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Is induced labour always more painful?
Filed under: Your Pregnancy
My best friend was due to give birth to her first baby sometime last week. She's at that awful, bloated, oh-dear-god-please-get-this-baby-out-of-me stage that I suspect all pregnant women get in their very final days of gestation. Particularly when it's a blazing summer day. Particularly when your toes resemble large pink hot dogs. Particularly when you have no energy to do anything but lay splayed like an earthbound-seal, panting over a popsicle in front of a large green fan. Oh, those were the days.
Anyway, she's been diligent with her research and education during her pregnancy, she's taken Bradley method courses and is determined that, if at all possible, she'll have a drug free birth. And since she is perhaps the most determined, wickedly strong woman I have ever met in my entire life, I have no doubt that she'll do it. If, that is, she can do it on her own.
Since she's now overdue, Carrie's been subject to multiple ultrasounds (6 altogether), two this week alone. They are to determine if her placenta is deteriorating, whether all is OK in there. There is talk of induction, which she doesn't want. At all. She believes that medical induction leads to an increasingly painful labour and unnecessary risks to the baby. I probably helped freak her out on that -- my own labour was induced and my contractions were excruciating and less than a minute apart, almost from the beginning. In fact, so many women I spoke with had the same story -- they were a couple days overdue, their doctors ordered an induction, syntocinon was administered, labour failed to progress, and cesarians were ordered. It's exactly what happened to me, and if I could do it over again, I would have asked to not be induced. I believe, if my body could have done it on its own, I probably wouldn't have ended up frozen solid on a metal operating table during my labour.
But, I do know that there are several stories of women out there who have been induced and had good, normal labours -- possibly without pain medicine. Are you out there? I'd love to hear your stories, so I can reassure my friend that even if she is induced, it could turn out A-OK for the natural birth she craves.
Anyway, she's been diligent with her research and education during her pregnancy, she's taken Bradley method courses and is determined that, if at all possible, she'll have a drug free birth. And since she is perhaps the most determined, wickedly strong woman I have ever met in my entire life, I have no doubt that she'll do it. If, that is, she can do it on her own.
Since she's now overdue, Carrie's been subject to multiple ultrasounds (6 altogether), two this week alone. They are to determine if her placenta is deteriorating, whether all is OK in there. There is talk of induction, which she doesn't want. At all. She believes that medical induction leads to an increasingly painful labour and unnecessary risks to the baby. I probably helped freak her out on that -- my own labour was induced and my contractions were excruciating and less than a minute apart, almost from the beginning. In fact, so many women I spoke with had the same story -- they were a couple days overdue, their doctors ordered an induction, syntocinon was administered, labour failed to progress, and cesarians were ordered. It's exactly what happened to me, and if I could do it over again, I would have asked to not be induced. I believe, if my body could have done it on its own, I probably wouldn't have ended up frozen solid on a metal operating table during my labour.
But, I do know that there are several stories of women out there who have been induced and had good, normal labours -- possibly without pain medicine. Are you out there? I'd love to hear your stories, so I can reassure my friend that even if she is induced, it could turn out A-OK for the natural birth she craves.
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
8-17-2007 @ 3:10PM
DaniGirl said...Not only was I induced 10 days after my due date, but the labour still took almost 20 hours before my stubborn 10 lbs son made his way out. The long story is here (http://danigirl.ca/blog/2006/01/31/simons-story/) but the short story is that first they gave me cervadil, and when that didn't inspire any significant contractions or dilation they gave me pitocin, and even that had to be amped up to the absolute maximum before he moved past station 3 and 3 cm dilation. Plus, the epidural didn't work (the anesthesiologist said I was his most difficult case in more than 500 epidurals). In the end, I went from barely to fully dilated in about 20 minutes and fired the baby out in about three pushes.
I can't believe I signed up to do it all over again!
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8-18-2007 @ 1:02PM
Jen said...I was induced with my third child. It was the easiest labor and birth I've ever had. I was already dialated to 4 so I went in and they had me walk around for about an hour and then hooked me up to the pitocin. I was on that for about an hour and a half when they came in and upped it just a bit. The contractions got a bit harder but another hour and I was completely dialated. 3 pushes later and my son was in my arms. No pain meds or anything. My husband and I sat playing card games the whole time I was in labor. It was definitely the best birthing experience I have had and hope to have a similar one with my next.
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