On due dates and inductions

I just came across this blog post about due dates and inductions. It was written by a midwife who strongly believes that a woman's body knows what to do without needing medical interference.

I definitely needed to read that today to reinforce that I'm not crazy for continuing to wait for my little guy to come out on his own. The constant questions I get about why I haven't had the baby yet and the amount of people who seem shocked that I'm past my due date and not storming my midwives' office for an induction grows each day. I have one co-worker in particular who looks more and more horrified each day that I walk back into the office. This woman has never had children, yet she thinks that being a few days past my due date is completely unnatural. It has made me feel like some kind of freak of nature, when in reality, lots of women go past their due date. It's totally normal, just like it's totally normal to go into labor a couple of weeks before your due date.

I definitely believe that inductions and c-sections have a place in our society. My goal is a birth that results in a healthy baby, and if that means getting an induction because the pregnancy has gone too long or having a c-section because the baby is in distress, I will absolutely not hesitate to do what is necessary. But my feeling is that as long as he's happy, chillin' inside me, kicking away to his heart's content, why should I try to rip him out of me before he or my body are ready for it? There must be a reason he hasn't come on his own yet, even if we don't understand what that reason is. Yeah, I complain that I'm so ready to have this baby and I wish hewouldjustcomeoutalready. But deep down, I want him to come on his own terms, when he's ready.

I'm not at all judging women who get inductions. I'll be the first to admit that I've had a very easy pregnancy. So my discomfort level right now is probably nowhere near what some women face by 40.5 weeks. There are lots of very legitimate reasons why women get induced. I just truly believe that every woman, every baby and every pregnancy is different. You have to do what you feel is best for you and your baby, given your specific set of circumstances and the opinions of your doctors, who you've entrusted with your care. I don't yet feel that I need any sort of medical intervention and my midwives agree. That may change, and if it does, that's ok. But for now, I need to just remind myself that I'm not a freak, my baby is not a freak, and he will come out soon - hopefully on his own (and hopefully today, ha!).