Misinformation about induction of labour

The media are fond of sharing misinformation about induction of labour.

From misquoted statistics to scary ‘spin’, we seem to be swamped with unhelpful information.

In recent years, we receive more comments than ever before from people who are concerned about this.

And it’s not getting better.

I think we need to be able to respond to this kind of thing with better information. And that’s not because I want to persuade women to go down a particular path. Everybody deserves to have good information about all the options so that they can make the decision that’s right for them.

Can I help you?

In Your Own Time was written to help parents and professionals better understand the issues and the evidence relating to the current induction epidemic. Looks at the evidence relating to due dates, ‘post-term’, older and larger women, suspected big babies, maternal race and more.

We have responded to the increase in induction misinformation by increasing the number of resources that we have available on this topic.

First, I regularly blog about induction-related issues on my website, and we have an Induction information hub which gives you handy links to all of my induction-related blog post. That’s a great link to share with friends, colleagues or clients.

I get that you don’t want to have to keep checking back here to see what’s new, and you don’t have to! We keep our friends informed by email about the latest research and blog posts in our Birth Information Update – click here if you don’t get that and would like to.

We also share lots of induction information on Instagram and Facebook. If you don’t already follow me on there, come on over and join me. I’m @drsarawickham and you’re welcome to share and repost my pics to help spread the word. (Always make sure you leave the original author picture, text and credit intact. That way, others can find a creator’s website and resources too, and creators can make a living and keep going). My Facebook page is here.

I also regularly blogging about the issues, with more of that to come soon.

The decisions that we make about our pregnancy and childbirth journeys can shape our experiences, health and lives, as well as those of our families. But those decisions can be complex. This book is a guide to the different perspectives and approaches that exist, and it offers tips, tools and ways of thinking which will help you make the decisions that are right for you.

More induction resources

I also have two books available on induction. There’s Inducing Labour: making informed decisions and In Your Own Time: how western medicine controls the start of labour and why this needs to stop.

Find out the differences between them here.

I have another book on making decisions in pregnancy and birth.

All of these are aimed at helping women and families to better understand the issues and the evidence and to be able to make the decisions that are right for them.

I hope that some of these resources help you (or those you care about or serve) to make the decisions that are right for you.