The Induction Game

What is it with the NHS pressuring so many women to be induced?

When I first got pregnant I was adamant I wanted an elective caesarean. I was scared to death of the thought of pushing a human out of *there*. I couldn’t bear to be in that much pain or that much out of control. Fast forward about 20-odd weeks and I’d done a full 180. I was reading every bit of material I could find on hypnobirthing and was hell bent on having a water birth with minimal pain relief.

I felt that if knowledge really is power then I was going to smash childbirth and it didn’t matter how many times the NHS told me I’d ‘ticked another risk box’ I would trust my body and not be bullied into being induced.

At 40 weeks pregnant with an IVF baby I was told that statistically my placenta was likely to start deteriorating. I was also told that by going ‘overdue’ I was accepting that the risk of still birth was increasing every day. At 41 weeks pregnant, I had a growth scan where the baby’s head measurement was estimated due to her being 3/5 engaged, and as a result her predicted weight calculation showed her growth had slowed from 20g a day to 16 on average. Again, I was told that by refusing an induction I was accepting the risk of my baby being stillborn. Talk about scare tactics!

I had enjoyed a textbook pregnancy. Yes I was 39, but I had always maintained a healthy BMI having only gained 1 stone in weight throughout, and other than my anxiety causing me to go for extra checks when I thought I’d had reduced movements a couple of times in the 2nd trimester, the baby was always absolutely fine.

All the research I’d done had suggested that 95% of women go into natural labour in week 41 of their pregnancy, so that became my ‘cut off point’ for any kind of intervention. This too became a bone of contention with the Doctors as they had my due date recorded as 2nd August based off of the 12 week scan measurements, but with IVF we of course knew the exact date of conception, so we knew that our true due date wasn’t until the 7th! This meant that I was refusing all intervention until the 14th, but of course that would make me 41+5 in the eyes of the NHS which came with additional pressure.

Luckily I’m not ‘backward in coming forward’ and am quiet good at self advocating in those situations, plus I had Joolz in my corner and she is certainly not behind the door; but I do worry about those women who lack confidence and struggle to stand their ground when being pushed into an unwanted induction, because it seems that inductions are so forcefully encouraged by consultants and midwives on any pregnant woman these days.

That said, I am human, and I wanted this baby to be born healthy just as much as the next mum-to-be. The few people we talked to about the repeated ‘offers’ of induction had started to say things like ‘well, they *are* the experts’, or ‘they know best’ and whilst it did hit a nerve and make me momentarily waiver, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed at them like they too were jumping on the induction band wagon and were just weak willed.

In our final consultant appointment, after agreeing to have a sweep, I flippantly said ‘I’d rather have a section than be induced’ and before the words had even left my mouth, it was booked for the following week!

The clock was well and truly ticking now, and I was still set on my water birth so I went home for a curry, a kerb walk and a good old bounce on the ball! I had 9 days to get the baby out my way!