I’m Due Around the Holidays - Should I Induce?
The holidays are a busy and bustling time of year. If you're expecting a sweet surprise at the holidays, it can come as a mixed bag. For some, the excitement of wondering when baby will arrive can be a highlight of that year’s festivities. For others, it can cause a bit of anxiety when trying to plan time off, travel plans and coordinating bringing family into town for both baby and the season’s celebrations.
Sometimes, your care provider is able to provide some relief from these uncertainties by recommending an induction of labor. There are quite a few inconsistencies surrounding the idea of induction and we’d love to support and inform you about whether it seems like a good decision for you.
1. Examine Who Your Support Team May Be
Are you hoping to have family in town for your emotional support during delivery? Will it be easier for your partner to take off if it is planned, or to make sure everyone is in town to help after baby comes? Sometimes, arranging to have family with you for both the holiday and birth is difficult. An induction can help in that scenario and makes sense for some families.
2. Discuss Methods With Your Care Provider
If you are thinking of being induced, or your provider recommends it, their expert care and examination of the signs of readiness in your body for labor will assist you in making the best choice surrounding an induction of labor. What agent is used to induce, and when in your baby’s development sounds best will help you feel confident when you set a date for induction.
3. Consider Your Emotional Health
Will it help you feel more at ease and allow you to prepare best knowing when your baby is going to arrive? If the ideas of labor’s uncertainty are crippling you, or keeping you from enjoying your pregnancy, discuss with your care provider how you’re doing. Also consider the length of labor that usually comes with an induction method. Sometimes arriving at the hospital for cervical ripening agents precedes labor, and means a night or longer in the hospital being ripened and monitored - but not in labor. Full discussion with your provider or a labor doula of what to expect can help you feel prepared and in a great place mentally to welcome your baby.
4. Surround Yourself With A Great Team
Inductions are not an enemy! They are sometimes the best choice for you and your family when deciding when baby is arriving. At Maryland State Doulas we support families in following their wishes and making their birth experience the best it can be, especially when discussing an induction of labor. We’re happy to prepare you for the smoothest experience you can have, and to help you feel encouraged by the choices you make along the way.
If you are moving forward with an induction this holiday season, congrats! Enjoy the moments preparing to welcome your baby, and enjoy the magic of having a little one during this season!
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