# Good news, and a question about natural induction



## AlisonF (Nov 3, 2012)

Hello!

I have some lovely news - I'm 13 weeks pregnant, and delighted. Diabetes is challenging but going well with a HbA1c of 5.7%. 

I feel a bit like I'm on a production line at the moment, heading towards induction with drugs at 38 weeks, and I want to make sure I've considered all alternatives before I agree to that. 

I understand the reasons behind inducing at 38 weeks, and am relatively comfortable with agreeing to that. But I'm concerned by the number of stories I hear about induction drugs creating much stronger contractions, leading to increased need for pain relief which can slow down labour, which increases the risk of needing an emergency C-section. 

Does anyone have any experience of induction without drugs - using methods such as Foley's catheter or others? I've spoken to a few people who've successfully used this approach, but would be really interested to hear if any of you guys have used it?

Thanks


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## Northerner (Nov 3, 2012)

I have no answers for you, but HUGE congratulations!!!!


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## Catwoman76 (Nov 3, 2012)

Congratulations, thats lovely news. My baby is 12 now, but I wasn't induced so I'm afraid I can't help you out.  Best wishes CW


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## Ellie Jones (Nov 5, 2012)

my 3 are in their 20's now, but my last 2 that I had after being diagnosed were both induced... 

Being induced doesn't cause stronger labour pains, it might mean that the full level of labour pain is reached in a shorter space of time.. 

As to the pain relief drugs, at the end of the day you won't be given anything you don't want... There are more choices available for pain relief than when I had mine (my daughter had her baby a month ago) but each of these will have a stop off point, so that baby is born without it lagging in their system..

Whether these make any difference to length of labour I really don't know, or would like to hazard a guess...

Back again to increase of pain, I think those that have mentioned this have probably been given Quickening Hormone, which is supposed to speed up labour, but when I had it for my first daughter it did naff all apart from increasing labour pain.

Try to relax, enjoy your pregnancy and get in as much 'me' time as possible, as once little one's here 'me' time tends to become a distant memory!  Everybody will tell you all sorts of horror stories about labour, it's akin to the stories we hear about our diabetes..  And remember no 2 labours are the same...  They all different I know I've had 3 children, my mum said the same and she had 9 of us


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## Monkey (Nov 22, 2012)

Congratulations! Lovely news.

I was induced at 38+1 with my son, now 3y 3m. It was ok, really - I had one lot of prostin, then laboured on my own for a while before being put on synctocin. Fully dilated, pushed for 2 hours and ended up with an emcs due to his position. BUT it was all really positive, and only 20hrs start to finish. I think often induced labours pre 40wks can take a while to get going.

I'd heard lots of horror stories, but you really have to be as positive as you can and accept what happens, imo. Statistically, induction pre 38w does carry a higher risk of interventions, but for me, balanced against the reasons for doing ir, was worthwhile.

Of the 3 hospitals in my trust (as was) only one uses Foley's, and it's only used for 2nd or subsequent timers. May not be the same everywhere.

I did hand express colostrum antenatally and my mw was convinced that really helped the length of my labour - plus there's a bonus for getting breastfeeding established too!


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## AlisonF (Nov 22, 2012)

Thanks Monkey. Just trying to get a view of all the options out there so I can at least make an informed decision. 

I'm reading more and more about expressing colostrum pre birth and the more I hear, the more I like the idea. How soon before birth did you start? And was it difficult?


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## rachelha (Nov 22, 2012)

AlisonF said:


> Thanks Monkey. Just trying to get a view of all the options out there so I can at least make an informed decision.
> 
> I'm reading more and more about expressing colostrum pre birth and the more I hear, the more I like the idea. How soon before birth did you start? And was it difficult?



I expressed pre birth.  I did not do it for as long as planned as the date of my induction was moved forward a couple of days, but I did about 4 days worth.  I got a minimal amount - a few drops after a good hour.  I dont really know if it helped with bringing on labour.  After about 2 days of pessaries my waters broke and I went straight into full on labour.  I got dilated and started pushing but Nathan was breech and big so ended up with a section.  It took a while for my milk to come in so Nathan was cup fed some formula to keep him going and my colostrum was added to this.


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## Monkey (Nov 22, 2012)

AlisonF said:


> Thanks Monkey. Just trying to get a view of all the options out there so I can at least make an informed decision.
> 
> I'm reading more and more about expressing colostrum pre birth and the more I hear, the more I like the idea. How soon before birth did you start? And was it difficult?



Yep, I remember doing that - there such a shortage of well balanced info on diabetes and pregnancy, I found it very frustrating.

I started expressing at 37w, so did about 7 days before my indcution. Did 3 times a day, ten minutes at a time, and was very laid back about it - had a pretty good stash by the time we went into hospital. I wrote an account that should be on this board somewhere, or I can repost when I find it! Happy to help if I can.


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## AlisonF (Nov 23, 2012)

Thanks Monkey, I'll have a search for your post. You're right, there isn't a great deal of decent stuff out there on pregnancy and diabetes - lots on the basics, but little detailed, factual stuff beyond trawling though research papers. 

I'm blogging about what I'm learning in the hope it might help someone else.


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## Urbansoulpie (Nov 23, 2012)

HI Monkey

I've had a quick look but can't find your post on early expressing.

Please could you post a link if you can? I would be really interested in reading it.


And huge congratulations to AlisonF!

Thanks


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## Monkey (Nov 23, 2012)

Hmm, neither can I! Perhaps I didn't post it. It's not on this pc, so once I've put it back I'll post it then.


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## Northerner (Nov 23, 2012)

Monkey said:


> Hmm, neither can I! Perhaps I didn't post it. It's not on this pc, so once I've put it back I'll post it then.



Was it this one?

http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?p=373172&highlight=express#post373172


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## AlisonF (Nov 24, 2012)

That's it, thanks Northerner. 

Monkey, that's the most helpful thing I've read so far on the subject, thanks very much.


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## Smit (Nov 25, 2012)

Hi, i gave birth 6 months ago and if I ever get a minute to finish my birth story I'll put it up. I was induced at 38 weeks all very positive, ended up an emergency section but that was due to him been so long and foot stuck in rib cage, very painful! I did the same, researched everything and asked a million questions and the best advice I can give is go in with a very open mind and no definate birth plan. Go with the flow and ask as many questions as u can. It had never crossed my mind my baby could get stuck the way he did. Even the doctors were surprised. Nothing we could have done would have changed the outcome as he was truely stuck fast. I found the induction very positive as I was open to ever option. I found this helped as I hadn't built up ideas of how it should or must go. 

I spoke with my doctor after it all and said I didn't mind that it ended in a section but would have rather it hadn't and she was nice but blunt and said people forget childbirth is dangerous sometimes and many years ago neither of us would have survived, so I'm just grateful for modern technology. Hope this doesn't offend or scare you. Its nor ment to, its just how it happened. 

And I promise to try and get birth story up, any questions just ask. Xx


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## Smit (Nov 25, 2012)

Monkey I wish I'd seen this 6 months ago. Great post. X


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## Monkey (Nov 26, 2012)

Ah, Northerner you're a genius! I was looking for threads I'd started, which makes sense. Glad to hear it's a bit of use - I'm planning to do the same this time, based on how useful it was first time.


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