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Inducing Labor

Let me begin by assuring that there are some valid reasons for inducing an otherwise healthy pregnancy.

Life-threatening illnesses that will affect the health of mother or baby. These include preeclampsia, severe hypertension, cancer, diabetes, organ disease, or placental age or deterioration.

There are many more reasons women induce their labors to begin:

Suspected large baby. No technology exists to accurately predict the size or weight of an unborn baby. Measurements, ultrasounds, and assessments through other means can be off by several pounds, higher or lower. Even still, women commonly induce out of fear of having a big baby.

Being overdue. Early in pregnancy, women are assured that their due dates are mere estimates; by the end of pregnancy, that has changed, and going past one's due date has become undesirable. I don't think it's a stretch to assume that this is connected with the first. Merely being past the due date, however, is not a medical reason.

Being full-term. This is more common, as women take lightly the act of inducing labor and try to have their babies at an arbitrary time, so long as it's after 36 weeks (and often before 40).

Doctor scheduling. Your doctor has told you that he or she will be out of town at a certain time, and you want to ensure that you are in labor during a time he or she can attend you.

Family scheduling. Many women feel pressured to produce a baby when family will be around. "My mother will only be here for ten days!" "Grandpa will be in town on the 26th, and he'll want to see the baby!" Some women want to give birth so they can attend a family event or go on a scheduled trip.

Discomfort at the end of pregnancy. Your hips hurt. Your belly is huge. You can barely walk or stand up. Sleep is elusive. You're ready to be done. The baby, though, is not.

All of these are inducing for convenience.

Why it matters

Whether or not to induce your labor depends largely on what you want to experience in your labor and what you want to avoid.

As a result of induction you may have:

1. A vacuum or forceps-assisted birth;
2. A baby unable to tolerate contractions.
   

As a result of induction you are likely to have:

1. Increased fetal distress;
2. Pitocin administration, which will make labor contractions stronger and far more painful;
3. Epidural anesthesia to cope with the pain;
   
4. Rupture of your bag of waters, which puts a time limit on how long you will be allowed to labor and increases your baby's and your own chances of infection;
5. Problems with presentation and position of the baby in the womb;
   
6. Increased incidence and severity of jaundice in your baby.
   

As a result of induction you will have:

1. Doubled your chances of delivering by cesarean section;
   
2. A highly-medicalized and regulated birth where you have little or no decision-making power;
   
3. A premature baby. (By premature, I mean a baby born before it is ready; since we do not know when that date would have been, it is safe to assume that all babies born before that point are, to some extent, premature.)