I’ve been reading that there is a higher rate of preterm births amongst IVF pregnancies than in natural conceptions, and also that IVF pregnancies are more likely to be recommended to be induced, and more likely to be induced before the due date.
I’m trying to prepare my birth plan at the moment, and I was wondering what people’s experience of this is? Have your IVF pregnancies come early naturally or have you been advised to have an early induction or c-section?
Is it something I need to prepare for mentally (and I guess physically in the sense of having things ready at home sooner)?
Do I need to be talking to my midwife about this/ consultant? Or am I just being a worrier 🤦♀️🤪
I appreciate that the higher rate of multiples in IVF which tend to come earlier probably affects the statics. I’m a singleton pregnancy.
I think lots of people having Ivf babies are older than natural conception and your chances of having a section go over 50% at the age of 40 anyways.
I am not being induced/ very likely C-section because of the Ivf but because he is giant, breech and I now have the start of preeclampsia. I was told at booking I would likely be induced because of my age and medical history but that was more to prepare me not to make a solid birth plan (friend had strong views about a water birth that did not happen).
I don’t think the way I conceived makes me higher risk but other factors do.
Hi Whirlybird, I understand what you mean! My consultant has adviced me to have a c section due to previous back surgery and has booked it in for week 39+0 ( in just a few days 💕). My understanding is that the timing he has chosen has nothing to do with IVF, but more with wanting to minimise the risk of spontaneous labour before the planned surgery as ideally he wants a senior consultant anaesthetist to oversee the process due to complications with my back. At the first midwife appointment she did say that generally they don’t let IVF pregnancy go past their due date as they know with more certainty the time of conception, but she also said that the choice of whether to accept induction is always with the mother. I have been having a half ready hospital bag from around the end of week 36 (all the basics) and at week 38 I finally have it all ready (with the nice to have !). Xx
I am really glad you asked this question. I also have 2 due dates one scan related on IVF due date. One is tomorrow! The IVF one on Friday. There is talk about induction but I am hoping to give it a week for spontaneous labour to start. I haven't got any complications so far and 38 but will being seeing my doctor on Thursday to I expect discuss induction. Midwife has offered sweep on friday but I think I am going to wait until Tuesday next week. So lots to think about and consider!
2 inductions a few days before due date for me, they expected big babies. I really wanted a natural birth but hey ho, ivf taught me that you get what your given 😂
I was told I would be induced at 40weeks if I hadn’t gone into labour naturally…due to IVF. When I asked why, the midwife said ‘I don’t know why we do it, we just do!’
I am 7 weeks pregnant with my second (also IVF) and not sure what to think this time round. I am very happy to go with medical advice where there is good reason behind it but I don’t think anyone can force you x
The research I've found does not support this and as far as I can tell their is no current evidence to support it. Your midwives answer us feankly not good enough! It's ultimately up to you, they can advise all they want but it's up to you. I won't be accepting an induction except for a medical reason. No because I'm black, not because I'm IVF - Both have been suggested.
Hope your current pregnancy goes smoothly and you are given the opportunity to do what is right for you.
Hi Whirlybird, I posted something very similar to this a little while ago about IVF pregnancies being induced before 40 weeks and lots of people responded saying they hadn't heard of that. So I asked my midwife she said that IVF pregnancies are treated as normal pregnancies unless there are other known risk factors so a stretch and sweep would only be offered if you pass 40 weeks and other induction methods if you pass 41 weeks. She did say that if I was concerned about going past 40 weeks I could request a stretch and sweep at 39 weeks and she could refer me to a consultant to request a medical induction at 40 weeks. My daughter was born at 39+3 with no induction natural labour. 6 weeks old this week.
I was told that I wouldn’t be allowed to go over my due date, because of the IVF, but not that I’d need to be induced early. As it so happened I ended up with a planned c section (because they thought baby was huge, and one other complicating factor unrelated to IVF) which was booked for 40w+1 x
hey. At my booking in appt, I was told that an IVF pregnancy meant that they recommended induction at 39 weeks however, when I had my midwife appt at 36 weeks, they said that this didn’t need to happen as I was otherwise low risk.
In the end, it was our choice re if we want to induce or not. We did opt for an induction at 39+3, it meant that we could plan a bit, which was great. The induction went really well. Baby was born at 39+4 following the Pessary and I had a great experience!
hey there, my hospital didn’t consider my ivf pregnancy any differently than a natural one. In fact, my baby didn’t want to come out and eventually I went to be induced at 40+6 days. I did find it odd I wasn’t allowed to discuss a birth plan until 36 weeks which left very little time as I wanted to do a homebirth which meant moving teams. Anyway it wasn’t to be. So good luck with your birth! My top tip is hypno breathing.
Hey there, I would just prepare for everything 🤣. We were booked for a planned section at 39 weeks then I got cholestasis so they changed things to a full delivery at 36 weeks. We ended up at 37 weeks with full labour, failed forceps & an emergency section😬. Although it sounds scary, all of this was fine with a fab medical team who were awesome and excellent pain relief when needed, I would say do your birth plan but prepare to be flexible. My husband still got to cut the cord & we made the best of skin to skin where we could.x It’s all so worth it.x All that said, my friends IVF birth was at term & in line with her plan so you just never know.x All the best.x
Hi - for my first IVF pregnancy my hospital told me they do offer an induction at 39 weeks for IVF but it was completely my choice. I really didn't want to be induced due to some bad experiences from my closest friends who were and my midwife was fine with that when I mentioned it. I also had dreams of a water birth for my birth plan.... As it were my waters broke at 36+2 and I gave birth naturally at 36+5 to a healthy boy.
You never know what is going to happen but if I could give any advice it would be make sure your hospital bag is packed and ready- ASAP. I was running around in a blind panic when my waters broke as I was convinced first pregnancies were generally overdue and completely not prepared.
thanks for all your replies ladies. I did read them all and it helped me go armed with some questions to my midwife’s appointment.
Advice I was given was that it was a case by case basis and that 24/5 weeks was too early to start saying anything. She did say that they used to advise induction for IVF but that isn’t always the case now - she emphasized it really depends on each pregnancy. Which in a way is reassuring as it means they do look at you individually and it just in a box 🙂
Appologies for not replying to you all earlier - your support was valued thank you! - I’ve subsequently been picked up as potentially having a big baby (98th percentile) and been sent off for gestational diabetes testing. Always the next thing to worry about 🤪 … deep breaths and just keep going to the appointments.
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