Induction of Labor

A. What it means

and induction of labor is when your health practitioner uses medicines or other medical methods to bring on labor before a woman goes into labor on her own.

There are many reasons why a medical practitioner would choose to do this, some could include the health of the birthing parent or the little one.

your little one is measuring bigger than they would typically for their gestational age. Though any induction is performed to prevent any complications or even deaths to the little one or the birthing parent.

B. Questions to ask your care provider about induction

There are a number of questions you could ask your care provider and some of them are:

⦁ Why is induction needed? What is the medical reason for inducing labor?

⦁ Risks and benefits: What are the risks and benefits for me and my baby?

⦁ Alternatives: Are there any alternatives to induction?

⦁ Pain relief: What are my options for pain medicine?

⦁ Induction process: How will labor be induced? How long will the induction process take?

⦁ Monitoring: Will I be monitored constantly or occasionally?

⦁ Plan if induction fails: What is the plan if the chosen method for induction fails?

⦁ Availability: Will my doctor or midwife be available during the entire procedure?

⦁ Movement: Will I be able to move around?

⦁ Due date: What is my due date?

⦁ Cervix: What is the condition of my cervix?

⦁ Baby's position: What is the baby's position?

⦁ Previous medical conditions: Do I have any prior medical conditions that will affect the induction?

Another way to get some of these answers, is to use the acronym we talked about in my last blog post " B.R.A.I.N"

I. Bishop’s Score

The bishops score is a physical and ultrasound exam that lets your medical practitioners know how likely your labor is to start on it's own and how successful an induction will be :

⦁ 9 or more- labor will start soon

⦁ 8 or more- induction is likely to be successful

⦁ 6-7 induction may or may not be successful

⦁ 5 or less labor is unlikely to start on it's own and an induction is unlikely to be successful

⦁ 0 your body is not ready for induction or labor

II. What method will be used

What method is used will depend entirely on your situation and how ready your cervix is, you may only need a little bit of oxytocin, while some one else may need their waters broken, and yet another may need to try the whole gamut of:

⦁ Prostaglandin gels/tablets

⦁ Balloon catheters

⦁ (ARM) artificial rupture of membranes( breaking your water)

⦁ Oxytocin

III. What will the process look like

what you might find is you will see your medical practitioner and they will examine you and determine how ready you are, you would them potentially have a gel or tablet placed next to your cervix, to soften and ripen it, then you may get an iv and start on a low dose of Pitocin, that would gradually increase every 30 mins, you may also have a catheter placed in your cervix to help it open and you may also have your waters broken as that typically give the little one a cushion and keeps them from pressing down on your cervix to help it open, breaking your waters takes this away so your little one can help you out, during all this you are constantly monitored for progress and pain relief.