If Labour Slows Down

Some women find that their labour slows down. For others it doesn’t start and induction of labour is needed Our help when this happens usually includes:

Amniotomy (breaking your waters) - you could be advised to have your waters broken artificially. This involves breaking the bag of water around your baby by using a plastic hook. Apart from the discomfort of the vaginal examination, it is usually painless for you and for baby. This can often get things going again.

We do not recommend breaking your waters if labour is progressing normally. This is because breaking them interferes with the natural process of labour, can increase the risk of infection and will make labour more painful, albeit make it a bit quicker

Syntocinon - is a hormone drug called oxytocin, which your body produces naturally when labour is established. If contractions slow down and breaking your waters is not enough, contractions sometimes need help to become more effective.  A drip is put into the back of your hand and the syntocinon is measured carefully via a pump. It is recommended that if Syntocinon is used that we continuously monitor your baby’s heart rate   See our Induction of Labour information leaflet for further information

This page was last modified on Thu Jul 29 2010