Let's face
it the induction of labor has become common place,
so common place, in fact, that the average length
of pregnancy has dropped nearly a week in most recent
studies. This medical eviction notice can have pretty
severe down sides.
1.
Your baby may be at risk for prematurity.
Occasionally labor is induced before the baby is ready.
New studies show us that babies who are even slightly
premature have more problems at birth and beyond,
even without a stay in the neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU).
2.
Labor can be more painful. Because of the
faster lead up to strong contractions that come on
at an unnatural rate and pattern, this medical form
of labor may take your body by surprise. Some also
say that this is due to your baby being in a less
favorable position, since he or she didn't send the
all clear signal for labor to begin.
3.
Emotionally you may not be ready. In normal
birth, labor begins on its own. You may have had ideas
about how labor would begin for you. Perhaps you saw
yourself making a mad dash to the hospital in the
middle of the night or couldn't wait until your water
broke. This can be difficult to reconcile with the
actuality of induction.
4.
There is the risk of harm to you or your baby.
Sometimes when labor is induced, the baby does not
tolerate the contractions well. This can lead to fetal
distress. When certain medications are used to induce
labor, there is an increase in the risk of damage
to the uterus in the form of uterine rupture. These
are not conditions that happen often but should be
considered.
5.
You are more likely to have interventions in labor
and birth. This includes interventions to
help monitor you and keep your baby safe while they
use strong medications to force your cervix open,
like continuous fetal monitoring. It can also include
an increase in the number of forceps deliveries and
the use of a vacuum extractor and the number of cesarean
deliveries. It is also possible that the induction
may not work and you are either sent home or surgically
delivered via a cesarean because of the failure of
the induction.
There are
times when labor induction is medically indicated.
When induction is truly needed it can be a blessing.
However, there are still ways to reduce the side effects
of induction and increase the likelihood of a positive
outcome. Be sure to discuss options for induction
that are specific to you and your baby with your midwife
or doctor.
A
certified childbirth educator, doula and mother of
seven, Robin Elise Weiss has attended over 500 births
since 1989. Since 1996, her web site, the Pregnancy-Birth
site at About.com has grown to be one of the largest
and most well-read pregnancy sites on the Internet.
Her latest book The
About.com Guide to Having a Baby 
is now available at amazon.com or wherever childbirth
books are sold. You can read her other works at: http://robineliseweiss.com
and http://pregnancy.about.com
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