Cristina's Handy Guide To Surviving the Induction of Labor
Im due for March 13th.... it's now March 15.... Do you think the baby is ok?... You are now 41 weeks... I will send you for a non-stress test.... Your placenta seems to be aging... your fluid levels are decreasing.... The head is still high.... Any contractions?.... You are now at 41.3 weeks.... If you pass 40 weeks we will have schedule an induction... We must induce.... We will induce... You will be induced on Friday.... We will induce on Monday.... You should have the baby within 12 hours.... Induction.... SOUND FAMILIAR???
Seems like we have gone from "pregnancy can last anywhere between 38 and 42 weeks to"... "you are an oven and if your bun is in there for more than 40 weeks it will be horribly burnt and thus useless"...
Outside of out of hospital midwifery, the induction epidemic is rampant. I will not go into the dangers of induction in this entry. You can learn all about those in books, movies and webpages and by asking midwives. Instead I have created a list of questions to ask your doctor or midwife when they schedule or suggest an induction. I'd love to hear your comments:
10 Questions to Ask your Inducing Provider:
1. How many more years might I be pregnant?
2. If I am pregnant for another year will my child learn to walk and garble in the womb?
3. If my pregnancy lasts 3 years will my child learn to identify colors in the womb?
4. After you put the artificial oxitocin in my vein how do you expect to compensate for the other hormones that won't be naturally produced by my body that are necesary for labor, such as endophines, prolactin, catacolmines, prostaglandins.... and won't be produced by my body because of the artificial oxitocin.
5. How do you feel about the fact that I will be expereincing contractions that are about 3 times stronger than natural contractions? Does that matter to you at all? Will you be there to hold my hand and help me breathe?
6. How do you feel about my chances of me ending up in an emergency cesarean? Does that make you nervous at all? Are you pretty good at doing emergency cesareans?
7. After my baby is in intensive care for meconium aspiration, will you have any trouble sleeping at all? Do you think you might have nightmares?
8. After my baby comes home from the NICU and feels like a complete stranger to me, can you recommend where I can find my "maternal instincts" and "innate ability to breastfeed"?
9. What are your thoughts on the fact that, if my baby hasn't initiated labor maybe its not ready to be born, may be too small, not ready to breathe, not ready to handle extrauterine life, and may need another week to mature?
10. So, can you, once again, really clearly explain to me why it is dangerous for my baby to stay within MY womb, where it has lived its ENTIRE life for another week?
Very handy indeed. I loved them all, but especially numbers 4 and 10. Perfectly said.
ResponderEliminarMy second labor was induced.
ResponderEliminarQuestions 1,2, and 3 are demeaning and rude.
4. My body responded wonderfully, and had no after effects.
5. My contractions were less painful than my first labor (that came naturally)
6. I pulled my baby girl to my chest myself :)
7. My wonderfully healthy baby girl had no such problems.
8. We went home after 24 hours (hospital policy) and that entire time she was in the room with me. Not in NICU.
9. Again. My baby was very healthy.
10. It was not dangerous to keep her in, it was a decision that I talked through with my doctor thoroughly before making. I was not pushed into it or manipulated into it. I felt comfortable bringing my baby into this world when I did and I am very happy with my outcome.
There are two sides to everything. Do be so high and mighty, and judgmental.
to Kati Hofman,
ResponderEliminarSince it is impossible to compare what happened in your induction to what would have happened if you hadn't been induced, science uses large groups of people and statistical analysis. There will always be people who fall in the extremes of the tails of the bell curves, but the vast majority is in the middle. Saying your induction was so good, is like saying you won the lottery so others shouldn't expect to lose it.