38 Week Elective Induction

[Anonymous]

I just had my 38+ week appointment and they talked to me about an elective induction next week. I am 2 centimeters already. I have heard some negative things about induction...has anyone else ever been in this situation.

[Anonymous]

Why are they recommending elective induction at 39 weeks? Unless there's a medical reason, I would absolutely say no.

[Anonymous]

Is your doctor trying to avoid being called in for labor over Thanksgiving??

[Anonymous]

Personally, I'd be wary of a doc recommending elective induction prior to 40 wks. Being 2cm already is not necessarily an indicator of anything. My advice to you would be to wait it out until your baby (and body) is ready to be born.

[Anonymous]

I was 2 cm when I was induced after 41 weeks. It took 38 hours of induction for my baby to be born. He clearly was not ready.

[Anonymous]

Risks of induction: Baby is not quite ready to be born and might need to spend a day or two in special care nursery, labor is longer and more difficult, more drugs wind up being introduced into the birth process which then stress out the baby, epidural at an earlier time in labor is much more likely, cesarean more likely.

**Disclaimer** Not all inductions encounter these particular problems, but the general risk of these things happening increases with an induction.

Benefits of induction: You get to be done being pregnant. You get to have your baby. Your doctor gets to check you off.

[Anonymous]

I was induced at 41 weeks and everything went great (short labor, very little pushing, etc.). But 39 weeks? Is this your first? Most OBs I know will not induce a first time mom before 41 weeks unless medically necessary.

[Anonymous]

OP - I would be concerned if I were you. I would be concerned that your baby is not ready, making it more likely that the induction will fail and you could end up with a c-section. If this is your first, I believe statistically you are likely to go past your "due date." There was an interesting article and thread about early inductions recently - you might find these useful.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33483153/ns/health-pregnancy/

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75879.page

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I was electively induced at 38 weeks with #1 and plan to do the same with #2 in a few weeks. Our baby was measuring big (confirmed by ultrasound) and given the size of my husband (big, tall guy) and the fact that I am fairly tall, coupled with gestational diabetes, it made sense that our baby was going to be big. In addition, it was the week before Thanksgiving with #1 and will be the week before Christmas with #2. I can honestly say that my entire birth experience was the most pleasant, uncomplicated thing I could ever have dreamed of having. We started the induction early in the a.m., broke my water a few hours later, got an epidural, had a fun and enjoyable afternoon chatting with my husband / parents, napping and watching tv and pushed for 15-20 minutes at 5 p.m. and delivered a healthy, happy 8lb 15oz, 22in baby boy who had absolutely no medical issues whatsoever. Two years later, my Dr. still talks about my textbook-perfect vaginal birth (which I have to believe might not have been the case two weeks later given the size of our son at birth). You will hear all types of stories as everyone is different, but I wanted to share a positive one and am thrilled that it looks like I am going to be able to induce again with #2 - especially since that will allow me to be home with my family (since H1N1 restrictions are limiting visitors) for the holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was electively induced at 38 weeks with #1 and plan to do the same with #2 in a few weeks. Our baby was measuring big (confirmed by ultrasound) and given the size of my husband (big, tall guy) and the fact that I am fairly tall, coupled with gestational diabetes, it made sense that our baby was going to be big. In addition, it was the week before Thanksgiving with #1 and will be the week before Christmas with #2. I can honestly say that my entire birth experience was the most pleasant, uncomplicated thing I could ever have dreamed of having. We started the induction early in the a.m., broke my water a few hours later, got an epidural, had a fun and enjoyable afternoon chatting with my husband / parents, napping and watching tv and pushed for 15-20 minutes at 5 p.m. and delivered a healthy, happy 8lb 15oz, 22in baby boy who had absolutely no medical issues whatsoever. Two years later, my Dr. still talks about my textbook-perfect vaginal birth (which I have to believe might not have been the case two weeks later given the size of our son at birth). You will hear all types of stories as everyone is different, but I wanted to share a positive one and am thrilled that it looks like I am going to be able to induce again with #2 - especially since that will allow me to be home with my family (since H1N1 restrictions are limiting visitors) for the holidays.

PP, congrats on your great birth story. But no baby's size is "confirmed by ultrasound." Ultrasound just offers a bunch of statistics based on all previous babies' measurements. It confirms nothing. For every baby who an ultrasound predicted to be big and who ended up being big, there is a baby who an ultrsound predicted to be big and who ended up being small. Like my daughter, who the ultrasound predicted wound be an 8 pounder, but who ended up being 5 lbs, 14 oz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is your doctor trying to avoid being called in for labor over Thanksgiving??

Ding ding ding I think we have a winner!


OP, google Bishop's score. For FTMs, it's a good predictor of how an induction could go - the lower the score, the higher chance of a c/s (you get points not just for dilation but for effacement, position(station) etc).

I personally would not consider a 39 week induction for no medical reason.

[Anonymous]

Here's the thing, OP. You will hear tons of stories from people who had elective inductions that go swimmingly. You will hear just as many from people who had a terrible experience. Here's the rub - an induction carries risks. Are you willing to accept those risks for no medical reason? I wouldn't, but your mileage may vary.

And for what it is worth - I was 3 cm and 80% effaced at 37 weeks. Baby kept cooking for nearly 5 more weeks.

[Anonymous]

I was electively induced at 38 weeks with #1 and plan to do the same with #2 in a few weeks. Our baby was measuring big (confirmed by ultrasound) and given the size of my husband (big, tall guy) and the fact that I am fairly tall, coupled with gestational diabetes, it made sense that our baby was going to be big. In addition, it was the week before Thanksgiving with #1 and will be the week before Christmas with #2. I can honestly say that my entire birth experience was the most pleasant, uncomplicated thing I could ever have dreamed of having. We started the induction early in the a.m., broke my water a few hours later, got an epidural, had a fun and enjoyable afternoon chatting with my husband / parents, napping and watching tv and pushed for 15-20 minutes at 5 p.m. and delivered a healthy, happy 8lb 15oz, 22in baby boy who had absolutely no medical issues whatsoever. Two years later, my Dr. still talks about my textbook-perfect vaginal birth (which I have to believe might not have been the case two weeks later given the size of our son at birth). You will hear all types of stories as everyone is different, but I wanted to share a positive one and am thrilled that it looks like I am going to be able to induce again with #2 - especially since that will allow me to be home with my family (since H1N1 restrictions are limiting visitors) for the holidays.

It sounds like these were risk factors that made your doctor think the risks of an induction outweighed the risk of letting you go longer. OP didn't mention any risk factors, which is why I'm very suspicious of her doctor.

OP, something like 1 in 5 births in the US are done via C-Section. I refuse to believe that 20 percent of babies must be born by being cut out of their mother's stomachs. Watch "The Business of Being Born." It is a good overview of the range of medical interventions and how going down that path is a slippery slope.

I had 2 inductions, both after 41 weeks. I am obviously not against inductions, but I do think they happen way too often and are sometimes scheduled for convenience (doctor's, mother's) and not for good medical reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP, something like 1 in 5 births in the US are done via C-Section. I refuse to believe that 20 percent of babies must be born by being cut out of their mother's stomachs. Watch "The Business of Being Born." It is a good overview of the range of medical interventions and how going down that path is a slippery slope.

Agree with you, PP, except that it's worse than that - more like 1 in 3. At many hospitals in this area, the c section rate is over 40%.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the feed back. I have had a normal healthy pregnancy and there are no risk factors involved. So far they think the baby is a normal size. I sort of got the feeling that the doctor could just cross me off his list if he scheduled this elective induction for no reason.