{"id":1842,"date":"2025-09-03T14:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/?page_id=1842"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:43:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:43:25","slug":"helping-you-make-a-decision","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/all-about-birth\/induction-of-labour\/helping-you-make-a-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping you make a Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Your midwife or doctor will explain why induction of labour is being offered to you and will discuss what options you have. Always remember in most cases there is room for discussion about when the best time for induction would be, or whether it would be safe to just wait a bit longer to see if your labour begins spontaneously.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things to consider and discuss with your midwife or doctor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your personal and medical circumstances<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your preferences for where to give birth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keeping mobile in labour and birth positions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How induction may make labour more painful<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your preferred options for pain relief<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How induction may increase interventions (vaginal examinations and instrumental or caesarean birth)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:20% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcog.org.uk\/for-the-public\/browse-our-patient-information\/considering-a-caesarean-birth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" height=\"798\" src=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-02-163324.png\" alt=\"Screenshot 2025 09 02 163324\" class=\"wp-image-4860 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-02-163324.png 580w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-02-163324-218x300.png 218w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>If you&#8217;re considering a caesarean birth, this resource from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) offers clear, evidence-based information to support your decision-making. Please see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcog.org.uk\/for-the-public\/browse-our-patient-information\/considering-a-caesarean-birth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the full RCOG guide on caesarean birth<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your decision<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The decision to have an induction or to wait is yours and will be respected. If you do not want to have an induction at this time, you will be invited to attend a clinic or the hospital for monitoring to check how you and your baby are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember that you can think \u2018BRAIN\u2019 to ask questions at any point and discuss what the best option would be for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"590\" height=\"393\" src=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/11\/MVP-brain.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/11\/MVP-brain.png 590w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2022\/11\/MVP-brain-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on your rights as a patient: <a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/informed-consent\/\">Informed Consent \u2013 Maternity Services (nhslothian.scot)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also get information from trusted sources that base their advice on research and evidence. You may find these websites helpful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/pregnancy\/labour-and-birth\/signs-of-labour\/inducing-labour\/\">Inducing labour &#8211; NHS (www.nhs.uk)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nice.org.uk\/guidance\/ng207\">Overview | Inducing labour | Guidance | NICE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tommys.org\/pregnancy-information\/giving-birth\/inducing-labour\">Inducing labour | Tommy&#8217;s (tommys.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aims.org.uk\/information\/item\/induction\">Induction of Labour | AIMS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your midwife or doctor will explain why induction of labour is being offered to you and will discuss what options you have. Always remember in most cases there is room for discussion about when the best time for induction would be, or whether it would be safe to just wait a bit longer to see<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":0,"parent":1863,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-1842","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"mathildepeace","author_link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/author\/mathildepeace\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"Your midwife or doctor will explain why induction of labour is being offered to you and will discuss what options you have. Always remember in most cases there is room for discussion about when the best time for induction would be, or whether it would be safe to just wait a bit longer to see","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1842"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4879,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1842\/revisions\/4879"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/maternity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}