38 Week Elective Induction

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But, given that I am not, I am going to trust my doctor who has done far more research on the topic than I have.

What makes you think your doctor has done any research at all on the topic?

She is young, smart, well-educated, and competent. I would find it hard to believe that she isn't informed about this given that it is her profession. I also asked her directly about the information that I had gathered from the Internet and was satisfied with her replies. Of course, I can have no guarantee that this is true...

[Anonymous]

an OB's profession is surgery, not natural child birth. they don't teach natural childbirth in medical school. just wanted to clear that up. so, take any info your OB offers you in regard to delivery of a baby w/o medical intervention with a grain of salt. because she's probably less qualified than women who have actually done it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But, given that I am not, I am going to trust my doctor who has done far more research on the topic than I have.

What makes you think your doctor has done any research at all on the topic?

She is young, smart, well-educated, and competent. I would find it hard to believe that she isn't informed about this given that it is her profession. I also asked her directly about the information that I had gathered from the Internet and was satisfied with her replies. Of course, I can have no guarantee that this is true...

None of this means that she has spent any time looking at the current research and evidence regarding best practices. She may not know much at all about natural childbirth (I realize this may not a primary goal of yours), or what labor looks like when you specifically try NOT to interfere with it.

I would ask her what evidence she has that induction does not lead to higher epidural use, or higher cesarean need, or that women who want natural childbirth actually want (or are happy to use) pitocin. I would also ask her what percentage of her patients have unmedicated births, as this speaks directly to her experience with women who are not using medication.

[Anonymous]

Clearly this--like C sections and going drug free--are very sensitive issues, with people being on the defensive on both sides. I'm not desiring to add fuel to the fire, but rather just to say that when my doctor mentioned the possibility of inductions (I am due on christmas), my thoughts were this: I've waited 9 months for this baby, I have nothing more important to do in the next couple weeks than prepare for this baby, and I am willing to wait until he's ready to come out on his own and I don't really care about any inconvenience his birthdate might impose on my doctor, or family schedules, or holiday celebrations, or how crappy I feel hauling around this bowling ball for an extra week or whatever... I would agree to an induction for clear medical reasons, but I'd have to be convinced it was in our best interests.

[Anonymous]

To the OP and the 10:01 poster:
Do not agree just like that with an induction without a very clear medical reason!!! I consider myself to be highly educated, smart and a critical thinker but I was incredibly naive when it came to my first baby's birth. I did not do enough research! It was highly recommend by my Ob/Gyn to have an induction on the day before the due date, it ended up being a long, exhausting labor, epidural and eventually a C-section. All these things were not mentioned in our talks beforehand and the risk of c-section was downplayed. Later on I found out how you expose yourself to a cascade of interventions, including c-section, if you agree with the Pitocin. You are strapped to a bed, constantly monitored, cannot move around to make you feel better or create a good position for the baby to come out and are very likely increasing your chances of a c-section.
I am from Western Europe where most people deliver with a midwife - and without interventions - and the c-section rate is 13% and the infant mortality rate is actually half of that in the US. Please, for your own sake, do challenge this practice of intervening in what should be a normal, natural process, setting aside of course the real medical cases in which interventions are necessary.

[Anonymous]

Thank you 16:35, well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP, something like 1 in 5 births in the US are done via C-Section.

Actually, its closer to 1 in 3 births are done via C-section in the US. [url]http://www.icanofnova.org/articles/news/Cesarean_Rate_Jumps_to_Record_High
[/url]

And I'm sure the rate will continue to increase as once you have a primary c-section, it is very hard to get a hospital VBAC since most providers won't allow them or they only allow them on their terms (baby can't be big, must go into labor before 40 weeks).

[Anonymous]

This is a red flag, OP. Don't do it for a legitimate medical reason. My OB group, very respected, did EVERYTHING possible to get me to 38 weeks and I had various medical issues we were managing. If a baby must be born at 38 weeks for baby's or mom's sake that's one thing, but induced...no!

[Anonymous]

To the poster who says she is a professor of critical thinking and LOGIC (please), you should know that you are offering us a claim with the flimsy grounds that your doctor told you so. As you *know*, professor, a claim is a belief supported by information. Your grounds, in this case, are only acceptable to us if you had some sort of warrant (something to connect your claim to the grounds). Since we know nothing about your doctor except she is young and competent, nor do we know you well enough to believe you are accurately representing (or accurately understood) her position on early inductions, your argument fails any logical test of reason.

For the rest of you: I've got nothing against those who want to induce early, but don't kid yourself, if you do it, that there is no risk. If the Professor's doctor told her there is NO INCREASED RISK whatsoever to inducing labor early without medical reason to do so, that doctor was either lying or is uninformed of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG's) stand on the issue, and I'm not sure which is worse.

Don't mean to be harsh to the logic poster, but that was one of the most misinformed things I've read on this site. Early induction has been proven -- in many, many peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals -- to be riskier than spontaneous birth. Some medical conditions (and even these can sometimes be subjective or not fully accurate, such as baby's size as measured by ultrasound) may create a situation where the benefits outweigh the risks. Additionally, some doctors and patients assert that the risks, while present, are not high enough nor serious enough (but keep in mind that many, many doctors do not think a cesarean is necessarily undesireable, despite knowing the risks) to warrant recommending that mothers not be induced.

OP, question your doctor about the risks involved. Tell him / her what you've heard about inducing early. Talk with her but come from an informed place yourself. And good luck! (BTW, has OP been back at all? Funny if she went into spontaneous labor!!)

[Anonymous]

Wow, the critical thinking professor's post is really scary. Please, please do more research!!

[Anonymous]

When I took Sibley's labor and birthing class I left feeling that if agreed to any kind of intervention I was going to fall to more and more interventions that would ultimately end up with me having an emergency c-section. I think I read the DC area has a 40% c-section rate, higher than the national average, probably due to the fact that many of us are older mothers and/or having multiples.

Personally, I wouldn't agree to an early induction without good medical reason, and even then you might be better off going straight for the c-section. I was well overdue and went for the c-section rather than induction because I knew my baby was big and not going to come out any other way. It wasn't my ideal birth since I had a natural birth planned, but I think it was the right decision for me and my 10lb baby. On the other hand, a friend of mine went in for an early medical induction and after a full day of labor ended up with an emergency c anyway for a 5lb baby.

[Anonymous]

Like the pp at 10:55 I took Sibley's birthing class and left with the impression that interventions like an induction and an epidural was a slippery slope to getting a c-section and that c-sections should be avoided at all costs. I spoke to my OB about what I needed to do to avoid having a c-section and he suggested that I wait until the last possible moment to go to the hospital to deliver. Well, that's what I did and ended up having an (unplanned) natural childbirth. There wasn't even time to get my antibiotics for the Strep-B I had tested positive for. I think my case is a little unusual in that the days before the birth I had visited my OB's office and was only finger-tip dialated. Now I'm at 22 weeks with my second and my OB has suggested that I consider an early induction and that he may put me on bed rest the towards the end of my pregnancy. I know that everything is accelerated with second pregnancies and I don't want to have my baby in my living room or on the side of the road on the way to the hospital. On the other hand, I don't want to risk an induction that might present difficulties if we decide to induce too soon.

My OB is a sole practitioner who also informed me at the same time he recommended the induction that his "on call" pool had gotten larger so there is an enhanced chance that he might not be the one that delivers my baby. Scheduling an induction would obviously increase the chance that he would be there.

I had my first at 39 weeks so I doubt this plan would work unless we scheduled the induction to occur before 39 weeks and I don't think I would agree to that.

[Anonymous]

to 12:54, are there other medical reasons for induction and late bed rest? how fast was your first labor? If the issue was simply that you waited till the last moment and then had the baby faster than you (or anyone) thought, perhaps with #2 you could simply go to the hospital much earlier on, with the understanding that you tend to have fast labors and that you probably wont need other interventions such as Pitocin, etc. Remember, you don't have to consent to anything, so if you get to the hospital and the doc on call is not your practitioner and suggests an intervention right away, you don't have to agree to it. I personally would do that rather than risk an induction before 39 weeks. (and if the reason is group b strep only, there are other ways you can reduce the chance of infection besides antibiotics). good luck!

[Anonymous]

PP here. Thanks for the questions 12:54 poster. My OB says that I delivered faster than anyone expected. At 8:00 p.m. I thought I was in labor. By 10:00 p.m. I was pretty sure and called my OB who suggested that I wait to go to the hospital until my contractions were 5 minutes apart. He told me to take a shower and maybe try to get some sleep. I left for the hospital at 12:00 a.m. when my contractions were still around 8 minutes apart. My water broke in the car on the way to the hospital. By the time I got to the hospital at around 12:30 a.m. I was asking for my epidural. I went up to L&D and they worked on finding a vein on my hand for I swear 45 minutes. I was 7 cm dilated. My OB finally showed up a little after 1:00 a.m. I was told there was no time for an epidural. By 1:30 I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push, which I did for the next 30 minutes. My son was born at 2:08 a.m. So I guess I was in labor for six hours. My OB says that generally this time is cut in half with the second baby.

I guess I should be thankful for this fast delivery and the fact that I was able to do it without drugs. The fact of the matter is that I would very much like to deliver with the help of an epidural. The natural childbirth was an experience, but it was intense. The only thing that would relieve the pain was pushing as hard as I could. Even though I did that for only 30 minutes, I blew out the capillaries in my eyes and in my face. I was happy there wasn't anyone other than my husband around that weekend. Thankfully I had agreed that my parents should visit the baby after we got home and settled.