hey there i want you to have the best induction possible and so i've got some tips i've learned
from experience as a doula supporting many people through an induction and i want to share just
some ways to prepare so that you can have the best induction possible first and foremost mindset like
preparing your mind for the induction and setting the expectations of what it's going to look like
is really going to help you when you're in it and what i like to compare this to is say you have
a friend that's going to go for a run and your friend says hey you want to run with me usually
you're gonna ask well how long are we running and where are we going tell me about the course
so i want you to know what the expectation is for the length of time and what it's going to look
like and i think that's missing often from our health care providers we don't always hear sort
of the reality of what an induction looks like and even though even if the reality isn't something
we like i think it's better that we know what to expect right so inductions can be really long it's
just the reality that inductions often have people um ending up spending one or two extra nights in
the hospital than if you go into labor on your own so knowing that you're going to be in there a long
time then i think it's set yourself up for more success having that expectation related to that
make sure that your family your friends your mom knows that it's going to be long too so many times
i have seen people um in labor or having an induction where their friends and family on
the outside of the hospital you know at home waiting for the news can get really anxious
because they don't realize that it's a long process and they weren't given that heads up
and then they just start like blowing up your phone and asking like what's going on why is
there no change is everything okay and it can be a little bit maddening if you are on the other side
of those text messages and it can get a little bit stressful knowing that you have a lot of
people that are waiting that are anxious for news and maybe it's just going slow which is normal
but setting family friends and everybody on the outside up with that expectation it's such a good
idea also if you have like someone taking care of your pets give them the heads up that it's going
to be longer you know anybody who is counting on you to have a baby um within you know 24 hours
36 hours make sure they know that it might be longer than that and if for some reason labor
goes faster i remember supporting a couple during induction and everything leading up we made sure
that they knew that it's probably going to be long it's probably going to be slow sure enough her
body picked up and she had the baby fairly quickly for an induction and she was totally shocked
very surprised that it went so fast and she was able to call her family and say hey turns out it
was faster than i thought of course they weren't disappointed that it was faster they were excited
so set up your own mind for that marathon ahead of you and set up your family and friends minds so
that they're ready too so if you know you have a marathon on your calendar in a couple days
what are you gonna do in the nights leading up to the marathon you're gonna take care of yourself
you're going to go to bed early you're going to have good dinners you're going to be hydrated
you know there's a physical activity that's going to require a lot out of you and a couple
days and so you're going to prepare so i really recommend that you do that too don't have those
late nights trying to fit everything in or get all of your to-do list done it's really more important
to take care of yourself and get that energy stored up be rested so that you'll be at your
best for induction the next thing we gotta cover is hospital time have you heard about hospital
time that's what doulas and childbirth educators refer to the way the time moves in the hospital
and it can feel like forever so i'm gonna give a super real example first say your nurse says oh
your doctor is coming by at 9 00 a.m to check your cervix and make a plan for the day great so you're
stuck in this hospital room and of course you're looking forward to that 9 a.m check on check by
your doctor well 9 a.m comes and goes 10 a.m 11 12 you don't see your doctor until 12 45 well
it's not because they were like not doing their job they were probably called out to another
birth or a surgery or a situation that needed them immediately and so
you unfortunately are the recipient of a slower hospital time check by the doctor
this happens a lot so let's just set up our minds something that you can do to prepare
as you're heading into induction is just remember flexibility it's really key here and
it can really test your patience but i'm letting you know you're finding out now you're not going
to find out in the hospital and when your doctor shows up two hours passed when you think they're
going to you know about hospital time because you have been given this little nugget that all doulas
understand as hospital time also just it doesn't always work where it's slower sometimes it's
faster too so don't send your partner out to get lunch at 11 30 if the doctor's supposed
to be here at noon because they very well may come at 11 30. so flexibility is key
um it goes right along with the mindset that it's going to take a long time you can feel
this is sort of a pattern that's developing right the other thing to have flexibility about is a
change of plans so it is fairly common that someone's date and time for their induction
might have to be moved so it's really hard to plan schedules and set up induction times at hospitals
when they don't really know what's going to happen on any given day there might be a lot of people
that go into labor spontaneously and they might not have room for you during your induction time
and while this is can be that is incredibly frustrating just be aware that it can happen
so having some flexibility understanding that plans may change also plans for how the process
is going to take place might change too your doctor might think that they need to start with
the thinning process on your cervix and then they might change and say oh your cervix is already
thinned let's start with pitocin and start opening your cervix so just like a spontaneous labor
things may change along the way i think sometimes we get a little bit fooled into believing that
because our the start of labor is being controlled that we're able to kind of have a control over how
labor goes and that's not the case we still have um kind of no idea the twists and turns
that labor might take and so being flexible having patience and knowing that it could be a
very long process ahead before we meet our baby is going to set us up for success when we are in it
the last thing is make sure you bring all your cheat sheets and all of your
information that you've got a childbirth class anything that gives you like a reminder on
things you want to remember remember how to set up the room to make it look
nice and peaceful a reminder about how to make a decision strategy things that you learned in
class if you took a childbirth class if you got any materials this is the book that i give out
in my childbirth class and i always tell my students to bring these books you know show
have these pictures available so you can remember what you learned don't have to quiz yourself
like totally cheat and labor so set yourself up for success by packing all that stuff
now more information on my childbirth class and this book in particular is down below the video
if you want to check that out so speaking of packing stuff for labor
for an induction i want you to pack all the things like i really suggest that if you don't feel
embarrassed by the amount of stuff that you're walking into the hospital with you haven't packed
enough you're packing for that ultra long road trip that ultra marathon you know you're going to
be there for a long time have twice as many snacks as if you were going to have spontaneous labor
have twice as many things to distract you you know make sure you have multiple playlists and things
to watch on your laptop and just things to support you and keep you busy for a longer amount of time
one thing that a lot of people wonder about inductions is what are pitocin contractions like
and so i actually have a video that i know you're going to want to check out next that
is right here that talks about pitocin whether or not it is evil whether or not it hurts more
what is it all about i get into the details in this video and check it out let me know if you
found this video helpful i always appreciate a like and i'll see you next time bye guys