Antenatal midwives have suggested to be induced towards end of pregnancy because i am 41. They said the riso of a still birth is high because of my age. I worry to be induced if it ends up stressful and end in c section which i hope to avoid as other 2 births were natural. Had my 2 many yrs ago though they are 12 and 14.
I said based on my bloods and how pregnancy is going and all other tests have been good, even blood pressure etc etc . I asked if that lessens risk of a still birth they said no.
Just a bit concerned. Looking for advice or stories on how you ladies went with older pregnancies.
And if induced at 38 or 39 weeks did it make birth labour worse.
Also if you were in 40s and if you had healthy natural delivery with no inductions. ?
Anyone have still births way at end with fine pregnancy for no reason ? Sad to ask sorry if thats sad to ask 💕
15 Replies
They will want to intervene from 40, you can just say no and that you’ll speak about it at 42 weeks. (As long as that’s what you’re happy to do and feel is ok) I would accept extra monitoring if you’re unsure but after an awful induction I wanted to avoid the cascade of intervention at all costs and right on 40 I felt the mood shift but my midwife was great and I just said no thanks, but I did feel I had to be sure in myself as they would steer to intervention just to get baby out and tick the boxes if they could.
Baby came at 41+1, the most beautiful calm problem free birth and baby.
I don’t know your personal medical history or health, but I kept in mind that in other countries they automatically go til 42 weeks, it’s just the procedure of Australia to want to intervene for better ‘outcomes’ that’s not necessarily better births.
If I was you I would opt for a ceserean and go a week early. My opinion only and it’s the safest for you and your baby. I had to have ceserean at 38 weeks after 2 natural and I didn’t want one but I did it For the safety of me and my baby and when that day came, I am so glad they advised me to do this. It’s not worth any risk and especially being older in age. If you think you want to go ahead and go natural and go against any risks then do so. They can only offer advise and the rest is up to you but you have every right to decline. Please note that they deal with still borns often and they are telling you for a reason. You may be perfectly fine but there is always that chance. The midwives know their stuff. They deal with this daily. I’d rather be induced earlier than live with regret for life & what ifs.?
A lot of emotive language - safer/ live with regret for life..
just to be clear, Caesarian at 39 has good outcomes for the hospital, they love that, but that does not mean that if the mother went on to have a natural birth that that is risky, this is where hospitals may not have the individual woman/baby’s health or long term outcomes in their priorities when they offer interventions. The mother definitely needs to know what she wants and have people in her corner who aren’t going to jump on a fear and guilt bandwagon. As I said, my midwife was brilliant, many of them are.
I don’t disagree with you here.
I had my last at 39. No one mentioned induction or Caesarean or tried to frighten me. Ever. I went private though. My obstetrician told me stats but 'theyre just statistics and across x amount of pregnancies the risk is tiny'.
My SIL was 39 and midwives tried to force amniocentesis on her because of her age & called her a bad mother for saying no after researching the risks. She was a mess from it.
Personally I'd seek a second opinion. Get the facts and make your own choice based on YOUR health and what makes you feel safe.
I had two late 30's pregnancies. Low blood pressure (genetic). Both easy births, super fast, no tearing, quick recovery. I'm currently repeating 'eat your dinner!!!' to my two children.
What does your doctor say? I would assume the midwives can’t induce you without approval from a doctor.
I had both my babies in my 20s but was induced for both. My eldest there was concern he was going to be too big for me to deliver naturally, so I was induced at 39+2. Afterwards my doctor said he wouldn’t have let me try naturally if he’d known just how big the head was going to be. My youngest my water broke at 38+2 but then the contractions were barely there so they had to hook me to the drugs to get the contractions going. Both times they had to keep upping the drugs to get the contractions to a level that my body would then be able to deliver the babies. I did have an epidural for both, as I do have a fairly low pain threshold.
If it was me, I would err on the side of caution and go with the induction.
You don’t say how far along you are. All you can do is have an open mind, weigh up the advice and options and go with what you feel is right for you and baby at the time.
But please don’t be scared of an induction. I understand you’ve given birth twice and they went well and so you would like the same to happen again and hopefully it will. I also didn’t want to be induced after going into spontaneous labour the first 4 times however baby needed to come out so it was either induction or C-section. I tried several stretch and sweeps first which didn’t work and then breaking my waters was enough to induce my labour and I didn’t require the drugs. There was very little difference between my spontaneous labours and my induced labour besides being in hospital for a lot more of my labour than I would normally be. Labour progressed well (highly recommend pumping - the nipple stimulation definitely got things moving), I could be in the shower and walk around all I wanted, I didn’t have an epidural same as my other births and only pushed a few times before she was out with no tearing.
I've had 2 c sections. My sister had 1 still born. No guesses as to which situation was more traumatic. Listen to your health professionals
Sad but that’s not the only options
I've been induced at 42 weeks with all my pregnancies.
I don't have anything to compare it to obviously but being induced was fine, if anything it was a relief and even something I felt I finally had some control over.
Labour tends to come on quickly and intensely with induction (and that's at any point in a pregnancy), I think that's probably where this idea comes from that an induced labour is worse
I had complications with my last birth from being so overdue. If I were ever to have another child, I would not allow doctors to pressure me into waiting that long.
You should seek a second professional opinion if you don't feel great about the medical advice you've received but at the end of the day if you need intervention to get your baby into the world safely and to get you through safely, it then you need it.
This is just my personal opinion so please do not be ultra swayed either way. I would avoid being induced as it was my worst childbirth and there is some prior suggestion, NOT proven (emphasis on this) that it increases risk of amniotic fluid embolism. I lost a family member and her baby and they did question how high a dose they had given her. I will never advocate for someone to be induced unless people are at definite risk. Make sure you have a good hospital. One family member moved for a short period of time to stay with family so they were close to a good one. People will disagree with me of course but I do not give a crap after losing a loved one. I would not be able to forgive myself if I did not mention it at all. Throw all the Science says bs at me you like. I will absolutely warn other women to please be careful <3
I don't really understand their reasoning because once you go into labour whether it's induced or spontaneous the risk will be the same. So I don't get it. Or do they mean before getting to full term? That I can understand if there are other issues or maybe baby is on the large side or in a bad position or maybe you have had very quick labours and they would like it to be more controlled? I don't know but I just think it's strange they would think induction is less of a risk, if you're high risk for complications in labor you should probably be having a c section.
The risk is linked to gestational duration. Inducing controls that. Her treating health professionals are making the recommendations based on clinical evidence and reducing unnecessary risk
But she's been told it's due to her age?
Personally I would refuse at this stage and see how far over you go. I had natural births at 35 and 41yrs. Both times the hospital wanted to induce me ‘just in case’ (nothing to do with stillbirth thought). I refused as the risk of further intervention is significantly higher with induction (research this). I ended up with completely natural births with no drugs (except gas the first time) and NO tearing or a single stitch needed. I believe medical staff need to recommend intervention so they can show they did ‘everything possible’ if something goes wrong (a sad result of insurance and the risk of being sued). I have a Science degree so like to look at the stats and ask questions as to why they want to do something (other than just in case!)