Induction of Labor

[JoyRenee]

Inducing your pregnancy, without an actual medically necessary reason (which does NOT include a suspected large baby or based on estimated due dates) is harmful not only to you but to your baby. Know the risks and make informed choices.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110218111817.htm

[LovemyKids86]

Good luck on having your baby tonight or maybe the full moon will work in both of our favors this weekend!!! ;)

[LovemyKids86]

Lol, I agree with you. I was induced with my first at 40 weeks because she was big and yes the ultrasound machine can be off BUT the dr was correct and so was his machine. He said she was measuring at appx 9 lbs with at least ½ lb more or less to go…when she was born she was 8 ½ so he was right on target!!! I am being induced on Thursday because of history of a big baby, I couldn't get my first out but I still had a vaginal delivery! Am I happy of getting induced yes and no…I don't like that pitocin but it's better than possibly having a 10 lb baby which God forbid!!!! Plus when your body isn't dilating or progressing and you are in labor for days then I don't see how it's selfish. It's actually more dangerous for a baby to go 2 weeks or more past their due date because the sac and placenta start to deteriorate…

I don't think it's selfish to want to be induced unless you are less than 37/38 weeks. But now a days when it comes to medicaid, they won't allow induction until you have reached week 39!!! I will be 39+6 the day I am getting induced...

[Dandeskin]

You women are crazy! Its not risking anyones life..idk where u get that lol. And for those who think its selfish to try to induce early, we have to be completely unselfish for the rest of our days after baby arrives..so theres nothing wrong with being a little selfish now! Im 36 weeks and trying to induce now! Hope he comes tonite! :)

[utgal]

I also wanted to add. As it has been mentioned living hours from a hospital. Labors can go from good to bad in just a matter of minutes. So isn't it safer if you could be at the hospital if something was to go wrong you could handle it versus something go wrong on the way that you can't handle.

[utgal]

I agree that there are a lot of labors being induced these days but its not our place to judge or to say that they're doing the wrong thing. We don't know anyones situations. I have gotten the same reaction from several women when I have said that I have had everyone of my labors induced they judge before they know the situation with my first I went over my due date I was not dilating at all come to find out I don't produce enough hormones to send myself into labor naturally so without the pitocin I wont go into labor, an my first labor was so hard my baby was bigger than my body could handle so with my last two I got induced at 39 weeks.

[30something13]

inductions with pitocin only work aorund 70% of the time and if you have a secondary phase stop of labor dr's think osmseting is wrong even though it is our bodies natural responce to let us rest before the pushing phase

[mandamoo32]

I was induced with my first 2 at 38 weeks due to the fact i lived 2 hours from the nearest hospital.

[jtaylor102481]

i was induced with all three of my kids and let me tell u  i was two and half weeks late with my first one and  the induction was much welcome at the time  with my son i was induced  right on my due date and  that induction went  fine  he was ten pounds at birth can u imagine what he would have been if i  had gone passed my  due date and with my third i was induced at 37 wks due to extreme pain causing elvating  blood pressure.   Now  i am agree with  induction  when medically  necessary and not for  just the mom  wanting the  baby  out but i have to say one thing i think   doctors most of the time do  know what they are  doing  and can  help patients make the  best choices . but again every one shoudl  have a right to choose how they birth of their baby is going to  go when they are able to

[angela418]

I induced at 40 weeks 4 days and still feel a twinge of guilt for not letting my baby come on his own.  Granted he was 8lb 12oz AND past due and every day he was in there was one more day to get bigger and harder to push out, I still wish sometimes I would have let him come on his own.  My doctor was notorious for inducing labor and actually wanted to do mine a week earlier, but I at least held her back a week and the entire process went very smoothly for an induction, the way it was intended.  So, at least it worked out in the end.  However, I always warn people that almost everyone I know that was induced ended up with an emergency c-section, so I wouldn't recommend it unless they were past 40 weeks.

[chantal21]

I agree as well. Baby will come when ready. With my first, I was 38 weeks and 5-6cm dilated. I was in labor, but not very consistent. My midwife said we would do castor oil only because we wanted to see if would make the contractions more consistent. Within 2 hours, I was contracting every 2-3 min. But he was good and ready and if he wasn't it wouldn't have worked. Do I recommend castor oil? NO. Having diarrhea that much while you are in labor is just awful. My midwife does not just give it to her patients like candy. There needs to be a reason to use it and she must feel it's safe for mom and baby. She actually rarely uses it. She only uses it if a mother has: premature rupture of membranes (near the time of her due date and is not contracting), being postdates or high blood pressure and a need to get things going.

With my second, I had pre-term labor and was on bedrest for 2 months. Even though I was 5cm dilated at 35 weeks, that did not mean we had to get things going even though I was in pain and ready to have my baby! I stayed that way for over a week and then he decided to come at 36w3d and was still able to have my birth center experience instead of going to the hospital at 35 weeks and risk him being in the nicu.

I think forcing a baby out because you are uncomfortable is no excuse. Pregnancy isn't exactly comfortable, but our job as the mother is to ensure our babies arrive here as safely as possible and when they are ready. Our bodies know what to do when it comes to having babies. It's nothing new. =)

[AHP84]

I agree, however, I don't agree that any mother who chooses elective induction is selfish.
I've had both my labors induced, and fortunately, they both came entirely free of complications. However, with my first delivery, I was right at 39 weeks and I had just turned 20 years old...really didn't have much knowledge of pregnancy and delivery and all that. I wanted the induction for covenience because my due date was the week before my finals. I didn't want to miss that week, as I'd get crucial notes and study time, which I did since my baby was born the week before then. But if I'd known then what I know now, I would have chosen to go into labor naturally. I just didn't know; I was young and determined to get finished with school as soon as possible so I could provide the best opportunities for myself to be a successful single mom to my son. To this day, I give my everything to my children and I've certainly sacrificed a great deal to give my first son the best I have to give.
With my second induction--there is not one thing I'd change or that I regret. I had it done at 38 weeks, which is full term so I had no reservations at all. I had spent nearly six weeks in pre-term labor and I have never endured such pain for such a long period of time in my life. By the time I was 36 weeks, I could hardly walk because the pain and pressure was so bad. What I went through in labor was painful, but enduring preterm labor was far, far worse pain because it lasted so much longer and it was constant. While in labor, there are ups and downs with pain...ways you can work through it and drugs offered to take the edge off or numb you entirely. Not with preterm labor while you sit at home on bed rest, no only in pain from pregnancy but from all the side effects of the medications you take to stay pregnant. I was not fortunate enough to get prescription pain killers during my preterm labor bedrest. It's awful and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. The day my doctor offered the induction to be scheduled the next day was music to my ears, lol!
My husband and I do want to have a third child in a few years, though, and if all goes well in my next pregnancy, I want everything to happen as naturally as possible.

[SunWorshiper_26]

Thank you!  It is very selfish to force baby to come early because you are uncomfortable. And speaking as a mother who had her water break prematurely and deliver at 35 weeks it is horribly painful to leave your baby in the NICU and go home. Additionally I carried my baby for 35 weeks with a fractured spine and pelvis. If I can do that all those able bodied people out there can carry their babies to term until they are darn well ready to arrive. Why risk your childs life for your comfort, that is the opposite of what being a mommy is about!

[diamondintherough79]

I agree to an extent. I had a nephew that passed, overdue and had a bowel movement. I dont like to go much past my due date because of that. I wouldnt go more than 2 weeks myslf.
I have 3 children, 2 of which were induced labours, 2 weeks after thier (known) due dates

[Clysta]

I agree as well. You read so many things of women trying to force their baby out at 36-37 weeks and the only reason why is because they're uncomfortable. To me that's just selfish. Parents always say they want to do the best for their children, and that should start in the womb. Baby will come when ready and shouldn't be forced out before then.

[Beccabb]

I agree unless something was seriously wrong with me or baby I would never allow baby to be taken out before my due date! Why anyone would rather have the baby out early and then have to leave it at the hospital while I went home, that would kill me

[JoyRenee]

PS I just want to add, "What's the rush?" Why on earth are doctors scheduling birth when your body can produce natural hormones to go into labor when your baby is ready? It just baffles me. Baby is put into distress and then an emergent cesarean is performed and the parents say, "Wow, the doctor saved my baby" when the very interventions you were put through most likely caused the problems to begin with. The due date is not an eviction notice. It's an estimated time of delivery, give or take 2 weeks.