Sometimes something happens early on that puts parents on a path where later they don’t feel like that had any choice. What happened before that and why was the baby in distress? Was it because of choices made early on? Perhaps an intervention of some sort, which has had an effect on the progress of labour.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In Session 3, I always ask parents for their permission to talk about these things. Not from the point of view of telling negative stories but from the point of view of giving them the information so they understand what the alternatives are, what choices they have and the implications of those choices.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Each hospital will have statistics on number of inductions, c-sections. Did you know that in some hospitals the rate of induction is 70% for post dates and 30% due to medical interventions. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You can’t bring labour on naturally before baby is ready. The last part of the baby to mature is the lungs and the baby’s brain has a growth spurt in the last stage of pregnancy. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The NICE guidelines state:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Induction of labour has a large impact on the birth experience of women and their babies and so needs to be clinically justified. It may be less efficient and usually more painful than spontaneous labour. Epidural analgesia and assisted delievrry are more likely to be needed if labour has been induced. From 42 weeks, women who decline induction of labour should be offered increased antenatal monitoring consisting of at least twice weekly cardiotocography and ultrasound estimation of maximum amniotic pool depth”. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Speak to your midwife about your options. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ How amazing is this little photo though 📸 @brielle_grace⠀⠀⠀⠀
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