Inducing Labor (Medically)
If your due date has come and gone and you are still pregnant, with no signs of contractions in sight, your OBGYN will check you and have an ultrasound to estimate the size of the baby and how much amniotic fluid is around him. If the baby is estimated to be in any danger you will be induced soon there after.
If the baby still has room to grow, your doctor may let you wait for another week or two before inducing labor. The longest most practitioners will let you go before inducing is the 42nd week of pregnancy. After that time the placenta may become less effective and many risks may present themselves to both baby and mom.
Some other reasons you may be induced are if your baby is too big, your water breaks and labor does not start on its own, your placenta no longer functions properly, you have a chronic or acute illness or if you previously had a full-term stillbirth.
Inducing labor means to use medication and other techniques to start or induce contractions. The method in which you will be induced depends on the condition of your cervix at the time. If your cervix hasn’t started to soften, efface (thin out), or dilate (open up), it’s considered “unripe” – or not yet ready for labor.
Methods used to ripen the cervix and induce labor include prostaglandins, Foley catheter, Stripping or sweeping the membranes, Rupturing the membranes and Pitocin.
Prostaglandins are used in situations when you need to be induced but your cervix is not yet dilated or thinned out. Once admitted to the hospital, your healthcare provider will start the induction by inserting medication that contains prostaglandins into your vagina. This medication helps to ripen the cervix and sometimes stimulates enough contractions eliminating the need to use oxytocin.
Foley catheter may be use instead of using medication to ripen your cervix. Your healthcare provider may insert a catheter with a very small uninflated balloon at the end into your cervix. When the balloon is inflated with water, it puts pressure on your cervix, stimulating the release of prostaglandins, which cause the cervix to open and soften. When your cervix begins to dilate, the balloon falls out and the catheter is removed.
Stripping or sweeping the membranes is used if your cervix is already somewhat dilated and there’s no urgent reason to induce. Your health provider will insert her finger through the cervix and manually separate your amniotic sac from the lower part of your uterus. This causes the release of prostaglandins, which may help further ripen your cervix and possibly get contractions going.
This procedure is most commonly done during an office visit. You’ll be sent home to wait for labor to start, usually within the next 48 hours. Many moms-to-be find this procedure uncomfortable or even painful.
Rupturing the membranes is a procedure performed only if you are at least a few centimeters dilated. Your healthcare provider will insert a small, plastic hook tool through the cervix to break your amniotic sac. Once your water has broken, most OBGYNs will want you to deliver within 24 hours because of risk of infection for you and your baby.
oxytocin (Pitocin) is given through an IV pump to start or augment your contractions. Your healthcare provider will adjust the amount you need according to how your labor progresses.
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July, 10th 2010 at 7:02 am
I went 7 days overdue – fortunately I went into labor just two days before they planned to medically induce. Looking back, I think the doctor was young and in far too much of a hurry to induce – I felt very pressured and he gave me very little information.
July, 10th 2010 at 1:04 pm
I am sorry to hear you had little information provided from your doctor, but glad to hear you went into labor on your own. How was your birth experience?
July, 25th 2010 at 5:40 pm
great post, thank you so much
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November, 13th 2010 at 2:17 am
Really nice post,thank you
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October, 14th 2011 at 3:56 am
Many women experience fatigue as one of their pregnancy symptoms. Although this might be a sign of being pregnant, it can also indicate other things as well. Morning sickness can occur at any time of the day, and can vary from an occasional faint sensation to overwhelming vomiting and nausea. By and large, morning sickness is one of the pregnancy symptoms that tends to disappear towards the end of the first trimester.