Please share experience of induced labour

[Rainbowhope]

The doctors keep telling me that I should be induced because of ivf pregnancy. They whole process sounds painful. Please share your experience.

[Dreamingofbaby]

Bless u hun. Not been induced but like u have heard from a lot who have and yes they say it is a lot more painful than usual. Some recommend u def go for an epidural to help. For u though u maybe able to argue against having one and seeing if u go into labour naturally. I was told that I didn’t need one -(only if v late)-just because of an ivf pregnancy. I was told there is no need and was treated like an other pregnancy.

When they suggesting you have one-is it after 40 weeks or before. Maybe decide how long u want to go before intervention and go from there. I went into labour at exactly 40 weeks.

There is a charity called birth rights too I think which provides advocacy for pregnant ladies and helps you decide and share your informed choice rather feeling pressurised at all. May help if worried. It your body and your choice and there can’t be loads of evidence re ivf pregnancy’s and the risks as surely all docs round the country would say the same thing🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ I don’t know. It up to you though. Best wishes. Not long now☺️👏👏xx

[Pondev]

Hi,

I remember you as you were going through ivf the same time as me. I was induced years ago with my daughter and found it very painful so wouldn’t recommend it if not necessary.

I was however overdue 42+5.

With my current pregnancy they haven’t mentioned getting induced even though it’s an IVF pregnancy.

The doctor actually advised not to be induced due to me wanting a VBAC. Ultimately it will be your decision. Just try and get as much info as possible. Best wishes.

[Jm82]

Hi, im in exactly the same predicament at the moment, im nearly 36 weeks and consultant wants to induce me at 39 weeks as it's ivf. Im also very wary of this and confused as to why some hospital class us as high risk and others don't. I am 38 and high risk of pre-eclampsia but up until now everything has thankfully been ok.

Obviously if my baby is at risk I wouldn't hesitate but I am very nervous. Good luck in whatever you decide and congrats xx

[MissSaoPaulo]

I've heard this too, but also other women whose pregnancies were IVF aren't treated differently from regular pregnancies - which was my case.

The hospital would have let me go to 41 weeks before inducing and after 40 weeks I went in every other day for monitoring. I had a sweep at 40+1, nada, and at 40+5 I was taken in and had to start induction as amniotic fluid was low. Even after 3 pessaries nothing happened. No contractions and no dilation. Baby was still fine, not in distress and at that point I asked for a c section. I was pretty sure by then it was going to end in surgery anyway and I didn't want to keep waiting and trying until baby was distressed and it all had to be done in an emergency. It was fine and not traumatic at all, but recovery is a bit of a b*tch.

I would hold out against induction unless it's a case like mine where baby needs to be out fairly soon. If everything is going well and no complications in your pregnancy I'd wait as long as possible, at least until 40 weeks, to try and let it happen naturally. Good luck xxx

[HollyT7]

I was induced 8 days before my due date. never gave birth before so nothing to compare it to, no pain relief worked for me but I guess labour is painful anyway! I had multiple sweeps that did nada! Being induced wasn't painful for me, just like another sweep one day and popped my waters the next. I had the hormone drip to speed things up to. xx

[Hidden]

As long as your pregnancy is fine then there us no need to induce you. And it is totally up to you. Personally I was over 40 and ivf so at the beginning they told me this might be the recommendation. However the consultant was happy to not see me any more after 2 appointments and the advice to me then was that it was up to me.

I opted to carry on and give birth naturally.

At 40 weeks with no sign of any movement I was given the option again but I decided to wait. One midwife even told me that in France they count any birth before 41 weeks as early! They gave me a sweep and sent me on my way.

So I waited.

At 41 weeks and still no sign of movement I agreed to start induction. They started with a hormone which was administered vaginally and, as I love so close to the hospital, they allowed me to go home overnight.

Nothing happened.

I was then admitted to hospital and given another drug which brought on mild "tightenings" but as it wore off, so did the tightenings. This was given twice with the same results. In between times they kept checking my cervix which was closed still with no real movemrnt.

All the while they were checking my blood pressure and the heartbeat of me and baby. And all the while we were both fine.

After being in the hospital for nearly a week we went on to the drip which is administered intravenously. This again caused only mild tightenings. At one point during this procedure they broke my waters.... still nothing. As the day went on they increased the dose of this up to the highest level and there was still nothing. They went a little higher (by this point I had been awake all night). In the end, whilst I felt no difference, my babies heart rate started to get higher so they agreed to do a c-section. I was so happy to agreee whereas before I was slight apprehensive and maybe a little scared of that.

The c-section took around 30 minutes, I didn't feel a thing, and our wee baby boy was welcomed to the world.

The most painful thing that happened at any of those stages was the sweeps. And that was because my cervix was in such an awkward place.

So, don't panic and just go with the advice of the drs. You can let them know your preferences but it will never happen as you imagine. Xxx

[Sazzle18]

Hi Rainbowhope,

I had my ivf baby in July and induction wasn’t recommended until I was two weeks over due. I was also classed as high risk due to other health complications but my consultant was adamant that I could birth naturally I even had major abdominal surgery in the past. I did ask him why in certain areas ivf baby’s are induced and he said sometimes it’s the trusts but he said there was no evidence of why they would do it just because the baby is conceived by ivf. If the baby is growing and your health is fine then you should have the birth plan you choose.

I had extra growth scans due to my health condition crohns but apart from that everything else was treated as normal.

I was 8 days over due with my rainbow baby but I had the most amazing birth In the birthing pool at the hospital supported by midwives I would even go as far to say it was the best experience ever.

It’s 100% your choice what birth plan you choose and you should be supported in that.

If something is advised you can defiantly ask why and what is the statistics that decision is based on.

I read the positive birth book and that really helped me to make choices that were right for me and my baby.

Hope this helps x