MSE Pregnancy Club XIII

skintchick

Here is some general 'overdue' info from the homebirthuk website, covering most issues.
http://www.homebirth.org.uk/overdue.htm

Here's an extract from it on refusing induction, but do read the rest as it has links and other info

What if you refuse induction of labour?

It is, of course, your right to refuse any medical treatment which is proposed, including induction of labour. It is up to you to make the decision which is right for your family. The vast majority of women who decline induction of labour will go on to have healthy babies. See for example the stories about "Ten Month Mamas" on birthlove.com.
You can ask for monitoring to check your baby's wellbeing, instead of choosing induction. There is a very small risk of foetal death occurring suddenly despite reassuring monitoring, but this can happen at any stage of pregnancy - and as the sources above show, it is extremely rare. Some women feel that it is not appropriate to accept induction on the basis of a one-in-a-thousand risk.
The UK's National Institute of Clinical Excellence and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists offer this information to pregnant women and their families [3]:

If your pregnancy is more than 41 weeks
Even if you have had a healthy trouble free pregnancy, you should be offered induction of labour after 41 weeks because from this stage the risk of your baby developing health problems increases. An induction because you are overdue does not increase the chance of you needing a caesarean section.
If you choose not to be induced at this stage then from 42 weeks you should be offered:

• Twice weekly checks of your baby's heartbeat using a piece of equipment called an electronic fetal heart rate monitor.
• A single ultrasound test to check the depth of amniotic fluid (or "waters") surrounding your baby.

An ultrasound scan in early pregnancy (before 20 weeks) can help to determine your baby's due date more accurately. This reduces your chances of unnecessary induction.
[End quote]

If you find yourself under pressure to accept induction at 42 weeks and you are not happy with this, then it may help to discuss these guidelines with your doctor or midwives; the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) does make clear that monitoring beyond 42 weeks is an alternative to induction.[4]
The full Guidelines on Induction of Labour from the RCOG emphasise that:

Women must be able to make informed choices regarding their care or treatment via access to evidence based information. These choices should be recognised by health professionals as an integral part of the process. [5]

You can still have a home birth if your pregnancy is over 42 weeks gestation. This may involve some negotiation with your caregivers as different midwives and obstetricians have different views on the risks of post-dates pregnancy. Some are relaxed about it while others will be very concerned. However, the bottom line is that nobody can force you to go into hospital to give birth. See 'Birth Stories about long pregnancies' for some case studies of women who have decided to stay home.
If you are told that you 'cannot' have a home birth beyond a certain point in your pregnancy, it may be worth taking a "we'll cross that bridge if we come to it" approach. There is little point in putting yourself in stressful situations and having conflicts with your midwives, when the situation may well not arise. Such debates have their place, but maybe campaigning is better carried out when you are not at the end of your pregnancy! However, if you do find yourself 'overdue' and your midwives say that you 'cannot' have a home birth, you may have little choice but to argue your corner.
One approach which many people find helpful is to write a polite, no-nonsense letter to the Supervisor of Midwives. If you put things in writing then your position is made clear and it will usually be taken seriously. Here is an example of a letter you might use:

Dear Supervisor of Midwives,
I am expecting a baby, and my due date was ........ I would like to inform you that I am continuing with my plans to give birth at home. I appreciate that your advice is to give birth in hospital post 42 weeks, but I have made an informed decision to decline this offer of hospital admission at present.
I will of course transfer to hospital if my baby's condition, or my own, makes it necessary, but for the time being I would appreciate your continued support of my informed decision.
Many thanks for your help,
Yours....

If you find yourself under continuing pressure to accept hospital admission, you may need to be more forceful. Contact the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (https://www.aims.org.uk) for advice as they are very experienced in helping women in this situation.

tarajayne

Because I'll be term+10.

SuzyWuzy_2

Tara , how overdue was you with your last baby ? Least you have some guideline there as on how far you may be this time.

If your placenta is still functioning then i cant see what the problem is

x

workinmummy

Have also been lurking, whilst trying to work - Honest:D

OH has been decidedly more pleasant towards me after i broke down on wednesday night, in tears when he rang me because i could no longer take the way he has been treating me whilst he is in hospital. He thought i was crying because i was upset about him being ill. No, i was crying because of his disgusting attitude towards me. Well it seems to have sank in, but will have to see how long it lasts.

He has requested surgery on his intestine/bowl. Because the steroids are not working. The medics and surgeons are having a meeting on Monday and should discuss his case then. If he has surgery very shortly, he may just be fit in time, for when the baby is due, (i'm 30 weeks, this weekend).

NMS - re birthdays, its MILs birthday on Monday. After work i am going to go to her hairdressers and pay for her usual cut and blow - or get some kind of gift certificate for it. She is one of those that returns everything you get and then walks round with at least ten M&S refund cards in her purse. I'm hoping that this will be acceptable and something she will actually use, because she does go every month or so.

skintchick

tarajayne wrote: »

Because I'll be term+10.

In which case see my post above. you can safely go to 42 weeks because term is actually anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks, so you are not 'overdue' yet.

Then, as above, you can choose to go longer, but with monitoring (which I'm sure you'd want anyway) and you can make a decision based on the levels of amniotic fluid, baby's movements, the state of the placenta and the blood flow through the cord, all of which they can easily check with a scan.

You are in control, and if they try and push you then just say you'll think about it and get back to them later/tomorrow so you have time to think it all over and go back to them with a calm statement of what you want to do.

It might help to get a friend or your OH to talk to them for you if you find it stressful.

You obviously don;t want to be induced so get informed by looking at the links and then tell them what you want - they have to respect your wishes and cannot force you to go into hospital, not even if your baby were at risk! I know you wouldn;t risk your baby, but they might try to imply that, but even if you did want to they actually can;t do anything as it is your body.

But you might find your MW is reasonable once you show her you are informed and know what you want.

SuzyWuzy_2

It never rains it pours, ds2 just come home and theres swine flu at school and he's displaying symptoms!

skintchick

This is interesting as well http://www.homebirth.org.uk/nonsensus.pdf It's from
BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

tarajayne

Thank-you, I agreed straight away to the monitoring, wouldn't do anything to put bubs at risk but as for staying in automatically, well it seems silly. Unless of course the monitoring shows anything up. Have been reading the links so will go read some more. X

skintchick

SuzyWuzy wrote: »

It never rains it pours, ds2 just come home and theres swine flu at school and he's displaying symptoms!

Oh no! Can you get him checked out by the GP?

SuzyWuzy_2

He's just gone to his grans, but thinking about that its a bad idea as his grandad has cancer and is having chemo. Just phoned him to come home.

He's sniffling and looks heavy eyed.

I dont know Skinty didnt Glam say that they aren't doing tests anymore ?