Natural birth after induction?

amanicen · November 2010

I just had an appointment with my new MW after switching practices last week and asked her about my due date (since I was given Feb 10 and Feb 16 at my previous practice). I told her I was worried about induction since we're hoping to have a natural birth and she said their practice policy is induction no later than 40 weeks (based on the Feb 10 date) since I've had high blood pressure (140s before, 120s now with meds).

Has anyone had success with a natural birth once induction gets things going? MW said it's possible but unlikely and didn't leave me with much hope for sticking with our birth plan. With it being our first baby I wasn't planning on seeing her before 41 weeks. I'm terrified that once induced there will be a slippery slope of other meds needed and I feel like everything is suddenly out of our control. Any advice or stories?

iris427 · November 2010

I had an induction and ended up getting an epidural but I had horrible back labor from an OP baby.

One piece of advice I have is that you can try turning the Pit off once active labor is established. I really wish I had remembered to ask about that during my labor, before I got the epidural. That way you might be able to turn an induced labor into a "natural" one and find it easier to cope with.

GL! It's definitely possible to have an induction and not get pain meds, but it might be more challenging.

cros8380 · November 2010

I have a co-worker who took Bradley Birth Classes, and although she had to be induced, she was able to make it through 30+ hours of labor with no meds. She said it was painful, but certainly doable. GL!

*maof3babies* · November 2010

Not from here, but I was induced with my last baby. I had her without any pain medications. She really didn't give me a choice. I told H I wanted to do it without pain meds, but he asked why? Well, baby came faster than doctor and nurse anticipated. It's not that bad. It hurts, but honestly, all three of mine were induced, so I couldn't tell you what not being induced would feel like comparatively.

You can do it. Don't freak out about it now. It will be okay. The trick is don't get married to a birth plan. Understand that most likely it's not going to go exactly how you want. No matter what, the only thing that matters is that in the end mom and baby are happy, healthy, and safe.

amanicen · November 2010

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the support! I think it will also help when I can talk to my doula tomorrow. Hopefully I can convince them to go based on my later due date to buy me a few more days.

I still wish they would wait to see what happens with baby's growth, fluid levels, & the placenta before deciding I have to have an induction. If I can continue the pregnancy with normal BP and LO's doing well I feel like things should be allowed to happen naturally.

mr+ms · November 2010

Be prepared for different possibilities, but keep optimistic. You never know how things will unfold when the time comes. We also learned about asking to turn down pit and/or starting off at a very low dose at our birth class. That sounds like a good tip. There are various DIY things you can do to prepare your body for labor like Evening Primrose Oil, Red Raspberry leaf tea, squatting/yoga ball exercises, sexy time etc.

I was a few days past 40w and failed the NST so I got sent to L&D to be induced. I didn't know it, but I was already 3-4cm and contracting when we got settled in. It was 1 or 2pm. For a while we sat around and watched TV. I had to be monitored the whole time because of the NST issue and I got antibiotics for GBS. My MW broke my water around 4pm and I was at 5cm. Active labor. Less than 2 hrs later MW mentions pit (blech) and I get checked. 9cm. No pit! A minute later, ready to push. 6:30pm, baby's out.

I don't know if that counts for much of an induction. Part of me thinks why the amniotomy if I was contracting and making progress (without pain no less!). In hindsight, that was probably better than pit since it could be confirmed that meconium in the fluid was not an issue contributing to the NST fail. I might have ended up going to the hospital that day for all I know since things were already moving along. I'm considering the induction a blessing in disguise. Since I didn't feel anything until my water was broken I could have had the baby in my bathtub or a cab

macchiatto · November 2010

I had an induction and did eventually get an epidural. (My second twin flipped to breech though so the epi turned out to be a blessing in my case since I needed a breech extraction for him.) However, I have a friend who took Bradley classes, did get induced (I think she was 42w) and was able to forego pain meds. I think having classes, being really well-prepared and having a doula will all up your odds of being able to stick more closely to your birth plan.

UPTowngrl · November 2010

I've been induced twice and given birth with zero other interventions or meds both those times!

I really had my heart set on going totally natural. My midwife was afraid of my babies being really big because I was overweight at the time. Babies were measuring around 9 lbs. Neither one of them turned out to be.

Anyway, it's TOTALLY doable! Painful, yes. But I never considered doing it any other way. It was a great experience and I was able to reach down and catch both of my babies myself and held them for a really long time. I loved it both times! I think the endorphins/adrenaline really kept me going as well as my support team (sister, friend, husband)

I'm going for it again this time! So excited.

amanicen · November 2010

Thank you all for sharing!

AutumnBride929 · November 2010

I had a "natural" birth with an induction with my first. My midwife was so supportive of my wishes for a med-free birth that she did all she could to accomodate them.

Rather than giving me a medication to ripen my cervix (like Cervadil), she was going to insert a foley cath overnight. However, I didn't end up needing that since I dilated enough on my own.

Instead of starting off the induction process with Pitocin, she broke my water first and then agreed to give me time to see how I progressed on my own. Luckily, my body responded quite well and my labor started (I did use nipple stimulation at times to keep my contractions coming).

So, I still had intervention to be induced but it was without the use of drugs and I was happy with that. I was quite far along (41 weeks, 6 days) so that is probably why I responded so well to those non-medicinal approaches. I just thought I'd share my induction experience because it was, overall, a good one! It is definitely possible to have a med-free birth with an induction and it especially helps if your caregiver is supportive.

kspies · November 2010

You can, but the success of it (like any induction) depends on how ready your body is. I was dilated to 3 and 75% effaced when I was sent to L&D, so with AROM and nipple stimulation on breast pump I went from water broken to pushing in 6 hours. Your MW should be able to give you some options like I had that can at least prolong the decision to use pit. The on-call doctor the night before was trying to push it, but once my doctor got things going didn't end up needing it!

C_Johnson · November 2010

I really tried to go as long as I could w/o meds with my induction. 6hrs into my induction, I started back labor. Went another 6hrs then I snapped and decided to go for epidural. It was soooo tough because they had me on Cytotec, and would not let me walk around. Before my epi, I took a potty break and when my nurse forgot to come back, I did squats and walked around the room.

My epidural did not work so I pretty much labored naturally for 24hrs until they realized LO wasn't going to fit...I was stuck at 9cm for 6hrs, started to develop a fever (101 and rising), and my cervix was beginning to swell. So I had to have emergency C-section, in which I felt the incision and everything.

DS ended up being 9lbs 8.5oz and I was induced at 41 wks 2d.

amanicen · November 2010

I'm a control freak so it's kind of intimidating how it can be so completely different for everyone. I'm trying to stay calm and feel empowered about all of this but the unknown is messing with my head!

christina1776 · November 2010

I dont know your situation at all, but i have a couple questions: what made you switch practices in the first place, and is there a reason you want to stay with this "new" practice? I would just like to say, right now i am doing a total over-haul of my own birth plan, including leaving the practice i just switched to a month ago. What im not yet positive about is whether im going back to the group that delivered my 2 previous kids, (which are great and know me, i only switched cuz i wanted to go to a different hospital), or whether im gonna pay OOP for a home birth. Anyway, my point is, make sure you know what your goals are for your birth and your priorities among them. If you interview other midwives you might find one more flexible and willing to work with you and help you postpone an induction with careful management and monitoring of your HBP.

Mt2G1012 · November 2010

Here is my story posted earlier on the board. Good luck!

https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/45314049.aspx

Natural birth after induction?

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