How do they induce
Inducing labour - NHS
An induced labour is one that's started artificially. Every year, 1 in 5 labours are induced in the UK.
Sometimes labour can be induced if your baby is overdue or there's any risk to you or your baby's health.
This risk could be if you have a health condition such as high blood pressure, for example, or your baby is not growing.
Induction will usually be planned in advance. You'll be able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages with your doctor and midwife, and find out why they think your labour should be induced.
It's your choice whether to have your labour induced or not.
If your pregnancy lasts longer than 42 weeks and you decide not to have your labour induced, you should be offered increased monitoring to check your baby's wellbeing.
Why you might be induced
- if you're overdue
- if your waters have broken
- if you or your baby have a health problem
If you're overdue
Induction will be offered if you do not go into labour naturally by 42 weeks, as there will be a higher risk of stillbirth or problems for the baby.
If your waters break early
If your waters break more than 24 hours before labour starts, there's an increased risk of infection to you and your baby.
If your waters break after 34 weeks, you'll have the choice of induction or expectant management.
Expectant management is when your healthcare professionals monitor your condition and your baby's wellbeing, and your pregnancy can progress naturally as long as it's safe for both of you.
Your midwife or doctor should discuss your options with you before you make a decision.
They should also let you know about the newborn (neonatal) special care hospital facilities in your area.
If your baby is born earlier than 37 weeks, they may be vulnerable to problems related to being premature.
If your waters break before 34 weeks, you'll only be offered induction if there are other factors that suggest it's the best thing for you and your baby.
If you have a health condition or your baby is not thriving
You may be offered an induction if you have a condition that means it'll be safer to have your baby sooner, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.
If this is the case, your doctor and midwife will explain your options to you so you can decide whether or not to have your labour induced.
Membrane sweep
Before inducing labour, you'll be offered a membrane sweep, also known as a cervical sweep, to bring on labour.
To carry out a membrane sweep, your midwife or doctor sweeps their finger around your cervix during an internal examination.
This action should separate the membranes of the amniotic sac surrounding your baby from your cervix. This separation releases hormones (prostaglandins), which may start your labour.
Having a membrane sweep does not hurt, but expect some discomfort or slight bleeding afterwards.
If labour does not start after a membrane sweep, you'll be offered induction of labour.
Induction is always carried out in a hospital maternity unit. You'll be looked after by midwives and doctors will be available if you need their help.
How labour is induced
If you're being induced, you'll go into the hospital maternity unit.
Contractions can be started by inserting a tablet (pessary) or gel into your vagina.
Induction of labour may take a while, particularly if the cervix (the neck of the uterus) needs to be softened with pessaries or gels.
You will usually stay in the hospital maternity unit while you wait for it to work.
If you've had no contractions after 6 hours, you may be offered another tablet or gel.
If you have a controlled-release pessary inserted into your vagina, it can take 24 hours to work. If you are not having contractions after 24 hours, you may be offered another dose.
Sometimes a hormone drip is needed to speed up the labour. Once labour starts, it should proceed normally, but it can sometimes take 24 to 48 hours to get you into labour.
What induced labour feels like
Induced labour is usually more painful than labour that starts on its own, and you may want to ask for an epidural.
Your pain relief options during labour are not restricted by being induced. You should have access to all the pain relief options usually available in the maternity unit.
If you are induced you'll be more likely to have an assisted delivery, where forceps or ventouse suction are used to help the baby out.
If induction of labour does not work
Induction is not always successful, and labour may not start.
Your obstetrician and midwife will assess your condition and your baby's wellbeing, and you may be offered another induction or a caesarean section.
Your midwife and doctor will discuss all your options with you.
Natural ways to start labour
There are no proven ways of starting your labour yourself at home.
You may have heard that certain things can trigger labour, such as herbal supplements and having sex, but there's no evidence that these work.
Other methods that are not supported by scientific evidence include acupuncture, homeopathy, hot baths, castor oil and enemas.
Having sex will not cause harm, but you should avoid having sex if your waters have broken as there's an increased risk of infection.
For more information on induction, you can read the NICE information for the public on induction of labour.
Video: When would I be induced and what's involved?
In this video, a midwife describes what an induction of labour is and what is involved.
Media last reviewed: 20 March 2020
Media review due: 20 March 2023
Inducing Labor (for Parents) - Nemours KidsHealth
It's common for many pregnant women, especially first-time mothers, to watch their baby's due date come and go without so much as a contraction. The farther away from the expected delivery date (called the EDD) you get, the more anxious you might become. You may start to wonder — is this baby ever going to come?
Late pregnancy can be challenging — you may feel large all over, your feet and back might hurt, you might not have the energy to do much of anything, and you're beyond ready to meet the little one you've nurtured all this time.
Which is why waiting a little longer than you'd expected can be particularly hard.
Still, being past your due date doesn't guarantee that your doctor (or other health care provider) will do anything to induce (or artificially start) labor — at least not right away.
What Is It?
Labor induction is what doctors use to try to help labor along using medications or other medical techniques. Years ago, some doctors routinely induced labor. But now it's not usually done unless there's a true medical need for it. Labor is usually allowed to take its natural course. However, in some situations, a health care provider may recommend induction.
Why It's Done
Your doctor might suggest an induction if:
- your water broke but you are not having contractions
- your baby still hasn't arrived by 2 weeks after the due date (when you're considered post-term — more than 42 weeks into your pregnancy)
- you have an infection in the uterus (called chorioamnionitis)
- you have certain risk factors (e.
g., gestational diabetes or high blood pressure) - there is not enough amniotic fluid
- there is a problem with the placenta
- the baby is not growing appropriately
Induction also can be appropriate under certain circumstances, as with a mother who is full term and has a history of rapid deliveries or lives far from a hospital.
Some mothers request elective inductions for convenience, but these do come with risks. Doctors try to avoid inducing labor early because the due date may be wrong and/or the woman's cervix might not be ready yet.
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How It's Done
Some methods of induction are less invasive and carry fewer risks than others. Ways that doctors may try to induce labor by getting contractions started include:
- Stripping the membranes. The doctor puts on a glove and inserts a finger into the vagina and through the cervix (the opening that connects the vagina to the uterus). He or she moves the finger back and forth to separate the thin membrane connecting the amniotic sac (which houses the baby and amniotic fluid) to the wall of the uterus.
When the membranes are stripped, the body releases hormones called prostaglandins, which help prepare the cervix for delivery and may bring on contractions. This method works for some women, but not all. - Breaking your water (also called an amniotomy). The doctor ruptures the amniotic sac during a vaginal exam using a little plastic hook to break the membranes. If the cervix is ready for labor, amniotomy usually brings on labor in a matter of hours.
- Giving the hormone prostaglandin to help ripen the cervix. A gel or vaginal insert of prostaglandin is inserted into the vagina or a tablet is given by mouth. This is typically done overnight in the hospital to make the cervix "ripe" (soft, thinned out) for delivery. Administered alone, prostaglandin may induce labor or may be used before giving oxytocin.
- Giving the hormone oxytocin to stimulate contractions. Given continuously through an IV, the drug (Pitocin) is started in a small dose and then increased until labor is progressing well.
After it's administered, the fetus and uterus need to be closely monitored. Oxytocin is also frequently used to spur labor that's going slowly or has stalled.
What Will It Feel Like?
Stripping the membranes can be a little painful or uncomfortable, although it usually only takes a minute or so. You may also have some intense cramps and spotting for the next day or two.
It can also be a little uncomfortable to have your water broken. You may feel a tug followed by a warm trickle or gush of fluid.
With prostaglandin, you might have some strong cramping as well. With oxytocin, contractions are usually more frequent and regular than in a labor that starts naturally.
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Risks and Precautions
Inducing labor is not like turning on a faucet. If the body isn't ready, an induction might fail and, after hours or days of trying, a woman may end up having a cesarean delivery (C-section). This appears to be more likely if the cervix is not yet ripe.
If the doctor ruptures the amniotic sac and labor doesn't begin, another method of inducing labor also might be necessary because there's a risk of infection to both mother and baby if the membranes are ruptured for a long time before the baby is born.
When prostaglandin or oxytocin is used, there is a risk of abnormal contractions developing. In that case, the doctor may remove the vaginal insert or turn the oxytocin dose down. While it is rare, there is an increase in the risk of developing a tear in the uterus (uterine rupture) when these medications are used. Other complications associated with oxytocin use are low blood pressure and low blood sodium (which can cause problems such as seizures).
Another potential risk of inducing labor is giving birth to a late pre-term baby (born after 34 and before 37 weeks). Why? Because the due date (EDD) may be wrong. Your due date is 40 weeks from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP).
Babies born late pre-term are generally healthy but may have temporary problems such as jaundice, trouble feeding, problems with breathing, or difficulty maintaining body temperature.
They may also be more likely than full term babies to have developmental or school problems later on.
Even though inductions do come with risks, going beyond 42 weeks of pregnancy can be risky, too. Many babies are born "post-term" without any complications, but concerns include:
- A vaginal delivery may become harder as the baby gets bigger. As babies get bigger, the chance of an injury during delivery, such as a broken bone, increases.
- The placenta that helps to provide the baby with nourishment is deteriorating.
- The amniotic fluid can become low or contain meconium — the baby's first feces. If the baby breathes in meconium, it can cause breathing problems.
Old wives' tales abound about ways to induce labor, such as the use of castor oil. It is not safe to try to artificially start labor yourself by taking castor oil, which can lead to nausea, diarrhea, and dehydration. And herbs and herbal supplements meant to induce labor can be harmful.
Breast stimulation can cause uterine contractions by causing the release of oxytocin. However, some studies have suggested that the baby might have abnormal heartbeats after breast stimulation. Some women feel that having sex in late pregnancy can induce labor, but there is no conclusion on this yet.
Talk to your doctor before doing anything to try to encourage your little one's arrival. Inducing labor is best left to medical professionals — you may cause more harm than good.
As frustrating as it can be waiting for your baby to finally decide to arrive, letting nature take its course is often best, unless your doctor tells you otherwise. Before you know it, you'll be too busy to remember your baby was ever late at all!
Are they addictive? How nicotine pouches work
If a heavy smoker had recently been told that in the future it would be possible to get a portion of nicotine with the help of a special pillow without smoke and tobacco, he would certainly be very surprised.
But today, many smokers are looking for alternative ways to consume nicotine with fewer health risks. The market quickly reacted to this trend, manufacturers began to release new products. One of them is nicotine pouches. How do they work, can they be considered a harmless alternative to cigarettes - together with VELO we answer common questions.
Do people no longer smoke cigarettes?
Over the past couple of years, people have been actively looking for ways to consume nicotine with less harm to health. There are several alternatives to regular cigarettes on the market today: tobacco heating systems, electronic smoking systems, nicotine pouches. All of these products have potentially reduced health risks due to the absence of the tobacco burning process.
What is a pouch? And where does this name come from?
Pouchy is a new tobacco-free nicotine product that also does not need to be heated or ignited, just place a special pad under the upper lip.
This name is used in Belarus by analogy with the English original "pouch".
How do they differ from the tobacco stick heating system?
Pouches are essentially tobacco-free, do not need to be heated, they are smoke and odor free. And you don't need any additional device to use them.
Is it really safer than regular cigarettes?
Pouch is very different from cigarettes. It is a nicotine product with a potentially reduced health risk. When smoking, the main danger is created by tars that are formed during the combustion of tobacco - all over the world they are recognized as carcinogens. It turns out that if there is no combustion, the harm is much less.
Nicotine pouches contain much less toxic substances than cigarettes and Swedish snus. In addition, when using spiders, there is no effect of hot smoke on the mucous membranes of the mouth, throat, bronchi and lungs.
What are spiders made of?
VELO pouches are made from natural plant fibres, nicotine, water and flavors.
All these ingredients can be used in the food industry.
If they are not cigarettes, then they are not addictive?
Calling. Spiders contain nicotine, which is addictive, as when smoking cigarettes and using alternative methods. In this sense, we can only talk about the potential reduction of harm to health. At the same time, according to Chris Proctor, head of the British American Tobacco research laboratory in Southampton (UK), nicotine is a stimulant comparable, for example, to caffeine.
How to properly handle spiders?
The pouch should be placed under the upper lip a little to the side - this is the most comfortable and safest position. In the first minutes of use, you can feel a slight tingling sensation, this is how the effect of nicotine manifests itself. One pouch is recommended to be used up to 30 minutes, then it can be put away in the upper section of the package. The product is not intended to be chewed or sucked.
When used correctly, they cannot tear in the mouth. But if this suddenly happened, then you need to get a pouch and rinse your mouth.
How many pouch can be used at a time?
Only one nicotine pouch can be used at a time. There are different strength levels of the product: from 4 to 10.9 mg of nicotine in one pouch. They are indicated by dots (dots) on the packaging. One dot is light, two dots are medium, three dots are strong, and 4 dots are extra strong. In total, there are 24 pads in one package of VELO, on average they are enough for three to five days.
What other advantages do spiders have?
Nicotine pouch can be used anywhere and anytime, even in the office or at home. There is no ash and smoke from them and, accordingly, no discomfort for others. Spiders also do not stain teeth and leave no odor. And they are also convenient to use and dispose of: used pouches can be put into a special container in a package, and then sent for recycling.
They do not require a special accessory device or fluid.
Are there any contraindications to the use of pouch?
Pouches are not recommended for those who do not smoke or use nicotine products. The pads are also prohibited for use by people under 18 years of age, with allergies or sensitivities to nicotine and any other ingredients, with heart disease, severe hypertension, hypertension or diabetes, pregnant or breastfeeding.
why they are addictive and how to get rid of it
Doomscrolling, or the psychological need to constantly read bad news, is becoming more and more of a concern for psychologists. And if you, upon seeing the beginning of the headline, immediately felt the need to open this publication, it really is for you. Moskovskaya Pravda dealt with experts about the dangers of doomscrolling, how it affects our psyche, and why we need to get rid of this addiction.
We used to hang out in social networks and instant messengers, looking through a bunch of publics of various topics. Moreover, some spent up to 12 hours a day on this, which caused not only psychologists, but also other specialists in the field of medicine, who were not unreasonably worried. After all, scrolling not only creates problems with the perception of reality, but also threatens health disorders - both psychological and physical.
“Scrolling has several reasons, and habit is far from the least of them,” notes Artur Timofeev, a medical psychologist, candidate of psychological sciences. — Thanks to the development of technology, the information field surrounding each person has become supersaturated. And sometimes people are subscribed to so many information resources that they cannot fully absorb and process (dozens of news feeds in Telegram, groups in VK and other social networks).
Over the past few years, doom scrolling (the term is derived from the English words doom - "evil fate", "death" and scroll - "scroll, scroll") has become a problem of society all over the world. Why, of all media resources, people increasingly began to choose those in which negative information is published?
“The ability of the brain to catch on to negativity is completely natural, this is how our psyche works,” family psychologist Emilia Javadova explains our craving for the terrible. “People are drawn to frightening headlines, extravagant names, they want to know more about everything, to figure out for themselves what and how.
According to the psychologist, it's very easy to fall for this trap and start getting more and more immersed in the process when you read one piece of news after another and can't tear yourself away.
“There is nothing terrible in the fact that a person reads bad news,” Javadova says. — But when scrolling starts to be very addictive and affect our mood, and even more so - on the thought process, when, for example, you can’t work because you are constantly distracted by watching news feeds, this is already an indicator that you need to take some then measures.
By the way, recent studies by American scientists have shown that 74% of doomscrollers have mental problems, and 61% complain about physical health. They also scored highest on content preoccupation, preoccupation with thoughts about information received, reading obsessively in an attempt to reduce anxiety, difficulty ignoring information, and the negative impact of news on life.
— When we start watching news feeds with negative content, it affects our mood, we start to worry, the level of anxiety increases. And, trying to cope with this anxiety, we begin to view the news more often, plunging into them more and more. A certain illusion of control arises: they say, if I own all this information, then I sort of control the situation, ”Dzhavadov explains the process of immersion in thought-scrolling.
But the level of anxiety, according to her, in the end practically does not decrease, and in the future the situation only gets worse.
Because catastrophization is involved: a person reads one negative article, a second, a third, comments on them, and there is a feeling that everything is terrible, everything is bad and it will only get worse. Accordingly, the level of anxiety rises. The person again tries to cope with it, again tries to read as much news as possible, and a kind of vicious vicious circle is obtained, which leads to psychological problems.
Artur Timofeev, in turn, believes that there is also a reverse trend - people who already have certain mental health problems are more susceptible to doomscrolling.
“The data of American scientists are very revealing,” the expert says. - Those 74% who experience mental problems must have included a lot of people with anxiety and phobic disorders. And for these poor fellows, there is nothing worse than an excess of negative information in their personal information field, since their psyche cannot cope with this information and worsens their condition, but they themselves cannot get out of this trap and drag themselves even deeper, even despite insistent recommendations of psychiatrists and psychologists to protect themselves from negative information.
However, mentally healthy people are also susceptible to doomscrolling. And, according to the expert, they are also quite defenseless against this problem.
— One of the strongest emotions is fear. And the strongest fear is associated with the unknown, as it instantly gives rise to a feeling of defenselessness and helplessness, says Artur Timofeev. “People end up falling into the trap of doom-scrolling because they think that if they get all the bad news as early as possible, they will feel prepared. But in fact, they do not receive any certainty, they only drown more and more in emotions and flows of negative information.
Even ordinary scrolling is dangerous because it becomes an information addiction and, accordingly, like any addiction, begins to subordinate a person's life to itself.
— For example, if a person does not have access to the Internet and other sources of information, anxiety, irritation, sadness may occur.
A person doesn’t know what to do with himself, but he doesn’t want to do everyday or important things either, Timofeev explains. - Doomscrolling worsens the situation many times, because, in addition to addiction based on the constant absorption of information, there is also the destructive nature of the information itself, which destabilizes people with mental disorders.
According to a medical psychologist, for people with unstable mentality, thought-scrolling is a direct path to psychiatrists, and for mentally healthy people, at least the need to turn to psychologists and psychotherapists.
- However, physical health is also under great pressure, as the constant high anxiety caused by doom scrolling contributes to the exacerbation of any chronic diseases. The strongest blow falls on the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system - this is a classic of psychosomatic diseases, and anxiety will destroy, first of all, those systems that are already weakened in a person, - Artur Timofeev warns.
- Also, the social aspect cannot be missed: the doomscroller is inside terrible ideas about the reality around, he feels anxious, he is irritable, and, of course, he will broadcast this to other people, as a result, he will “infect” others with his anxiety, for example, colleagues at work, and irritability and anger can be released on loved ones - on children, on a spouse, on their parents.
In general, the saying “the less you know, the better you sleep” has not lost its relevance in this case. The flow of information received should be dosed, even if we are talking about normal scrolling.
— The fact is that the information environment has overwhelmed humanity too quickly, and cultural norms and rules have not yet arisen that will regulate the speed of information consumption, Timofeev notes.
And the quality of the information received is also not yet controlled at the highest level. It's no secret that the amount of fake news on the Internet is off the charts.
And doomscrollers more often than others become its consumers and unwitting distributors.
“Because doomscrolling primarily draws people with high anxiety and low stress tolerance, it often happens that doomscrollers lose their critique of the information they consume and become increasingly vulnerable to any emotional manipulation that is saturated with the current information space,” explains Artur Timofeev.
And this is another argument for getting rid of destructive addiction as soon as possible. The first step towards this is to put yourself on a "digital diet", says Emilia Javadova.
“Just like with a food diet, for this you need to keep track of what and in what quantities you consume,” the expert notes. - So, give yourself some time to scroll through the news feeds. Before you start reading, set a timer for, say, 30 minutes and try to keep to the time allotted for reading. Unsubscribe from a large number of news channels, because they duplicate each other anyway.
Subscribe to publics where there is no negative content - these can be some interest groups or channels that publish funny videos. Try to switch your attention to them. In addition, to get rid of the illusion of being able to gain control over what is happening outside our sphere of influence, it is important to try to switch to something that we can really control. Ask yourself the question: “What can I do that is in my control zone?” And act according to how you answer it. The simplest thing: you can start to control the state of your health, at least in terms of eating well, monitoring your sleep patterns, again, observing the timing of reading bad news.
Of course, it will not be possible to achieve a quick positive result here. In addition, in order to follow any diet, certain strong-willed efforts are required, which not everyone is capable of. And not everyone can realize the problem in time. And then relatives should help in this.
- If you see that a loved one is subject to the influence of doomscrolling, tell him about it.
