Inducing labor: When to wait, when to induce (2024)

FAQs

Inducing labor: When to wait, when to induce? ›

When a woman and her fetus are healthy, induction should not be done before 39 weeks. Babies born at or after 39 weeks have the best chance at healthy outcomes compared with babies born before 39 weeks. When the health of a woman or her fetus is at risk, induction before 39 weeks may be recommended.

The timing of labor induction varies depending on the health of your pregnancy. Pregnancy care providers weigh the risks and benefits of inducing labor. Ideally, they wait until 39 weeks of pregnancy to induce labor.

How Long Will My Induction Take? It can take up to two or three days to induce labor, but it usually takes less time. It may take more time if you're being induced before you're full-term or if it's your first baby.

In a patient whose cervix is already dilated, usually at least 2-3 cm, the induction process begins during the day with pitocin. From a timeline perspective, the induction process can be unpredictable, and especially for first time moms with an unfavorable cervix, can take more than 24 hours.

Your provider may recommend inducing labor if: Your pregnancy lasts longer than 41 to 42 weeks. After 42 weeks, the placenta may not work as well as it did earlier in pregnancy. The placenta grows in your uterus (womb) and supplies your baby with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord.

Before an elective induction, a healthcare professional makes sure that the baby's gestational age is at least 39 weeks or older. This lowers the risk of health problems for the baby. Women with low-risk pregnancies may choose labor induction at 39 to 40 weeks.

This will be different for everyone and depends on how ready your cervix is for birth. In general, it can take 2 to 5 days from the start of the induction to the birth of your baby. Sometimes the ward and hospital birth centre are very busy, and this can delay parts of your induction.

Women who have induction at 39 weeks should be allowed up to 24 hours or longer for the early phase of labor. They also should be given oxytocin at least 12–18 hours after stripping of the membranes. If a woman's labor does not progress, it may be considered a failed attempt at induction.

The increased monitoring can mean you're less able to move around. That in turn can increase pain and stress, and this can quickly lead to a woman feeling that things have spiralled out of her control. Not everybody finds this a problem, but it is something to be aware of. Induction can also take quite a long time.

Is it better to be induced at night or morning? ›

This review, with only three studies with two different comparisons, concludes that induction of labour in the evening is as effective and safe as induction in the morning. However, given the preference of most women, administration of prostaglandins should preferably be done in the morning.

If your cervix has already started to dilate before your induction begins, there's a good chance things will go faster than if you weren't dilated at all.

You need to be 10 cm dilated to deliver vagin*lly. After the birth, you'll deliver the placenta. The cervix, which is the lowest portion of the uterus, opens when a woman has a baby, through a process called cervical dilation.

“Lying flat on the bed doesn't help mild latent labor establish into strong active labor,” Fray says. “Women need to mobilize. Being upright increases the pressure of the fetal head on the cervix, making the contractions more effective.”

Babies are “due” after 40 weeks of gestation, but evidence suggests that infant mortality and complications are lowest for those delivered at 39 weeks, when a fetus is considered full term. Some obstetricians have recommended inducing labor at 39 weeks to reduce the risk of complications.

If you're overdue and have had a straightforward pregnancy, then you'll be offered induction between 41 to 42 weeks because: the risk of stillbirth increases when pregnancy goes beyond 42 weeks. at 37 weeks pregnant the chance of stillbirth is 1 in every 3,000 births.

We do not recommend inducing labour at 37-39 weeks unless there is a particular clinical concern that outweighs this risk. The induction might be unsuccessful. In the days before an induction, you may be offered a membrane sweep to help you go into labour.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now states that it is reasonable to offer induction at 39 weeks to women with low-risk pregnancies who are sure of their due dates. 1 Induction at 39 weeks does not result in better outcomes for the baby, but it may slightly reduce the risk for cesarean surgery.

Until now, choosing to deliver as early as 37 weeks was considered safe for the baby. But evidence is growing that babies delivered this early are missing out on crucial benefits in development. The brain, lungs, liver and other important organs get the time they need to develop.