Contractions help push your baby out of your uterus. Your provider may recommend inducing labor if your health or your baby's health is at risk or if you're 2 weeks or more past your due date. For some women, inducing labor is the best way to keep mom and baby healthy. Inducing labor should be for medical reasons only.
When do midwives induce labor? Your midwife may choose to induce labor if you are continuing on past your due date and there is medical indication that inducing labor may be necessary and safe. Ultimately, it is a very personal decision that you would make with your midwife during that time.
The most common reasons include post-term pregnancy (defined as 41+0 weeks' gestation), prelabour rupture of the amniotic membranes (PROM) or when the well-being of the woman or baby may be compromised by prolonging the pregnancy (e.g. in cases of fetal growth restriction or pre-eclampsia).
You might consider induction at 39 weeks to reduce the risk of certain health problems. Healthy women whose labor is induced at 39 weeks may have lower rates of preeclampsia and gestational hypertension than women who do not have induction at 39 weeks.
Contractions help push your baby out of your uterus. Your provider may recommend inducing labor if your health or your baby's health is at risk or if you're 2 weeks or more past your due date. For some women, inducing labor is the best way to keep mom and baby healthy.
Labor induction increases the risk that the uterine muscles won't properly contract after giving birth (uterine atony). This can lead to serious bleeding after delivery. Occasionally blood products are needed for serious bleeding.
Induced labour is usually more painful than natural labour. Depending on the type of induction you are having, this could range from discomfort with the procedure or more intense and longer lasting contractions as a result of the medication you have been given.
Risks of Induction
Pitocin causes contractions that both peak and become stronger more quickly than naturally occurring contractions. The result is a labor that is more difficult to manage. In addition, the uterine muscle never totally relaxes between contractions, increasing stress on both the uterus and the baby.
However, the proportion of cesarean delivery was significantly lower for the induced group (18.6 percent), compared to the other group (22.2 percent).
The risks of this are pain, discomfort and possible vaginal bleeding, along with irregular or regular contractions that may not lead to established labour (Madeley, 2021; NICE, 2021a).
Researchers have found that inducing labor after 37 weeks of pregnancy can lower the risk of perinatal mortality without increasing caesarean section rates. However, babies born to mothers who are induced are more likely to be admitted to a special care baby unit.
How Long Will My Induction Take? It can take up to two or three days to induce labor, but it usually takes less time. It may take more time if you're being induced before you're full-term or if it's your first baby.
It's your choice whether to have your labour induced or not. If your pregnancy lasts longer than 42 weeks and you decide not to have your labour induced, you should be offered increased monitoring to check your baby's wellbeing.
This is done during a vaginal examination where a midwife or doctor uses a single finger to sweep around the cervix and membranes in a circular motion to release hormones to trigger labour. This is also known as a 'stretch and sweep'. This may also be called cervical ripening.
Inducing labor, artificially starting labor with medical interventions rather than waiting for labor to naturally occur, is generally recommended only in cases when a delivery has failed to progress or if a complication develops.
It is well established that labor has to be induced in approximately 20 % of pregnancies [1]. However, induction fails in 20 % of induced pregnancies [2].
Typically, a normally progressing labor for a first time parent from the very first sign of labor through birth of a baby can take between 24 to 36 hours. Typically, we expect an induction to last close to 36 hours.
Induced labor can reduce maternal anxiety and discomfort related to normal pregnancy, especially when the patient lives far from the hospital or has a history of previous pregnancy with labor abnormalities, or in case of concern for rapid labor in multiparous women.
If you have been offered an induction of labour for a specific reason, but you do not want this, you can choose to wait for natural labour or plan a caesarean birth instead. Speak with your healthcare professional as early as possible to discuss your options.
As it turns out, that deeply-held idea was not based on sound science. And a few new studies have found that, in fact, inducing healthy women at 39 weeks isn't necessarily associated with an increased risk of C-sections, and could be associated with some advantages, too. Do inductions cause C-sections?
The procedure can be uncomfortable but it should not be very painful. You may get strong period cramps after the balloon is inserted, usually these die off after a few hours. It is suggested that you have some pain relief ready at home for this. Paracetamol or Co-codamol is fine to take in pregnancy.
In human and animal studies spontaneous onset of labour is proven to have a circadian rhythm with a preference for start of labour in the evening. Moreover, when spontaneous labour starts in the evening, the total duration of labour and delivery shortens and fewer obstetric interventions are needed.
Usually your cervix will open up naturally on its own once you're ready to go into labor. However if your cervix shows no signs of dilating and effacing (softening, opening, thinning) to allow your baby to leave the uterus and enter the birth canal, your practitioner will need to get the ripening rolling.