There’s beauty in the waiting.

It’s chilly out. A freezing 1 degrees actually.

Just had an awkward experience with a woke barista ordering a latte in an aesthetically pleasing NYC coffee spot. 

Silly me didn’t “clear the screen” after paying. I also didn’t understand when she asked for my name. But I still left a tip, coz USA.

I went to Zara. Was asked to “please hang yurr things when yurr done”. Hun I slaved the floor folding and hanging for years in a clothes store. And the notorious lighting in Zara fitting rooms? Let’s not go there.

I then visited Skims for an overdue bra shop. Extremely overdue. I can’t stand frills and colour. I mean yeah they’re cute and all - until you get dressed. It’s so hard to find nude, seamless and attractive underwear!

Honestly I much prefer an online shop. You know the kind where you overfill your basket then never check out? Much more satisfying.

Snow sprinkled over Times Square as I made my way back to the hotel, but not before grabbing my nonnegotiable panino from All’Antico Vinaio.

I get really worked up these days when I hear about any type of labour induction or augmentation. Because I was pressured into it. Which is the next thing I wanted to write to you about.

Remember the cocktail of pain relief choices we were talking about? Well those are complemented with a side of “let’s get the baby out before its physiology ready” options.

I was beside myself when I heard of something called a social induction. My husband came home telling me that a colleague had opted for one so that their husband could be there for the birth of their child.

Sounds fair enough does it? What a shame for our other half to be on the other side of the world when the time comes. I get it. I too faced this potential circumstance.

But how can you hope to have an uncomplicated birth when you intentionally elect yourself to be at risk of the very complications and outcomes you wanted to avoid? 

A social induction is an elective induction performed at the convenience of the pregnant mother and her family, or the medical team for no true medical reason.

Convenience. A controversial word that travels deep into post partum and battles our innate need to mother our babies intuitively. 

So what’s the difference between an induction and augmentation?

When you are induced, the process of labour has been started artificially before your body gets the chance to do so spontaneously.

When labour is augmented, the process is “helped” to speed things along through medical intervention - because the time your body is taking to progress through labour has been deemed inadequate.

Inductions and augmentations are either mechanical or pharmacological.

When my booked medical induction turned into “Oh! You’re already at 4cm, we can’t induce you!”, I was so freaking relieved I think I dilated another centimetre. The catch? “If by 6am your waters haven’t broken, we’ll break them.”

Spoiler alert: Having your waters broken is a form of induction. A small instrument called an amnihook is inserted through your cervix to puncture the amniotic sac.

Spoiler alert: Getting a membrane sweep is a form of induction. A finger is inserted into your cervix and makes a sweeping circular movement to separate the membranes (amniotic sac) from the cervix.

Spoiler alert: Cervical balloons are a form of induction. A catheter with a small balloon at the end is inserted into your cervix and inflated with saline water to put pressure on your cervical wall.

Spoiler alert: Laminaria tents are also used as a form of induction. Laminaria is dehydrated seaweed rolled up to form a rod and placed in your cervix to absorb cervical fluid, causing it to expand and dilate your cervix.

But why? Because these methods intend to stimulate the production of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are hormones produced by uterine cells that help dilate your cervix, causing uterine contractions which assist your baby to move through the birth canal.

When labour begins spontaneously, your body will naturally produce prostaglandins, making your cervix softer, shorter and open up. This also triggers the release of natural pain relieving substances in your body.

Alternatively, you can be pumped with synthetic hormones to not only kick start labour but potentially derail it.

Options available include:

• Synthetic prostaglandin via pessary, gel or tablet.
• Synthetic oxytocin via an IV drip.
• Misoprostal in tablet form, which is also a type of synthetic prostaglandin.

Unfortunately, most women are presented with the option to either induce or augment their labour with the silver lining that it may prevent a possibile c-section or other complication.

Alarm bells start ringing and your dream to birth “naturally” starts to dissipate.

Surely it’s fine if it’s to prevent slicing through 7 layers of skin, muscle and tissue isn’t it? Plus the shock the baby goes through when pulled out of your body instead of taking its sweet time down your birth canal and into the world? Hmmm.

Maybe you’re “too old”. Or your BMI is too high. You’ve got gestational diabetes? Or perhaps baby’s passed its expiry date.

Just like that’s you’re put into the  “high risk” box. Coerced into cutting your pregnancy shorter than nature intended it to be.

I had 4 membrane sweeps that failed. Because my body wasn’t actually ready to go into labour. That’s why they didn’t work. And when they didn’t work, they wanted to medically induce me. For NO TRUE medical reason.

But did you know that labour that starts spontaneously is actually very different to induced labour? 

Induced labour can be much more painful. The onset can be much quicker and tiring than if you went into labour when you and your baby were physiologically ready to. Affecting the release of natural pain-relieving hormones. Leading to side effects that may require you to be continuously monitored.

This could mean restrictions in your movement. Which may create stress or cause more pain. Causing you to feel like you are no longer in control. Inviting additional intervention and examination to help you cope with the extra pain and discomfort. With pain relief decisions that may in turn affect labour, birth and post partum.

Or… We could just wait for our bodies and our babies to dance beautifully when they’re ready?

Induction and Augmentation of Labour | GLOWM

Mechanical methods for induction of labor - ScienceDirect

Ten things I wish every woman knew about induction of labour - Dr Sara Wickham