[junie22]

I'm finalizing my birth plan to discuss with my doctor on Friday. I'm really happy to finally have this all figured out, and I feel really confident about it all.

However, I have one question, particularly for BTDT moms (and I bet Que has a great answer), about induction.

I prefer not to be induced at all, even if I'm approaching 42 weeks. I want to opt for natural induction methods if at all possible. If, however, it's medically necessary, I am not morally opposed to induction. I just really hope it doesn't come to that.

My question is related to water breaking and induction. If my water breaks but contractions aren't occurring and labor isn't progressing, how long should I wait before agreeing to Pitocin? That's the absolute last thing I want to do, but I'm just wondering about the # of hours after water breaking that I should be flexible in consenting to Pitocin.

I know there's not a hard answer, but should I say 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours?

Any insight is appreciated.

[alicenwonderland]

probably within a few hours. Once your water is broken in hospital, they don't usually let you labor more than 12 hours before they insist on a c-section Hoping you don't need an induction!

[Pinkhighheels27]

I've been researching this today, myself. From what I gather, very soon after your ester breaks they give you Pitocin, unless labor is happening very speedily afterwards.

[MosaicWife]

The doctor will tell you that ou must deliver within 24 hours of your water breaking because of risk of infection. This is hogwash and how I ended up with a 27 hour labor and almost a c-section. If your water breaks they will give you a few hours to start dilating BUT they have their own timetable on how fast you need to dilate, they don't base it on you at all. I think Que already posted about this and I hope she can expand on what I'm saying but you certainly don't need to rush to the hospital when your water breaks. It will eventually put you into labor. Just keep the nurse's out of your vag because that is what really introduces infection.

[krsnow]

When I had my DS, my water broke around 4am. I never had a contraction on my own, and they gave me Petocin a few hours later. I can't remember exactly when, I would say maybe around 9 or 10am. They will want to do what is best for you and the baby, so Im not sure if you will be able to refuse it. they need contractions to start to move along the labor - it was my understanding (i could be wrong) that it is dangerous to keep leaking water for such a long period of time without having contractions to get things going.

Im just curious why you don't want petocin? I haven't done any research on it, so I have no idea if there are side effects. But I didn't have any problems with my labor. The contractions I did have after petocin were very painful, and I had my epideral when I was only dialated at 3. Some people think thats crazy but I think Petocin magnify's the pain. And, I had problems nursing, my LO never latched on in the hospital or at home, so I ended up pumping for 2 months and didn't have much milk. I have heard that petocin could cause problems with nursing because your body was forced into contractions so it doesnt understand that it needs to nurse. Not sure if this is at all accurate though, it's just what I always believed.

[junie22]

I've definitely read up on this, took the class, and watched a couple of videos about the pros/cons of various pregnancy-related medical procedures. And I really think that if it can be avoided at all, I would rather not have Pitocin.

That said, I'm not naive and am fully aware that my birth experience may be completely different than what I hope for. So I'm never going to say "never." If my water were to break while I'm at home, I would definitely wait a while to go to the hospital (unless it was really bloody or green... yummy). So I guess it would somewhat be in my control anyway.

I just don't want to do anything to put the baby in harm's way either, so I don't know what a good time frame would be that would put me at greater risk of infection or complications by avoiding the Pitocin route.

Originally Posted by krsnow

The contractions I did have after petocin were very painful, and I had my epideral when I was only dialated at 3. Some people think thats crazy but I think Petocin magnify's the pain. And, I had problems nursing, my LO never latched on in the hospital or at home, so I ended up pumping for 2 months and didn't have much milk. I have heard that petocin could cause problems with nursing because your body was forced into contractions so it doesnt understand that it needs to nurse. Not sure if this is at all accurate though, it's just what I always believed.

This is exactly why I'd like to avoid Pitocin if I can.

[MosaicWife]

I think it's great that you want to know about this stuff. I knew nothing and let the doctors and nurses call all the shots with my son. Big mistake. We need Que. I know she posted about this recently. Que! Where you be?!

[ufmelissa824]

Originally Posted by krsnow

When I had my DS, my water broke around 4am. I never had a contraction on my own, and they gave me Petocin a few hours later. I can't remember exactly when, I would say maybe around 9 or 10am. They will want to do what is best for you and the baby, so Im not sure if you will be able to refuse it. they need contractions to start to move along the labor - it was my understanding (i could be wrong) that it is dangerous to keep leaking water for such a long period of time without having contractions to get things going.

Im just curious why you don't want petocin? I haven't done any research on it, so I have no idea if there are side effects. But I didn't have any problems with my labor. The contractions I did have after petocin were very painful, and I had my epideral when I was only dialated at 3. Some people think thats crazy but I think Petocin magnify's the pain. And, I had problems nursing, my LO never latched on in the hospital or at home, so I ended up pumping for 2 months and didn't have much milk. I have heard that petocin could cause problems with nursing because your body was forced into contractions so it doesnt understand that it needs to nurse. Not sure if this is at all accurate though, it's just what I always believed.

I think Adrienne is referring to all the horror stories out there about pitocin causing long and protracted labors. I know I've been wary of having to be induced as well, although I've had several friends that didn't have any problems with it. The thing to consider is that people are much more likely to tell you about their bad experiences than their good ones so it's hard to know to do in these situations. Good luck DDB! I hope no induction is needed and that your birth plan works out like you want it to

[Londons Butterfly]

With my first son my water broke, but I later learned it broke high, not really enough to actually say "hey you're in labor", so contractions didn't start on their own. Well, I was in the hospital 10 minutes after it happened (we lived close) and since I wasn't contracting well enough I started pitocin almost immediately. 7 hours later I got my epidural, and 2 hours after that I had my son (my water really broke at the 7 hour mark making contractions more painful, but I probaby could have gone without the epidural).

With my second son my water broke sometime between 10 and 11pm I went to sleep (with a towel underneath me and in between my legs lol). I should have walked or done anything besides sleep. Contractions never started on their own and I went in at 8am, claiming I woke up wet, not knowing when my water broke. I was put on pitocin again, and delivered 6 hours after arriving at the hospital (got the epidural before any pain started and HATE that they "forced" me into it because it was a holiday and they had to call the anesthesiolgist in from home).

I plan on waiting this time, but doing a lot of moving around to encourage contractions. I think the longest I'll wait is 12 hours, or until my contractions start, whichever comes sooner. Not planning on getting a lot of checks done after it breaking though, to reduce infection, just in case this baby decides to give me a marathon labor

[Mountain~Mama]

If my water broke or was leaking (again) and I was close to my due date, I would give it a good 12 hours before I went to LnD or the OB's office. From my experience once the test came back + for fluid they sent me up to be induced right away.

And Missa is right, 24 hours seems to be the golden time frame that they want the baby born in. I would give my own body ample time to get itself going before I put myself in the position where I needed to "refuse" anything.

Good Luck Adrienne, I hope you have a perfect natural beautiful birth and don't have to worry about all the things to worry about!

[junie22]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Jesi. I was thinking about keeping "at least 6 hours" in my birth plan, knowing that the situation could change.

And thanks, Melanie!

I wish I could just put together my perfect birth plan and not even think about the alternatives, but I want to be as prepared as possible. I'm really hoping the word "induction" doesn't even get mentioned outside of Friday's appointment.

[Jessimaaka]

Thanks for posting this, I was wondering the same thing since I too want to avoid pitocin, and induction in general. But same idea, since its my first, I figure I'm more likely to go over anyways, and want to be informed!

[hopesNdreams]

I was induced twice and really pray that it doesn't come to that again...27 hours and 24 hours with my first 2 daughters and Vae who came on her own was about a little over 3 hours...My doctor suggested induction with this one because he delivers in a different town now, I did it with Vae but it was the longest 20 minutes EVER! So I mentioned that I didn't like the ride and he says "maybe we can set something up" NOPE! Only if its medically necessary...

Hope you don't have to get induced, Adrienne and that your birth goes nice and smoothly!

[~~Que~~]

Hey! Sorry I'm late jumping in! Here is the post I made about Pre-labor SROM:
http://www.justmommies.com/forums/f1...abor-srom.html


If it were me, I'd ask specifically what my doctor's protocol was for SROM. Each doctor or midwife has a different comfort level and different standards of procedure for this occurring.

That being said, believe it or not, research says that only 10% of women have their labors start with SROM. My client's personal statistics are higher, more like 25%. But I have a smaller sample of people than the research, lol.

The research that has been conducted supports that a safe amount of time to wait is about 48 hours. Most women will go into labor if you give them 48 hours, with no need to intervene.

.....

If it were me:

If it were me, and my water broke before labor began, regardless of my midwife or doctor's protocol, I would wait the 48 hours to allow labor to begin. I would use the breast pump and use external stimulation to facilitate orgasms to help contractions get started. I wouldn't put a darn thing in my vagina and I would monitor my temp every 4 hours and drink lots of water.

I would go in asap if I started getting a temp (anything above 101.5 is considered a temp in the hospital).

I would go in asap if there was any abnormal bleeding outside of bloody show (abnormal would be period-like bleeding or more).

I would go in asap if the water was green (meconium was present).

Then when I go to the hospital either when labor was established or if 48 hours went by and nothing happened. Then when I got there, I'd lie my butt off and tell them my water JUST broke like an hour ago. It really doesn't matter WHEN it broke once you get to the hospital- you are being monitored and you are taking precautions to get things going now, and it will set the clock back for you a bit.

That's just what I would do. This is one of the only circumstances I would EVER lie to my doctor.... just because I know very few doctors allow 48 hours (most allow 12-24.

I am very blessed, my midwives allow 48 hours, which is awesome. I love them.

Oh, I also wanted to add, that most NICU's routinely give antibiotics to newborns whose water was ruptured 24 hours or more regardless of their condition. That's another reason why I'd lie- simply because evidence supports that this is not always the safest measure for every infant.

[emeraldeyedimp]

I would wait at least 12 hours after your water breaking, as long as it looks normal, and I would see what your Dr and hospitals rules are for how long they will let you labor, etc. My water was slowly leaking with my YDS and I waited about 15 hours before I headed into my Dr office to check to see if my water had indeed broke. I was scared that they were going to start pushing a c-section at me at the 24 hour mark but they didn't and the nurse actually said they would let me go for as long as I could go. That helped me relax a TON. I did start the induction around 16 or 18 hours though. They minimized risk of infection by not checking me AT all until I opted for my epidural (which I held off for awhile longer because I didn't want them checking me yet), and VERY rarely after that.

I would totally avoid Pitocin if you can, it's not the worst thing in the world but not the greatest either. It does have risks for the baby because the contractions are not the same as real contractions; they tend to be longer and stronger and the baby might not get any rest time between. I myself was having non stop contractions for a good 20 mins at least and Zack wasn't handling it well, so they reduced the amount for a few hours until he was more stabilized.

I know a few people who have had their membranes sweeped to try to induce labor, not sure if anyone had mentioned this yet. My friend had it done twice and after the second time she went into labor the next day or the day after. Hopefully you won't need an induction and everything goes smoothly.

[junie22]

Thanks so much, ladies for all the input. I feel better about my original plan now (which was waiting at least 12 hours after water breaking). I'm going to discuss it with my OB on Friday.

I really hope induction isn't even an issue for me, but I want to be informed about, prepared for, and comfortable with whatever decisions need to be made when the time comes.

I wish all of us the absolutely perfect labor and birth that we envision.

[20ghanover]

I will raise my hand and say that induction is not always horrible. I have an autoimmune condition and was induced with my DS. I had the Cervodil inserted around 5 pm the night before, had contractions during the night. I got the epidural around 8 am when the contractions became really intense (prior to pitocin) and about 10 minutes after they started the epidural, they gave me the tiniest dose of pitocin. Soon after, I was ready to go and they never really had to give me more. I pushed 3 times and DS was born at 11 am.

Granted, my recovery was terrible for me because he broke my tailbone on the way out (which I've broken twice before) but I don't think that can be blamed on the tiny amount of pitocin?

I know that there are women on this board who have had terrible induction experiences and women who are strongly opposed to it...and I respect that....I just don't want first time moms to think it is the most terrible thing that could happen to you and always leads to a painful traumatic birth. It sometimes works out fine, I can vouch for that!

So stand up for what you want in your labor but don't be terrified of induction. I think, as with anything, the horror stories you hear online are usually the women who've had a bad time with something, but not always the entire population!

Hope this helps and hope you get the labor you desire!

[junie22]

Thanks, Melanie. I'm definitely not terrified of induction. I would just really prefer not to go that route unless it's medically necessary. However, of all the women I know IRL who were induced, far more had absolutely no problems whatsoever than those who did experience issues.

Ultimately, I just want what is best for my baby boy.

[Mod-Lady Valkyrie]

"Im just curious why you don't want petocin? I haven't done any research on it, so I have no idea if there are side effects. But I didn't have any problems with my labor. The contractions I did have after petocin were very painful, and I had my epideral when I was only dialated at 3. Some people think thats crazy but I think Petocin magnify's the pain. And, I had problems nursing, my LO never latched on in the hospital or at home, so I ended up pumping for 2 months and didn't have much milk. I have heard that petocin could cause problems with nursing because your body was forced into contractions so it doesnt understand that it needs to nurse. Not sure if this is at all accurate though, it's just what I always believed. "

This exact same thing happened to me on syntocinon (the UK equivalent to pitocin).

The pain/intensity magnification leading to early epidural leading to (maybe) prolonged labour, and the inability to nurse. I know I can't 100% guarantee I won't have to have it again but I'm going to do my darnedest. It's the most non-negotiable thing on my birth plan and they will have to try EVERYTHING else first unless it's a genuine emergency.

[2pinks&ablue]

Thank you so much for weighing in Que! I'm really glad to have an opinion on this that isn't my OBs!

I had a terrible experience with pitocin, well pitocin combined with them rupturing my water. And it's not something I will ever do again. They wanted to do it because they didn't think I would make it to the hospital to deliver, but I told Troy I don't care, I'll have Hannah in the car before I go through that again!