This is the first of many birth stories to comes from some of the amazing mothers in the August 2015 due date group. Each birth is different and each is important. I hope they bring comfort or understanding to other Mothers curious about birth in this day and age.
Birth Story By Carissa Ann Damron
The Induction That Shouldn’t Have Been!
I was pressured to agree to an induction at 40 weeks 4 days, just because I was “overdue” and at 35 weeks he was measuring 7lbs 2oz on ultrasound. I wish I hadn’t agreed to it. I wish I had waited for him to pick his birthday.
I went in to the hospital at 7am on August 13th to be induced with Pitocin. Once my IV was in and Pitocin was started the doctor broke my water. My plan was to deliver without any kind of pain management but with the lack of support I asked for an epidural around 11am even though contractions were still bearable. The epidural gave me terrible anxiety and I felt trapped in my own body. At about 1:30 pm the epidural started to wear off and I was only 5 centimeters. By 2:00pm the epidural was no longer working, I had contractions one right on top of the other getting worse in intensity. A Nurse checked again and I was only 6cm, I could have sworn I was going to die by then. After 20 minutes, checked again, 7cm. Then 25 more minutes, 8cm and the nurse said, “let me know when you feel pressure.” I told her “I have to push now!!” Sure enough, I went from 8cm to 10cm in a matter of two minutes and he was coming fast! After about 5 pushes his heartrate dropped to 50bpm and before I could even ask what was going on my nurse climbed on top of me pushing on my stomach, my doctor got out the vacuum and pulled him out. At 3:17pm he was born with his cord around his neck and a collapsed lung. He’s doing well now and weighed in at 9lbs 10oz, 21inches long! After going through what we went through, I will never suggest anyone have an induction done simply because they are a few days overdue. Even though I was “overdue” his lungs were premature which has caused him life long problems. Carry your babies until they are ready, not until someone tells you they are.
Evidence Based Birth is so important. We know that a “large baby” is NOT a reason to force an induction on a mother. Being a few days past the due date “Guess Date” is also not a reason to press for induction. Had Carissa not been talked into an induction perhaps she would have tolerated labor better, had more confidence, more support, and less pain. Perhaps if not for the induction she would not have had the issues she did with the epidural. If not for the pitocin perhaps her baby would not have had his heart rate drop, maybe the nurse would not have jumped on her pressing to push the baby out. If not for the induction maybe her son would have been born with mature lungs rather than a collapsed lung and so much NICU time. We can only guess at what might have happened but we know that induction have a high chance of more complications from more interventions and that is what happened in this case. All we can do now is wish Carissa and her baby boy the very best.
