Hello. I am 31 weeks pregnant. My last baby was 9 lbs. 6 0z. I gave birth to him naturally and we were both fine. (except for the horrible reaction I had to an epidural that didn't work) Ever since the begining of my pregnancy my Dr. has said I will need to be induced a week early to keep this baby from getting to big. I really, really do NOT want to be induced. I want to avoid an epidural at all costs. Now my last baby was a week late , so inducing a week early seems silly to me. On top of which I had no problem giving birth to a big baby. If I refuse to induce, can he force me? Will he drop me as a patient? I am not the kind of person who stands up to Dr.s I always do what they say. But I really don't want this. I am so worried about this, I have not mentioned to him yet that I don't want it. When would be a good time? Should I wait until he tries to schedule it or should I let him know in advance? Any advice or support would be appreciated. Thank You.
Carissa
You should let him know asap that you have no intention of being induced. A lot...A LOT.... of doctors now are doing this. Very, very often it ends in a C section. There is nothing that says that you have to be induced. I would have my husband/mom/bff go with me and tell him if I thought I might weaken in the face of his "authority".
FYI: I was induced with my first, ended up with a C section and planned a C for the second. It worked out fine for me. I wouldn't change it. But that is just me.
I raised a similar question during a birthing class (if I could request stitches vs staples for a section) and got the following answer from a 30-year veteran nurse "Don't play doctor and tell him what to do, be assured they know what's best - you certainly don't want to pressure them into doing something they're not comfortable with."
My doctor also induced me but because I had sudden onset of preeclamsia - I was in no position to object and truth be told, it wasn't as bad as I expected and made for shorter labor. This time around I have twins on the way and I was told under no circumstance would they let me go past week 39 because the babies would get too large - when I objected and said my mom went to week 42 with twins, my doctor said that in olden times that was the reasons infant mortality was so high, that now they know better.
My gut feeling here is that since you had difficulties with the epidural last time the doctor is trying to avoid issues this time around, and possibly a malpractice lawsuit. Larger babies can in some cases be injured at birth, you were lucky.
I would let him know immediately. I had scheduled c-sections both times. First baby was frank breech for the whole month before delivery and we knew it, so no labor for me. The second was not breech and four years later, but I still went with the doctor's recommendation of a scheduled repeat c-section just to be on the safe side. I didn't want it but knew it was for the best for us.
Does the doctor feel the size of your baby was the reason your epidural failed? If he doesn't want to let you wait then maybe he would be willing to recommend someone who will and is trusted by your doc. Is he the one who delivered you last time? Will he be on vacation at the time of your due date? Unfortunately, sometimes that matters to the doctor or the patient. If you don't mind the on-call doctor helping you if your doc will be on vacation, then maybe he'll be okay with letting you go naturally. You'll need to verify that the on-call doctors at that hospital are in your insurance network before hand. I would also prefer meeting them. There is nothing wrong for expressing your wishes and being pro-active in your medical care. Most doctors actually prefer patients who take an active part in choosing medical care.
No he cannot force you to do anything, but do take into consideration that he only wants what is best for you and your baby's health. You have to sign a form giving him permission to induce you or do a c-section, etc. Plus, how can he force you when you don't even have to show up at the hospital for the birth at all. Talk to him, but be open-minded. :)
Congratulations!
No, unless a doctor gets a court order, he/she cannot force you into an induction. However, he will probably scare the crap out of you to convince you that you should do what he says. I'd find a new doctor or midwife ASAP.
Even if he schedules it, you don't have to show up.
no he can not force you to be induced. i agree that you should have someone go with you as you speak with him about your decision. remember you hired him to be your doc not the other way around. i too was induced my first time do to pre eclampsia and ended up having a c section because i was not going as fast as they wanted. if there is a medical reason such as that then i would do it but if the purpose is only because he is a big baby then tell him you are fine with having a big baby. i think docs are afraid of "tearing" regardless of all this you should tell him on the next visit if not before. good luck with your new baby! god bless
Unless medically necessary I would not let him. Ask him why you absolutely need one.
My dr told me that I couldn't give birth without an epidural, but I certainly proved her wrong and my son was a day late. You know what is best for your body, go with your gut.
Here is how I see it: your doctor is a provider of medical services. You as the patient choose to obtain those services or not.
Anytime a doctor or any other medical or other provider tries to force or coerce something on you, you need to find yourself a different provider.
Especially since you are not the kind of person who will stand up for herself, you need to find someone who will not make you have to fight for the care you deserve every step of the way.
Personally I would suggest seeing a midwife as your care provider. They generally practice a more patient/woman centered approach to care and are more likely to listen deeply to your wishes and trust in your ability as a woman to birth naturally (which you have already PROVEN that you can do).
But any provider that you feel comfortable with will do.
I hope you will be able to enjoy the birth of your child like I did, thanks to my awesome and supportive midwife.
Good luck!
No, he can not force you to be induced. He can not even force you to have a c-section believe it or not. The reason he is suggesting for you to be induced is because every baby grows bigger than the one prior. Also if you tended to go post dates with one, you have a good chance of going post dates with this one. (Now that is assuming your dates were correct the first pregnancy). So there is a good chance a 10 lb (they tend to be 6-10 oz larger); can result in a c-section. Believe it or not, doctors do try to keep their c-section rates/numbers down. Now if you are a fairly tall woman and having delivered a LGA baby before, I think you can be fine. At your next doctors appointment; just go in and tell your doctor that you have thought about it and you are aware that your previous history increases your chances of a c-section, but you would rather take that chance than to be induced. Tell him you are willing to watch very close the size of the baby and would be willing to take actions based on these results but you are not willing to scheduled to be induced prior to your due date. If put that way, he will respect it, it will be less stress on you and you can go on to deliver a beautiful baby. Now do be aware, if you end up with a c-section because the baby is too big to come down, they will have to do a spinal on you for deliver. Also know because you had a bad exsperience with an epidural once does not mean it will happen again. That has to do with the MDA?CRNA who administered it. My biggest concern is that you needed an epidural before, are you planning a doula this time whereas you will not have to result to one this time? Good luck and congrats!
Of course he can't force you to be induced. I'm sure if there were an emergency and you had to be induced for the baby's health you would. Otherwise it is your decision. Inducing introduces a whole new set of worries. Why go through that if you don't have to.
I've never heard of a dr. planning and induction from the get go. They usually play it by ear. I am 36 weeks and this baby is measuring big. They think at full term he will be about 11lbs. No one has said anything to me about being induced. In fact the only thing my midwife has said is "well, good thing we know your good at having big babies!" My last was 9lbs.
You really need to tell your dr. your concerns and wants. It is not so much about sticking up to your dr. as it is being this babies advocate.
You can object and refuse, just be willing to take responsibility if it does not go well.
When the doctor was not around I asked the nurses privately questions about how they felt my delivery was going. I told them to tell me what they had seen in their experiences as nurses and also while giving birth to their own children. They answered very truthfully. It reassured me that my Doctor was doing all of the right things. I also adored my Doctor, she was awesome.
He cannot force you to do something you are not comfortable with. Neither can husband. Your delivery is your decision. Although, I had both of my pregnancies induced, they never used an epideral for that. They only administered the epideral during labor, at my request.
Unless maybe you mean the administering of Patocin (sp?). My inductions never got that far. The 1st step of the overnight gel did the trick for me both times.
Megan
Megan
I don't think he should force you to be induced BUT i wouldn't go too far past your due date! If it were me i'd be induced around 41 weeks if I hadn't gone on my own. It sounds like you'd prefer not to have ANY drugs and I understand that ut my friend lost her baby at 42 weeks. They said the placenta quits working at that time... it's not made to work longer! So... I definitly think you should tell him that you want to try to go on your own but maybe don't go too far past your due date! P.S. my sisters first baby was 9lbs 9oz and came out just fine but her 2nd was smaller and got stuck!
Updated
I don't think he should force you to be induced BUT i wouldn't go too far past your due date! If it were me i'd be induced around 41 weeks if I hadn't gone on my own. It sounds like you'd prefer not to have ANY drugs and I understand that ut my friend lost her baby at 42 weeks. They said the placenta quits working at that time... it's not made to work longer! So... I definitly think you should tell him that you want to try to go on your own but maybe don't go too far past your due date! P.S. my sisters first baby was 9lbs 9oz and came out just fine but her 2nd was smaller and got stuck!
no you do not have to be induced, and even if you are induced that does not mean you have to have an epidural or any other medication.
also Dr.s are scheduling births now to their schedule and not letting it happen when it is supposed to, it is more convienant for them
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he can't make you be induced. BUT seeing as your last baby was late you do face the danger of carrying later than that and at 42 weeks the placenta starts to die. I was induced with my second because he was so big and my first delivery was a big disaster, I was higher risk with the added size.
The induction is done with an IV not an epidural. You don't have to get an epidural with an induction.
No, he can't force you. And if he chooses to drop you because you won't "cooperate" with what HE WANTS to do to YOUR body then really....no great loss there. The first response is silly. By all means, if you trust your doctor and you feel good about what he is saying (assuming you have done some research on it yourself)...then go for it. I do not agree to any medical procedures without researching it first....I went into both of my births having done a lot of reading to prepare myself for what might happen in different situations. The epidural having problems really has nothing to do with induction. I had a partial induction (partial meaning I really was already ready to go they just gave me a tiny bit of pitocin and my body went into overdrive) which I only agreed to because I was group B strep positive, my hospital was almost 45 min away and I was already like 3-4 cm dilated before any real labor started due to several early labor scares. I felt for the safety of my baby I needed to get the antibiotics to prevent rare, but possibly serious infection from the Strep B. And they took some time to administer.
Up to that point I had felt nothing from the contractions I had had from early labor even though they had managed to progress me to 3-4 all on their own. My midwife broke my water and told them to wait 1/2 hour before starting any pitocin...it was more like 15 minutes which irks me to this day. My contractions were EXTREMELY strong and right on top of each other with no breaks. It was my first baby and I only labored for 3 1/2 hours total with a 1/2 hour being pushing.
Also, induction and epiduralsl can very quickly send you into the cascade of interventions. Once they break the water, you only have a certain amount of time they will let you labor because then they start worrying about infection. So, if you go that long without much progress, then they start trying to force a C section on you. Epidurals can also slow the progress of labor because since your body is not feeling the contractions it can't do it's work as well and your body starts to stall out.
http://thefeministbreeder.com/why-i-wont-leave-my-births-up-to-chance/
http://www.ivillage.com/big-baby-induction-labor-necessary/6-a-144630?p=2
http://pregnancy.about.com/od/induction/a/pitocindiffers.htm
It is a bit late to take a Bradley class, but you can still read, read, read. A doctor is your employee, you are paying him and it is your body. If you are in an emergency situation you need to be able to trust him to give you his recommendation but you need to be given at least a few minutes to think it over and talk to your partner. You can disagree with them respectfully and any doctor who is worth anything should be able to talk to you about the risks and benefits of any given procedure and why they recommend what they do. But just realize they are going to be biased by what they want to do. And although they may say one reason, they may mean something more like "I want to know when this baby is coming so I that I don't miss my vacation/get woken up in the middle of the night/miss my child's birthday" or something to that effect. So you need to be educated for yourself and stand up for what you want. You can do this without being too confrontational though, just prepare what you are going to say ahead of time.
Some good books that I read:
http://www.amazon.com/Ina-Mays-Guide-Childbirth-Gaskin/dp/0553381156
http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Womans-Guide-Better-Birth/dp/0399525173/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
http://www.amazon.com/Birthing-Within-Extra-Ordinary-Childbirth-Preparation/dp/0965987302/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275428955&sr=1-1
It is true that if you go past 42 weeks there is risk of placental problems. If you are getting close to that then the risk of induction is less and the risk of placental issues increases so then it should be a consideration. And having a big baby CAN lead to C section esp if you have a doctor that doesn't trust your ability to have your baby. But ultrasound estimates of weight are often wayyyy off. 9 lbs is a big baby....but it is not so big that a normal woman shouldn't be able to deliver naturally with no problem.
I would have a talk with your doctor. Tell him you don't want to do this unless it is NECESSARY. If he fights you on it, I would go to someone else. If you can trust him now, you def won't trust him in the heat of the moment, so to speak.
I'm sure everyone has covered this already but no, he can't force you to induce. He will document up the yin-yang that you discussed it and you declined and all the risks, etc. With my second my OB tried to get me to induce (size, post dates, and polyamnios) but I declined. They were wrong about size with my first so I figured they would be wrong with my second, too. I was at my due date at the time so I wasn't worried about post dates yet, especially since she was passing NSTs. And the polyamnios is really just a risk factor in labor, so I was very comfortable in my decision not to induce and was very happy - she came 2 days later and they were a pound off on size.
I do not believe they can force you...I do want to share my story (and I am not trying to convince you either way just sharing) I just had my third two weeks early (induction) because I was measuring big and was miserable. My first was 6.8 lbs, second was 7.14 lbs giving birth vaginally with no epidural. My third just born was 7.11 lbs two weeks early giving birth via induction at 38 weeks started the induction with cytotek delivered three hours after start of induction with no medicine again. I was so scared to be induced but new it was for the best for me and it went very well.
If you don't want to do it let him know now so they can plan accordingly. You odds of having a bigger baby are high, and a small amount of weight can make a huge difference, my 7.14 lb baby had shoulder dystocia and got stuck but I had no issues at all with my .03 lb lighter baby. And if I would have gone full term she would have been well into the 8.5 lb and higher weight.
No he can NOT force you. The only medical reason that he wants to induce you is because you might have a big baby? If so, that's not a good enough reason in my opinion.
I had gestational diabetes with my daughter. My Dr. told me he wanted me to have a c-section because she might be too big. I told him I didn't want one. At my next appointment, he tried to scedule an induction for the day of my due date. Huh? Why can't I be given the chance to go into labor on my own? I asked. He said because my baby was going to be over 10 pounds. I said but my ultrasound just measured her at around 8. He said ok, he'd let me have the weekend and sceduled my induction for Monday. I didn't show up. He was furious! I went in and let him bully me into re-sceduling for a couple of days later. By this point I was scared and stressed and just gave in.
So I was induced and 8 hours later I gave birth to my daughter who was...just a little over 6 pounds. He was completely wrong about her size! FOUR pounds off! By the way, I didn't have an epidural. I did have a couple of shots of pain meds in my IV. But when I pushed her out I felt the whole thing which was great. I'm glad I didn't go for the epi.
Anyway, go with your instincts and get a second opinion on the induction. Talk to your Dr. and tell him you don't want one. However, I don't think you should go more than a week past your due date in case the baby has a bowel movement while in utero. Good luck with your decision and your birth!