Foley Catheter

chrastcky

Does anyone have experience/ knowledge about a Foley Catheter?  I unfortunately have to be induced, and my cervix isn't ripe at all yet.  So my options are cervadil or foley catheter.  I like the idea of foley catheter because it's chemical-free (although invasive).  But i wonder if it's as effective as cervadil.  I had my heart set on a drug-free birth, but that's looking less likely now.  My baby is growth restricted due to her abnormal umbilical cord, so induction it is

papagena

I haven't heard a lot about the foley, although I've recently seen it used in two birth stories.  In both of them it did start labor (although one labor actually didn't really get going until they'd decided to take it out and then labor started spontaneously over the night), and the most negative thing I heard said about it was that you can't really get up and move around.

SarahTx5701

I had one.

I was having an induction at 35 weeks, no favorable at all. If I remember correctly it falls at at like 4 cm or something like that?

My labor was 36 hours long and almost had a c-section due to failure to progress and water being broken too long. It was a huge fog, so I dont remember it all.

Yeah you can't get up and move, but I was strapped to the bed anyway due to everything I had going on.

Best of luck to you!!

 

carpozi

I had one as my cervix wasn't ripe at all and I was trying everything to get it to go w/o drugs.  Actually now a company makes one that's a cervical cathetor (techinccally a foley is still for the bladder but used in the cervix).  It did help to efface me and in combo with membrane stipping dilated me a cm or two so that the pitocin would be more effective.  I would try that before trying cervadil. 

gnomely

I had a foley catheter during labor because I wasn't dilating. I could move around but it made the contractions more "intense". I had an posterior cervix and the MWs tried to use it to push the cervix forward and dilate it, and it only did both temporarily.

 

Dobie_Mama

papagena:

I haven't heard a lot about the foley, although I've recently seen it used in two birth stories.  In both of them it did start labor (although one labor actually didn't really get going until they'd decided to take it out and then labor started spontaneously over the night), and the most negative thing I heard said about it was that you can't really get up and move around.

Hey, this is me! lol  So yeah ... what papa said!

Although the foley did help me progress, I didn't actually go into active labor until about six hours after it was removed.  I was a VBAC hopeful (also had pre-e, and ended up with a c/s after pushing because my BP got scary & insane) and that was the only way my MW would induce me but, had I had an option, I definitely would have tried the foley before a chemical method.  It wasn't a bad induction experience at all.  Long, but not bad, and I went med-free until the section.