Planned home birth, facing induction

[anna_r]

Hi everyone,

Just looking for a bit of encouragement and hopefully positive stories!

Currently four days overdue with my second...first birth quite drawn out and lots of intervention, synto drip, antibiotic drip, epidural + catheter, permanent monitoring, ventouse etc...although everything worked out fine and have happy healthy beautiful daughter of 18 months.

Had planned a different type of experience for the second - booked with Brierley who have been fab, birth pool, done hypnobirthing course, feeling very positive about everything until due date came and went on Thursday. Now having to face the prospect of being induced again. Obviously trying all the usual things - spicy food, reflexology etc but nothing worked so far. I'm only four days overdue but no signs at all yet, head only 1/5 engaged (although apparently for a second birth head can go in and out more easily?)

Apparently the NICE guidelines for induction have changed very recently and they now recommend induction before 42 weeks as risk to baby increases at 42 weeks from 0.1% to 0.2% after 42 weeks. Brierley happy for me to go to 42 weeks and over if have regular scans although being a scientific type of person I'm unwilling to go against medical stats. So will probably book in for induction at 41 + 5.

Anyone else had to be induced after planning home birth? I realise induction will start with prostaglandin pessary, and if that works there is the possibility of having relatively natural birth (albeit in hospital), however if that doesn't work I'm facing a similar experience to last time with lots of wires/drips etc and no moving around (I don't think I can face synto drip without epidural - although who knows?)

Any other ideas for induction? I've considered castor oil as a last resort - but don't much fancy the nausea aspect when have enough to cope with going through birth...anyone done it successfully? Is it at all possible to recreate that home birth environment in hospital while being induced? Has anyone taken their own pool into kings (in case pool rooms not available?) and managed to use it?

x

[buggie]

Not able to help regarding experience, but just wanted to give you some moral support!

I'm having my first in Sept and have been warned already I may have to be induced if I go overdue due to gestational diabetes, trying to keep a v open mind as is too far away to get stressed/be writing plans in stone for.

I'm sure some of the things you've been doing already (especially the hypnobirthing) will be transferable to hospital setting, might be worth doing a labour ward tour to ask the questions you've got - or checking with the midwives as am sure you won't be their first induction/change of plans.

Hope all goes ok for you x

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

That is great that the guidelines have changed for inductions. My son was literally two weeks overdue and it was obvious because he had really long nails, was very dry and flaky and for those two weeks he was adding on more weight, I wished I had been induced before then.

Have you had a sweep to get things moving?

I tried everything too, curries, walking, pineapples etc to no avail.

Castor oil was not something I was willing to try as I know it can make babies poorly also.

Are you having the baby has Kings? I wished I could say I had a positive experience and that they tried to stick to my birth plan but everything for me was wrong from the induction to the birth but then I am pretty unlucky in a lot of things. I know quite a few ladies had a positive birth story, Pickle has had ( two I think ) positive inductions. So you could be able to have a positive birth also. I think as long as you have a good midwife there, then you are pretty much going to have a good experience, whereas I had various midwives and the whole thing was clinical to me as no one reassured me, explained what was happening so I ended up like your first birth!

I think it would be good to make sure your midwife and birthing partners know your wishes and make it clear once you are induced that you want the whole thing to be relaxed and you want feedback, if I could turn the clock back, I would have made sure my mum was there from the start ( and not the father as he completely stressed me out and didn't make sure I was reassured and talk on my behalf to ensure the birth was not stressful, he was easily fobbed off) because she would have been able to keep me calm, talk me through everything and voice my wishes and I think it would have resulted in a calmer positive birth experience.

I hope you get the birth you want and fingers crossed baby will make an appearance before you are induced!

[anna_r]

Thanks for your good wishes and advice Heidi and Buggie.

Sweeps start at 41 weeks (this Thursday) and the Brierley do them on consecutive days if the cervix seems suitable (which is good as I had to fight to have multiple sweeps last time round before they went straight for the induction). So fingers crossed they will get things going.

Still time to go I guess but every day at this stage seems like another week of being pregnant!!

[Sanne Panne]

Have the midwives offered you a sweep yet? I got one on my due date and one 4 days after - the morning after the second sweep I had my (second) baby at home. Not sure if the sweep set it off but I think it helped.

[Fuschia]

Son no 1 born at 41+4 after 3 sweeps

Twins were induced (had my waters broken was enough to get it started)

Acupuncture can be helpful..

x

[reren]

This is a bit of a weird one - and possibly an old wives tale - i certainly can't vouch for its success - but my husband's grandmother swears by cleaning the kitchen floor! I thought it was completely old wives tale-ish but my anti-natal yoga teacher was advising someone else in my class that crawling and wiggling your bottom back and forth and moving your arms in a cleaning the floor kind of motion is a great thing for getting the baby into the right position and getting things moving! My husbands grandmother (who obviously used this many years before anti-natal yoga was common in the uk!) swears it got all the births in her family on track!

You are probably inundated with similarly bizarre ideas - so apologies if this is completely unhelpful - but just in case its useful I thought i'd pass it on!

[Sanne Panne]

Sorry missed your message about the sweeps. My midwives also normally start offering them at 41w but when I asked them to do one they were happy to go for it - maybe because my first birth was so easy (and fairly early) but you can always ask if you can come in (or they can come over) to have an earlier one done...

[Fuschia]

Evening primrose oil capsules near the cervix have similar effect to sperm, I believe... (soften it)

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Hopefully the sweep will get it moving, I only had one sweep and it did nothing but I think if I was offered more sweeps, it probably would have got things moving. So try and take all the sweeps you can before you are induced.

The waiting is not nice, 9 months of pregnancy feels like a lifetime without baby refusing to come out!

[anna_r]

Ok have a few new things to try from this thread - cleaning floor and evening primrose oil capsules! Plus good to hear success stories of sweeps...

x

[sophiechristophy]

Don't worry too much yet! You are only a few days overdue!! Try to get some rest, and eat as much as you can - I bet you go into labour all on your own, and you are going to need all your strength for the birth :)

Good luck!!

[Fuschia]

Ana, if you don't want to go over 42w, why not book for induction at 42? TBH, although the risk doubles, it's still tiny. I was booked for a svan at 42+0 with DS1 but he came all on his own very fast a couple of days prior, in the end...

I think tyhe monitoring via scan etc is VERY thorough, I had that with the twins as T1 wasn't growing at the end and at Kings they check blood flow to the brain and the extremities and placental blood flow and all sorts

[busymum]

hi our childbirth experiences sound very similar. i had the whole induction thing with 1st baby at kings at 42 wks, our experience sounds exactly the same, it took 5 days, gave birth to a very healthy baby girl 18 days overdue. Managed to get the brierley for baby no. 2, all geared up for home birth, hypnobirthing etc, but 40 weeks then 41 weeks came and went..... I did not want to be induced at kings again! the brierley were very supportive, we discussed everything and agreed a plan, at 42 weeks they would come and give me sweeps every other day at home and on the other days I had to go to Kings maternal assessment unit for monitoring and scans (baby number 2 was so snug, sucking her thumb, she was in no rush to come out). I was in labour on and off (mostly at night) during this sweep induction process. At 42 + 6 my waters burst(or rather a slightly heavy handed kings midwife burst them for me, not my idea) but anyway that got labour moving even faster. During the following night we spotted signs of maconium in the waters and at that point brierley took me to kings where I was put on the drip and gave birth 6 hours later to another very healthy baby girl. so no home birth for me, but a much better birth experience. I just think some of us are meant to hatch our babies for longer? You are in such good hands with the Brierley

Did you try accupuncture?

[anna_r]

Will discuss dates for induction with midwives on Thursday together with monitoring and maybe go for induction at 42. First daughter was born at 42+2 in the end.

Busymum - yes that does sound very similar. I do feel I just 'carry longer' than the average. I tried acupuncture with my last birth (3 lots) and didn't feel it did much and I didn't exactly enjoy it. That's why I've gone for something different this time round (reflexology) which at least is relaxing! May be worth doing some acupuncture too though.

In the end last time round I did go into labour naturally the night before due to be induced - although it was unidentified (until later) hind water leak with meconium - hence why descended into induction drip anyway. That's another reason for leaving until 42 weeks too I suppose.

I was totally mentally prepared to have to transfer to hospital from home for a number of reasons, but for some reason don't think I had really contemplated the prospect of not even getting to start labouring at home for number 2. Oh well - baby will come when they are ready I suppose!

[The Nappy Lady]

Hi Anna

I so understand how awful this bit is - I've had two home births but both at 41 weeks. With no2 I was desperate NOT to end up in hospital being induced as having had one fab home birth I really wanted another. It is awful having it hanging over you, but like Fuschia I would wait until 42 weeks. In France 41 weeks is the 'normal' length if a pregnancy so you wouldn't even be classed as overdue yet - don't despair.

My 2nd was born covered I. Vernix at 41 weeks and if we hadn't been sure of our dates we'd all (including midwives) judged her as being early.

Clary sage & jasmine essential oils are supposed to bring on labour - you mustn't use them until due date but can then put a few drops in the bath or in a base oil and massage into your lower back. I did it daily from 40 weeks and even if it dent work it is very nice and smells good! Get good oils though - I get from Angela Flanders at Columbia road, she does mail order.

I had castor oil on standby and still don't know whether I'd have used it as I have read such conflicting stuff on the Internet. I know one girl who had a fast but fine birth after taking it, but no other first hand accounts. Think probably I'd have tried a small dose in preference to a hospital induction.

I'd agree lots of floor cleaning on hands and knees, walking and especially walking sideways uphill or even up and down the stairs, which opens up the pelvis and helps to get the head in position - the more the head is pushing on the cervix the better now.

Good luck - stay positive, all is not yet lost. I'm in Spain on hols but will be thinking of you and hoping for good news on this thread soon!

Molly

P.s. If baby does end up being born in hospital remember it's the destination, not the journey that really matters. Xxxxx

[The Nappy Lady]

Apopa for typos in above - iPhone auto correcting and tricky to check on small screen!

[Devonlass15]

I strongly advise you to go and get acupuncture at The Grove vale practice. They do a specific session for going over due.

I did that and then ate loads of fresh pineapple and went into labour that evening! It definitely worked!

Elly

[charlottep]

Anna three months ago I was in the same position as you. After a very long induction with my first i was hoping for a home birth for number two with the brierley midwives. I went a week overdue and went to health matters for acupuncture. They also gave me some homeopathic remedy, i think it was derived from cohosh? Anyway i think the homeopathic remedy did the trick as i felt the first twinges after taking it and the twinges got much stronger with the second dose. Ended up having a very quick home birth and the brierley midwives were fab. I will keep everything crossed for you.

[linzkg]

I second acupuncture - Dulwich Therapy Rooms does it too (ask for Dan possibly) I have castor oil you're welcome to try - didn't work on me but then that was just my luck I'm sure. I was desperate so took it - I'd also tried pineapples and curries etc. I was also with the Brierley and I also had sweeps almost daily (yuk!)

I eventually on the Friday evening burst into tears as I did not want an induction so we googled reflexology points and it worked wonders - waters broke 4 hours later! at 42 weeks.

I would try avoid an induction and go the natural route as best you can - I still ended up in hospital but not the maternity ward as no beds and I had 3 ladies with me all going through it .. sorry. but for the above stories some ladies have an alright time!!

Definitely try the reflexology points though - its pretty easy - and I've heard others use the same method.

Good luck.

[snowboarder]

The day before my little boy rocked up I cleared out the spare room and made about 6 car journeys to west norwood recycling place. I'm convinced it was all the speed bumps on the way that got things moving....

[new mother]

Sorry no relevant ideas but good luck! it's exciting.

[Mellors]

Baby No 1 born at 42 weeks for me (induction etc etc ending in awful emergency C-section to get him out "on time").

I stamped my feet with Kings re baby No 2 (they wanted to induce at 41+5, then seriously pressured me again at 42). I finally, with help from my midwives, managed to get them to agree to induce (despite their scare stories) at 42+3 (being a Monday as opposed to the Friday of 42 weeks). Thankfully she decided enough was enough and popped out with no fuss all by herself at 42+2, just in the nick of time!

I honestly think my babies just take about 42 weeks to brew, and no matter what I try there's no shifting them before then. The post dates monitoring is great, and I'm more than happy to rely on that.

No real help, I just wanted to let you know that with a bit of foot stamping a) you can wait for a late induction and b) there can be really happy outcomes as a result of it.

You have my every sympathy and good luck - those last few days are miserable. Baby is nearly here though :)

[Mellors]

PS Consultant at Kings told me grumpily at 42 week check that the baby's head was still not at all engaged, and no signs of baby making it out on her own so they'd see me on Monday anyway. Codswallop. She eventually just dropped, locked and loaded and shot out :)

[sb]

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