Type 1's and Pregnancy

[EmmaC*]

Hi,
Not sure if anyone will read this as I know it's an old thread but I need some advice / shared experiences of early induction due to type 1. I am currently 31 weeks, and due to be induced on Christmas eve (great timing I know!) at just over 38 weeks. My HBA1C is 29 (in the new terms) which is very low and my control is good, the baby is slightly small for its age but growing normally - no indication it is affected by the diabetes.

It is my first baby and I have heard that first babies DO NOT like to be induced early. I am very worried about it all, I have been told that I will be induced via prostaglandins hormones which can take 2 or more days to work, I am worried that all this is so un-natural and will stress both me and baby ultimately leading to a C-section which I am terrified of. All this being over christmas just make it worse. I would like to know others' experiences of early induction as most web forums are about overdue inductions and not really relevant to me.... please help!

Thank you
Emma

 

[cally]

Hi Emma,

I was induced at 38 weeks with my first two babies and they were both born within 4 hours from the start of the induction. If I remember rightly I had a pessary followed by breaking of my waters and everything just carried on from there.

I had heard the stories about induced labour being more painful but that was not my experience at all. I had an epidural the first time which I would not recommend as it takes away the urge to push and your legs dont work properly afterwards for a while!

With the second I just had gas and air and don't remember it being particularly painful.

My third baby was induced a couple of days before term as they couldn't see a reason why she needed to be born any earlier. She was also born in about 4 hours without any problems. Again just with gas and air.


They all weighed around 7 1/2 pounds and were perfectly healthy.

So I hope everything goes well for you.
Don't listen to all the horrible birth experiences that some people love to tell to pregnant women. Your experience may be completely different!

 

[EmmaC*]

Thank you Cally, That is the first positive story I have heard. I am hoping to change my induction date as I don't see how a day or two either side makes a difference. I really hope I respond quickly to the gel as you did as I don't fancy a week in hospital!
It's good to hear that it doesn't always end in c-section too

 

[tigger]

My 1st was an induction at 38+6 (I only discovered after that different hospitals have a range of dates they don't let type 1s go past from 38-40 weeks. My hospital said they'd let me go to 40 weeks second time as my control was good last time.

The induction worked in that I went into labour but I found it incredibly painful, baby turned sideways and I stuck at 8cm. I had an emcs after 17 hrs and baby was fine apart from some low blood sugar and then jaundice a week later. Not great and it bothered me for a while but I wasn't too traumatised thanks to my amazing labour support/doula.

This is a helpful thread on mumsnet relating to experiences around birth that you might find useful. http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbi...diabetics-or-anyone-need-to-compare-notes-for

I had tried to psyche myself up with lots of positive stories but in the end it just didn't work.

The next pg I miscarried.

I then only managed to get pg 2 years later and after being told I could go to 40 weeks if my control was as good as the last time. A week later at the 6 week scan we discovered there were 2 babies.... I then went through you must have an ELCS until 20 weeks when NHS policy changed and suddenly it switched to well VBAC is an option if no. 1 is head down to you will have a VBAC and we'll induce you which I was not happy about. I got them to book me an ELCS which they did with the proviso of VE first and breaking waters. I was planning on turning up refusing consent to the VE and going straight for the ELCS but was prepared to give VBAC a chance if it happened naturally. Anyway at 33+4 rather unexpectedly over breakfast my waters went and by the end of the day I'd assisted the hospital stats by managing a twin VBAC.

So my advice would be:

1. Try alternate remedies to induce bearing in mind none worked for me! (sex, curries, pineapple, raspberry leaf tea, accupuncture etc)
2. Prepare yourself for either option mentally, don't get fixed on one. All that matters at the end of the day is a healthy mother and a healthy baby - both mentally and physically. So do all you can to prepare for a vb but keep in mind how you'd like a cs to go,visualise when you want to hold the baby, breastfeed if you're planning on doing it and prime your partner to advocate all of these things for you.
3. I found hypnotherapy helpful the 2nd time round so try out whatever methods you'd like for pain.
4. Get all the protocols of treatment clear with your consultant before it happens, e.g. at what stage they make you go on a drip, cfm, movement etc. See if you can negotiate a later induction with more monitoring closer to the date.
5. Be prepared to do what you want to do and ask for explanations if not given or fobbed off in medical speak. For example with my 1st they forced me to lie on the bed and not move as the trace kept on getting lost. With the twins I said I was standing and got the mw to rearrange wires around me. You get more forceful the 2nd time.
6. Don't expect them to know anything about diabetes so you/your partner will need to advocate for this too.
7. The part where I felt I really needed more support was post-natal as the treatment on those wards is dreadful particularly if you're medically complicated. I got so sick of them taking too long getting my insulin the 2nd time round, I kept it with me in a frio pack. This was shortly after there'd been deaths in another hospital from someone injecting insulin into non-diabetics. Great procedure..... And let's not go into the hypo where I asked them to hold one of my crying babies as I was too shaky because I had low blood sugar and the HCA returned on medical advice with a blood pressure monitor because they didn't know the difference between blood sugar and blood pressure......

 

[wiflib]

Hi,
Not sure if anyone will read this as I know it's an old thread but I need some advice / shared experiences of early induction due to type 1. I am currently 31 weeks, and due to be induced on Christmas eve (great timing I know!) at just over 38 weeks. My HBA1C is 29 (in the new terms) which is very low and my control is good, the baby is slightly small for its age but growing normally - no indication it is affected by the diabetes.

It is my first baby and I have heard that first babies DO NOT like to be induced early. I am very worried about it all, I have been told that I will be induced via prostaglandins hormones which can take 2 or more days to work, I am worried that all this is so un-natural and will stress both me and baby ultimately leading to a C-section which I am terrified of. All this being over christmas just make it worse. I would like to know others' experiences of early induction as most web forums are about overdue inductions and not really relevant to me.... please help!

Thank you
Emma

Hi Emma.
You are right to be suspicious of routine induction of labour. It's all about assessing the possible risks of waiting and inducing and what YOUR decision is. To make that decision, you need information.
Try AIMS http://www.aims.org.uk/
ARM http://www.midwifery.org.uk/
and a discussion on this subject http://community.babycentre.co.uk/post/ ... h_diabetes
This has links of the evidence http://midwifethinking.com/2010/09/16/i ... ing-risks/

I hope this helps.

wiflib

 

[tigger]

Just to add, when the twins were born they were commenting on how the placenta looked much further advanced than it should at 33 weeks and response was "diabetic mother". So the placenta aging more quickly idea is one to take into account but obviously depends on individual circumstances.

 

[jessie]

Hi Emma,

I just wanted to say best of luck. I was due to be induced and had exactly the same concerns as you. I'd prepared myself for a few long days in hospital with a sliding scale of insulin etc but Jazmine decided to 'pop' out rather quickly on her own accord 2 days before our induction date. I didn't even have time for pain relief! So you never can plan you birth experience, try not to worry and personally I would advise you to do whatever the health care professionals tell you to do. I'd not heard about the ageing placenta before, that's really interesting. Anyway, hope it all goes well for you, try not to stress, Christmas will probably be a blur this year but it will all be worth it!

Jessie. x