The concept of failed inductions being a good thing, was brought up on ICAN. The process of labor begins when the baby's lungs secrete a hormone that kickstarts labor. In the absence of labor, it pretty much means that your baby and your body are not ready yet.
How often do you hear of a woman going in for an induction, being stuck on pitocin, epidural, and water broken for "too long" and then "needing" a c-section for fetal distress, CPD, or FTP? It happens a lot. And then, the women are told that their bodies do not function correctly. After all, when you induce labor, it's just going to happen, right? Wrong. Think of it in terms of trying to peel back the petals of a flower before it's ready to bloom. If it's JUST about to bloom, you may have some success with opening the flower. But if it's not ready yet, the petals are just going to fall off and you'll have a ruined flower. It's the same with trying to induce a baby who's not ready, in a body that is not ripe.
When an induction fails to completely dilate a woman, and bring down a baby....the body is doing its job. Our bodies are built to protect the unborn baby while in our womb. God designed it as such, and quite intricately. An induction is the process of adding chemicals to our body to artificially simulate labor. The contractions that are brought on by the use of pitocin are unnatural contractions. They are harder than natural contractions, and pose risks to the baby. Pitocin is actually NOT approved by the FDA for use in pregnancy or labor. Cervadil is a gel that is inserted next to the cervix, to ripen and begin labor. But did you know that cervidil contains pig semen? Cervidil is a prostaglandin...the same type contained in your husband's semen. ; ) I'd much rather have my husband's semen inside of me, than a pig's. There is also the Foley Catheter method of induction. This is where a catheter with a balloon is inserted between the amniotic sac and opening of the cervix. This is means of manually dilating the cervix. Theoretically, it is supposed to fall out after 4cm dilation. However, women have experienced complications with this where the balloon does not disengage. It can also cause cervical swelling, preterm labor for subsequent labors, and often is not JUST a foley induction. Rarely do interventions come individually....they tend to become a slippery slope.
Anyway, back to my point. Our bodies are designed to protect the baby inside of our wombs. When there is something artificial that is added to the body, trying to eject the baby...it's going to hold onto that baby, trying to protect it. When an induction has failed, the body has done its job very efficiently.
Instead of women being told that their bodies are broken, or that their baby was too big...they should be told that their body functioned exactly how it should have. It protected the baby inside. I truly pray that there will be a shift in how pregnancy, labor, and birth are seen. Labor and birth is not a disease that needs to be "handled", it's a beautiful process that was designed by God. I pray that more women begin to trust in God ( or whatever they believe in ) when it comes to childbirth. It's one of the most amazing experiences that we will ever go through, and it's such a shame that women rush it, or numb and drug their bodies ( and babies!!!! ) for it. Should we have an epidural for an orgasm that may be too intense? I should hope not. : )
18 comments:
Hi... you don't know me and I just stumbled on to your blog... I have been searching Cervidil info. I am 39 (just turned) pregnant with baby #1 who was due YESTERDAY! And my midwife wants to induce next Monday (the 13th) with Cervidil b/c of "my age" - I have been healthy as can be the whole pregnancy, only gained 12 pounds and baby Evan is healthy too. Good heart rate and my BP is excellent. I am unclear why we can't wait another week and after reading your Failed Induction... blog, I am determined to wait another week if we are both still healthy! It makes perfect sense! I am actually going to print it out and take it with me to my appt. on Friday. We have been trying sex... as much as I can handle (3x a week) but it's not doing anything to my cervix. I'm heading out for some pineapple today! BTW - I too am a believer and know God made us to birth babies. I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable though... my email is teamwojo@gmail.com and my name is Paige. Thanks for listening!
Hi Paige!
I tried to email you at the address you provided, but it came back to me as invalid! :(
I hope you read this, and soon, and can send me an email directly at: Birthkeeper@gmail.com
I have some additional information for you, and a woman I'd love for you to get in touch with. She just had her third baby at age 39. ;)
Christy
This post just made me feel so much better. I was in the hospital on Monday and Tuesday for induction (I'm not actually due until tomorrow) but it failed. I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. Everyone else I knew who had an induction, had a successful one, without needing a C-section.
I'm almost glad it didn't work now. I wanted it to happen naturally anyway. I just hope I didn't stress my poor daughter out.
Oh Sarah. :( I do hope and pray you let your little one come when he/she is ready, and PLEASE remember that *normal* gestation is all the way until 42 completed weeks. Your baby just isn't ready yet. Hang in there, and enjoy these last couple of days/weeks that you can relax.
Just wanted you to know I linked to this in a soap-box rambling on my blog. :o) I read it quite some time ago but it's really stuck with me.
I know you posted your opinion a while back but I just wanted to add that even nature makes mistakes.A high number of women and babies use to die back when there was no medical help during child birth.If u can do it natural then that is great.I think u should listen to your Dr.and if you are not sure then get a second opinion.There are some cases where induction and c section are necessary.I would be careful what u tell women to do,especially pregnant women.Alot of time we r sensitive and are looking for the right answer for our situation's.You might be telling them something that will hurt them or the baby.A friend of mine had a all natural birth at home and her baby died.Had he been born at the hospital he would have been able to get the medical treatment when he needed it.When the ambulance came it was to late.You midwives don't always have thing's down.I go with a real dr when it comes to my precious lil bundles.Also,I had an induction and an epidural and my daughter is as smart as a whip and is super healthy.Of all the women I know who has had babies and have had induction's or an epidural I have not heard one bad story or outcome.
Actually, women and babies were dying because of infection and disease. Women and babies died back before antibiotics and vaccines for common and rampant disease was prevalent. They were not dying in large numbers because they didn't force their baby out in time. I really wish people would look into the history of childbirth before making comments like this. Women were dying when attended by physicians, when they would go from attending a dying individual, to attending a birthing mother. Those attended by Midwives had much lower death rates. Even when childbirth moved to the hospitals in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the death rates were actually higher than those attended by Midwives at home.
Obstetricians are trained in surgery, mostly. They aren't a "real" doctor - they are a doctor. Midwives don't ever claim to be doctors, but we have one thing over Obstetricians - we are trained SPECIFICALLY in normal childbirth. If you ask an Obstetrician how many physiological births s/he has seen, the number will be extremely low, if any.
Are there times when inductions and cesareans are necessary? ABSOLUTELY! I've never claimed otherwise. But definitely, absolutely, positively not at the rate that they occur now. And this is not just my opinion, but the opinion of the World Health Organization, Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, American Academy of Pediatrics, and even the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Unfortunately, there is no way to make doctors follow evidence-based protocols other than litigation.
I was induced with my first child at 38 weeks due to low fluid levels. It was a long process(3 days) and not at all the process I had envisioned. I am currently 38 weeks and they attempted an induction a few days ago and it failed. So, we were sent home and I think this baby is just not ready yet. I am looking forward to going into labor on my own and hope he continues to be healthy so I don't have to go through the induction process again. Your blog made me feel reassured and confident my baby will come when he is ready!
Hi, i' m really interested in knowing how long we can go on for without inducing the baby. My first baby was 18 days late. At two weeks late induction started with the internal gel, then the balloon method and then the oxytocine; a slippery slope indeed.
Now i'd really like my second to come naturally - i'm 31 weeks- but think i wont be so lucky as my mom was induced at 42 weeks with all 3 of her babiez.
I' m going to stsrt with acupuncture At 35 weeks, but wanted to know what you think? Do i just keep waiting for my body to start labour naturally after 42 weeks?
Tessa
Tessa - it sounds like you just have a maternal history of gestating longer. There is nothing wrong with this. I know of several mamas who will likely never give birth before 43/44 weeks, and that is *their* normal. Why is there such a rush to get baby out?
I wouldn't even recommend acupuncture starting so soon - your babe is likely not going to be ready for a full 8 weeks or so after you begin. I would strongly suggest finding a care provider who is knowledgeable with moms who gestate longer, who is hands-off, and then just try to enjoy the end of your pregnancy without stressing about when baby will come.
Babies are smart. They initiate labor when they are ready. For some women this means 36 weeks. For others, it means 44. That's the biggest problem with modern obstetrics - it doesn't allow for individual growth rates anymore.
The only way your babies will be induced, is if you allow it. You absolutely CAN allow your babies to come in their own timing, but you have to refuse induction.
Great blog entry! <3 I know it's an oldie, but I wanted to show my appreciation!
At 41 weeks I was induced with cervidil and Pitocin. The cervidil didn't do much to dialate me and I was maxed out on Pitocin without sending me into labor. 24 hours later in the hospital, I decided to leave and give myself another week to go into natural labor. Best decision I made because now I feel more in control of my delivery. I realize now that doctors have agendas and waiting until your body is ready isn't always their plan. As long as I stay monitored, the baby and me will be healthy enough to let nature take its course.
I just came accross your article today! Thank you for posting about the correct history of childbirth. Nothing boils my blood more than to read comments about how we all would have died if not for the advance in modern medicine. Physicians did not observe handwashing between autopsies, tending to sick patients and doing vaginal exams and births. Mothers were dying of unexplained infections within days of birthing their babies, whereas the midwifery clinics in the same areas had significantly lower maternal deaths. The first physician to put two and two together in the UK was ridiculed, stripped of his medical license and was later proved correct (though the poor guy ended up dying in an asylum prior).
This the sort of attitude that comes from generations of midwives being wiped from North America - the majority of women have no knowledge of why so many interventions (episiotomy, forceps, lithotomy position, continuous fetal monitoring) are intermingled and often overused or even why they came into practice in the first place (which is not only shocking but also as backwards as saying the earth is flat). Yet even though studies prove that routine hospital procedures and certain interventions cause more harm than good, people still try to champion their use over simple supportive actions such as eating and drinking during labour, changing position and observing what the mother's needs are. Yes some births require surgeons, but the majority of moms and babies are safer with experienced midwives who respect physiologic birth (and have the necessary training to recognize risk and emergency situations and treat them as needed either at home or with transferring to hospital). Treating every birth as high risk and utilizing uneccessary interventions becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. I don't say this idly either - I see it first hand.
I just found this today. I am 12 days past my due date and my baby is measuring at 9lbs. Now that they tried an induction and it failed, they are questioning my due date(I know it's right..) and want to wait another week. But... they want me to come in to be checked out and monitored everyday until then. Can I tell them no and just wait on my own? If he isn't ready to come now, then we should just leave him alone...
I can't give you direct advice since you are not my client. However, size doesn't matter. It just doesn't. Right now, baby is gaining approximately less than 4oz per week, and the structural size (head, shoulders) is not changing at all. Do you believe that baby is healthy and well? Do you believe that tests are going to prove this, or provide means of pressure to induce again? Did they fully inform you of the risks of induction, including death of baby? Do you know the research on postdates (I have a blog post on postdates and the research involved - search "postdates: separating fact from fiction")?
Follow your mama gut. Best wishes for a BEAUTIFUL and peaceful birth!
So glad I found this. I went in for an induction and after 14+ hours I wasn't making any progress. And my midwife hadnt broken my water. Which I was against. Although I was dilated to a 3/4, although one doctor that checked me said I was only a 2. So anyways after close to 20 hours in the hospital I was given the option to either havr a c-section or I could go home and wait a few days and see if I went into labor on my own. I chose to wait and after reading this believe it was the best decision. Even though my family and friends had never heard of a "failed induction" and have accused me if lying.
Hello. I came across your blog and can't help but to thank you for posting this. I am currently 33 wks pregnant with my 4th baby. I was induced with pitocin with my 2nd baby and he had a 13 day stay in the NICU. I was 39 wks pregnant with him and was induced because after many years of figure skating, my hips are not what they should be and were giving out causing me to fall without warning. It wasn't until I was in labor from the induction that my son dropped and got into position for birth. His heart rate kept dropping and they had to place me on oxygen. Once he was born he was shaky and having difficulty breathing. They acted as though they couldn't understand why my son was having such a hard time. They even questioned me on if I used drugs while I was pregnant and went to the extent of taking him and testing his urine for drugs. They quickly realized that it was not drugs and returned my son to me prior to taking him to the NICU. After he got stable in the NICU a neonatologist told me that my son was having a hard time because he had a "rough" birth. After having my daughter naturally when my water broke on it's own, I have come to the conclusion that my dear son was just NOT ready. This time with my 3rd son (4th pregnancy), I plan to let nature take its course. As excited as I am to see and hold my sweet baby boy, I prefer to let him come when he is ready and hopefully avoid a NICU stay.
Hi this is great! My husband sent it to me. During our trying to conceive period (still happening...) I've learned so much! One thing that is a total shocker is that doctors don't believe that women can know when they ovulate by charting cervical fluid, placement and body temp. They just assume 2 weeks from period. That means for someone who ovulates later (like me) they would be at least a week off when estimating the due date. How absolutely ridiculous is that!!!!??? That means that many induced labors are based on wrong due dates to begin with!!!!
Whenever possible, and appropriate I share this with my lady friends.
I'm happy to see people reading this information and feeling right about it. Thanks for all the facts too!
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