't progress they started pitocin. The cramps were terrible with pitocin but I haven't had natural labour so I can't compare. I ended up not progressing (baby's head was not even making contact with my cervix opening bc she had a big head) so I went in for c-section at around 16hrs of labour

I had a really positive induction! I went in at 39+5 had the pessary till I was 3cm, whilst waiting for my waters to be broken by a doctor they broke on their own! 2 and a half hours later my daughter was born with no pain relief and no stitches or tears! 🥹 xx

I had a positive induction. I was on growth scans and his stomach mass had shrank at 38w scan, decided to induce me when I got to 39w. Went in on the Monday afternoon, first gel didn't work so had another lot of it. Started with pains half 2 Tuesday morning, was examined again and was 2cm so was allowed up to delivery but had to wait for a slot. The longest part was waiting to go up as I only got took up at half 11 Tuesday night, was 4cm by then, waters got broke they said they'd leave me for a couple of hours before they gave me the hormone drip to see if I progressed on my own. I did and I gave birth to my boy at 05.36 Wednesday morning. I did however have a third degree tear so needed to be taken to theatre for stitches. But I did push him out in 10 minutes because I felt like I was sitting on a rock and I wanted him out 🤣

Mine ended in an emergency c section but the whole induced bit was chill. My waters leaked a little on my due date (confirmed in maternity day). Was told to ring in the morning as it was 11pm. They didn't have beds so I didn't go in till mid day, but which point I was over 24 hours past my waters slightly going. They put a pessery in at 4pm, my waters broke when I stood up at 11pm. I was 1cm 4 hours later. 4 hours after that I was still 1cm with 3 contractions every 10 minutes. So I went on the drip at the lowest level. I was on that for 20 minutes and baby pooped. So within 10 minutes I was in the theatre being prepped.

I had a bad experience. After being induced on a Sunday night my contractions started soon after, I wasn’t getting a break between each one so they had to take the pessary out. I was 1cm and had contractions all day Monday every 5-10 mins, they couldn’t move me to labour ward as there was no beds I had to stay in the induction bay. Later that day contractions got so bad I was begging for epidural but I couldn’t have one as still no beds for me. I finally got a bed at 12am Tuesday morning, got epidural and they broke my waters, still only 1cm. Baby’s heart rate then went up they couldn’t get it down so had to go for emergency section at 5am Tuesday. The section was very traumatic (that’s another story). But I would never get induced again

Literally in hospital being induced now and it’s vile. Been here since Monday had two pessarys and now on my second dose of the gel pitocin. Been having contractions since Monday and yet my cervix is still not open enough for them to break my waters. Been walking up and down 12 flights of stairs, walking the streets around the hospital, bouncing on balls, relaxing, literally nothing is working and I believe it is because I’m only 37+2. I was made to think that my baby’s life would be at risk if I wasn’t induced because he has measured small throughout the whole pregnancy. I just majorly regret the decision to ever start the induction. All I want to do is go home. Also everytime they insert/remove the pessary/gel it’s excruciating pain 😮‍💨

I will be truthful with you my induction was a negative experience 😅 but my c section was positive!! So If you didn’t wanna hear negative just scroll past mine ❤️ I went in for an induction at 39 weeks due to some reduced movements and my baby being deemed a “big baby”. I was given the pessary and only managed 8 hours before I needed it removed due to hyperstimulating (I was having 7 contractions every 10 mins). This was Thursday evening. Due to the hospital being busy I was left waiting to try the next method till Saturday afternoon (almost 48 hours later & wasn’t allowed to go home so u can imagine I was impatient by then😅) they then gave me the gel and this was the worst. I hyperstimulated again except I was having 10 every 10 mins so just constant contractions. They had to inject me to stop them after a few hours as it was hell. I then spent the evening throwing up and it was the heatwave in sep 2023 so was hell 😅

Once I’d stopped being sick I was checked over and I was 2 or 3cm dilated (can’t remember) and was sent down to the Labour ward at 7pm to have my waters broke and the third round of induction (drip). I was left in the Labour ward till midnight 5 hours later and when someone finally came in to start it I was told this would hurt more than the other methods and by then I was SO tired (after the earlier induction and throwing up) I felt weak because I hadn’t eaten that day due to it all, so I just wanted to go to sleep. I was told if I refused to go ahead with the induction I’d need a c section. I refused to make any decisions and went to sleep 😅 anyways morning came round and after a few chats I decided on the c section (which was beautiful!) but yeah induction didn’t work well for my body at all! But I know lots of people who have had really positive inductions! Hope yours goes well lovely x

I went to find out if I had to be induced because baby wasn’t growing fast enough at 37 weeks to find out I was 3cm dialated and didn’t have to be induced. Baby was born early hours the next morning 😂

It’s ultimately your choice and some have great experiences but I will just say if I ever have another baby I will be getting a voluntary c section before I will ever let another doctor induce me

@Georgia I’m really sorry hon :(. You will get through this 💛 I was in the same boat as you. Take comfort in the fact that a lot of people I know who did have c sections had an amazing experience and the medication they get after makes the healing so much easier

Following as I’ve been advised on an induction next week due to my GD (although all controlled) and I’m currently 40+1. I was wondering… do you think a lot of inductions don’t work because 1. Mum is not happy to have one but going ahead anyway and therefore body is tense and stressed. 2. Body is not ready if induction done before 40 weeks? I was talking to my Mum about it and kind of makes sense given all the bad experiences women have and how they feel about it.

@Maneek I think both are probably factors. I have noticed that (as far as stories I've heard, not saying this is any official data) when the woman isn't already starting to dilate yet there seem to be more issues and interventions so pushing it when your body isn't at least starting to get itself ready yet (whether that's at 40+ weeks or not, every body is different) seems to make it more difficult, which makes sense. And a smooth labor depends HEAVILY on being calm and relaxed so stress will definitely make it more difficult too. Personally I was 4cm dilated before being induced and felt very happy with the decision and comfortable with my birth team, and the whole experience was really smooth and easy. I could've just gotten lucky but I think both of those helped. Of course those things aren't always something that can be helped, but unfortunately I think a lot of doctors put too much pressure on inductions sometimes and make them even more stressful/scary. I hope your induction goes well! Congratulations

@Lacy that also makes a lot of sense. I was speaking to my diabetes midwife yesterday and she said that they can give the cervix a score at time of examination of even sweep and that can tell them a lot. She suggested that if a score is low, body is not ready or due to going to labour soon so an intervention in unlikely to work but, if the score is higher then it means labour is close and if induction is needed, it is more likely to work. I’m going to get midwife to give cervix check and score on Saturday when I go in for a sweep and make some decisions from there. I’m not 100% on having the induction but, I’ve been advised to keep the appointment in due to wait times and I can go in and be checked and still say no and then make a plan.

@Maneek I was 8 days overdue when I got induced and was pretty calm and excited when they started the induction so both those factors still didn’t help with my induction

@Sarah it’s such an unknown isn’t it