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Delaying Induction
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Anonymous
| Has anyone ever refused an induciton at 41 weeks? The more I read, the more unconfortable I am with my doctor's practice of automatically inducing mothers at 41 weeks. I was two weeks late, my husband was two weeks late and everything I've read says pregnancies are considered full term between 38-42 weeks so I'd really like to hold out that extra week if the baby is not ready. Besides, this is a first baby and I know they often tend to come late. So, in short, any experiences with refusing an induction are appreciated! |
Anonymous
| I refused induction at 41 weeks. I had it all scheduled, etc. The afternoon before it was to happen, I called and canceled it. The OB was not happy and had me come in for monitoring/tests. All was fine. I went into labor on my own the next evening. |
Anonymous
| The OB suggested inducing at 41 weeks and we said we didn't want to, so he said he'd let it go another week, and a few days later I went into labor. |
Anonymous
|
Yep! I had my 41 week induction on the books and thought I wouldn't get there. As the day approached, I was a total wreck...felt like I had to meet a deadline and that my body was broken. But baby was moving around like crazy, and I intuitively felt like everything was just fine. So I decided to call my OB practice to say I would not be coming in. Of course, I did go in for monitoring once more that week to be sure baby looked fine (all was totally great). Then I went into labor on the evening of my 12th day overdue and had a perfect, relatively quick natural labor. I was so happy to have listened to my gut and given my baby the time she needed.
Good luck! |
Anonymous
| do you know when you conceived? lots of babies are born "late" because docs are using the outdated model of the 28 day cycle to calculate the due date. i have long cycles (36+days) and i chart. with my first baby, my first doc told me I was a week farther along than I was even though i KNEW i conceived on day 23 of my cycle, a week later than they said I did. when i switched to my midwife she took one look at my chart and changed my due date, and my baby was born two days before it. |
Anonymous
| 41 weeks is too early for an induction if there is no medical reason. Most OB practices will allow a full 42 weeks. You certainly have the right to say no and just not go! Give your baby time to come when it is ready. Average length of pregnany for a first time mom is MORE than 41 weeks. |
Anonymous
For my second child, I was induced at 38 weeks b/c of gestational diabetes (all controlled by diet, by the way). My baby was - and is - fine! He was a little under 6 lbs and now, at 6 months is probably close to 20 lbs. I was also induced with the first, but I was considered full term by then. |
Anonymous
| My OB discussed the induction with me and we decided on a date together, they would have let me go till 42 weeks but we decided on 10 days past my due date. My water broke the morning I was due to be induced! You should have a say in when/if you get induced, if you feel you should wait then wait. Your ob should respect your wishes unless there is some medical reason not to. |
Anonymous
You should definitely ask your doctor about this because my doctor would not have let me go all the way to 42 weeks. He was willing to let me go a day or two past 41 weeks, but that was it. He said the risk of being 42 weeks was greater than the risk of induction between 41 and 42 weeks. I wound up having to be induced at 41 weeks 5 days because of low fluid, but I trusted my doctor enough to feel very comfortable with being induced at 41 weeks exactly had I made it that far. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and experiences. I have an appointment today so we will see how it plays out. I am completely fine with extra testing to ensure the baby is ok (obviously the number one priority) but I don't like the policy of automatically inducing just because you are at 41 weeks. Besides, the due date (at least in my case) is an estimate anyway! |
Anonymous
|
OP, ask your doc what your Bishop's Score is -- it's a way of numerically estimating your chances of a successful vaginal birth vs. one that's really just preparation for a c-section.
Google the term to see what it takes into account -- basically your degree of effacement, dilation, position of cervix, etc. indicate whether your body will respond to this "jump start" or if you're quickly going to get pegged as "failure to progress." Also ask WHY your doc wants to induce. "Because everyone else is doing it" (also translated as "this is the standard for our practice") is not a valid reason. You want evidence-based medical decisions made with your particular situation in mind. Ask for non-stress tests and biophysical profiles first, to reassure everyone involved. If mom and baby are OK, doing nothing is an option. |
Anonymous
| I had my heart set on a Bradley birth and was so sad when I had to be induced at 42 weeks. I never dilated one centimeter on my own. Nearly 24 hours after Pitocin was administered, I went into labor for 2 hours. The baby could not be pulled out with forceps. Instead of going to suction I had a C-section. My daughter weighed 10 pounds. I might never have delivered her naturally. |
Anonymous
| I also postponed by induction date and ended up going into labor on my own at 41 weeks. I was to have an induction the next day. |
Anonymous
|
I just asked my OBGYN about her "policy" for induction and she
said it is her practice to induce on the DUE DATE if the mom is over 35 years old! She cited a bunch of risks that she thought were more common among older moms - ie the placenta starts to break down . This just seems nutty to me and very stressful. Surely there has to be more medical reasoning for induction than just the age factor. |