Coaching with Audrey

Now that your cervix is ripe, it’s time to get into active labor! The way this is done is with a combination of pitocin, opening the bag of water, and time.
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Pitocin is an IV medication that helps cause stronger and more frequent contractions. It’s started a low dose and gradually increased over time. You’ll need continuous monitoring on pitocin.
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Opening the bag of water releases hormones that help your labor progress and helps pitocin do its job better. Generally speaking, your bag of water can be opened as soon as cervical ripening is done and your provider will let you know if they think it’s safe to do so.
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Even after pitocin is started and the bag of water is open, regular contractions don’t happen right away. It still takes time for these interventions to take effect. Plan for the whole process to take 2-3 days and hopefully be pleasantly surprised if it takes less time than that!
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Sometimes induction is recommended when you weren’t expecting it. It’s totally normal for induction to bring up a lot of feelings and questions. Let me know in the comments what you still want to know about induction!
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Expanding your pain coping capacity in labor workshop is on June 20 in SF!