Inducing Labor

[hortysir]

Is it just me or is there an increase in this procedure lately???

My grand-daughter's due date is today.
Doc told her that if she isn't in labor by Monday, they'll induce her.
Her best friend was induced, last month, on her due date and same thing for a server that works for me.

Now, granted, all these girls are on medicaid.
Is it just a state thing or is anyone seeing it more often with private health insurance plans?

Maybe they are off on their estimate of the due date.
Hell, my grand-daughter is only dilated 2cm right now, so......

 

[syrenn]

Its becoming very popular. The doctors fit your delivery into their schedule's.... or make a vanity date for delivery. I am not so sure if that is a good thing.

 

[Caroljo]

Sometimes it's necessary, especially if they go way past their due date. I've known people that had problems by waiting to go into labor once their due date past by a week or more. But i'm sure sometimes it's just for convenience.....

 

[hortysir]

Its becoming very popular. The doctors fit your delivery into their schedule's.... or make a vanity date for delivery. I am not so sure if that is a good thing.

I will say that my new great-grand-daughter (Aubree) is estimated at weighing 8lbs right now


Both the others I mentioned were 8+, as well

 

[Mr. H.]

Mrs. H. was 40 when kid was born (on Labor Day).
Water broke, nothing. Put her in THE hospital, wait wait. Nothing.
Pitocin drip...

Baby!

 

[Unkotare]

Worse than that, C-section rates are increasing at an alarming rate.


It's mostly about $$$

 

[Mr. H.]

1st born (1982) was C-sec. Ex was in labor for like way too long. Dr. freaked and ordered the procedure.
Good thing because the cord was starting to wrap around his neck.

In his teen years, I was tempted to wrap my hands around his neck...

 

[samjones]

Is it just me or is there an increase in this procedure lately???

My grand-daughter's due date is today.
Doc told her that if she isn't in labor by Monday, they'll induce her.
Her best friend was induced, last month, on her due date and same thing for a server that works for me.

Now, granted, all these girls are on medicaid.
Is it just a state thing or is anyone seeing it more often with private health insurance plans?

They measure the amount of amniotic fluid. THey'll definitely let them go a week or 2 past their due date without worrying too much. If the amniotic fluid is low and the baby is term then they induce.

Any attempt to estimate the height or weight of the baby in utero is laughable. They're looking for generalities that don't relate to what we would concern ourselves with. Could be 8 lbs, could be 9, could be 6lbs 8 oz. They don't know.

The number and quality of tools at the disposal of obstetrics has changed so rapidly over the last decade that a guy like me who has a 1 year old and a 13 year old saw a major difference in everything about the 2 pregnancies. Likely the increase in inductions (if there is one) is because OBs can more accurately assess the need to induce. Whether there are too many inductions or not, I'll leave to you to argue, but the likely fact is that the amount of amniotic fluid crossed a threshold that indicates specific increased risks and the OB has decided that inducing would lower the overall risk to the child.

 

[Zoom-boing]

My first was 2 1/2 weeks late. They said if I'm not in labor by Monday they'd induce. She was born at 5:30pm the night before. Needed pitocin as labor just never really progressed on its own.

Second kid, water broke. No labor. Pitocin needed for birth.

Third kid . . ha, can't quite remember if my water broke or labor started. It was a Saturday. They said 'let's have the babby today', started pitocin. Labor never progressed even with that. Unplanned c-section just after midnight. Good thing as she was sideways. She still is.

Labor was awful with pitocin. My recommendation? GET THE EPIDURAL.

 

[caela]

There are a lot of reasons for an induction. Medical issues with mom or baby, post dates (you shouldn't go more than a week or two past your due date as the placenta starts to break down), low amniotic fluid etc, and the one that we hate the most (I work in a L&D department) simple convenience.

The convenience could be the mother's or the doctors. We get a lot of "elective" inductions that are asked for by the patients themselves. Sometimes they want to have the baby on a particular day, sometimes they just want to try and guarantee they have their own MD, sometimes they don't want to be hospitalized during some sort family thing. It is rarer for it to be for the doctor's convenience since most work in groups so if they aren't there then one of their partners will be.

Oh and it's not just medicaid. We have this happening with all of our OB groups and all types of insurances.

Having said that, it's already been mentioned that the tools available to OB's have changed and improved radically over the last 10-20 years so people they might not have caught problems on before, they now can. I know a lot of the inductions we do are NOT planned at all. They show up in our OB Triage dept. (sort of like a mini ER just for pregnant women), discover a problem, and admit and start the patient on an induction protocol.