Mifepristone for full-term pregnancy

After what period does Miropriston begin to act to induce labor?

There is no clear answer to the question of how long it should take before Miropriston works; opinions differ. In the presence of a gynecologist, a woman takes a tablet with 200 mg of the active substance (mifepristone). After 24 hours, repeated administration of the medication is indicated. After 2-3 days, the doctor must examine the expectant mother in a gynecological chair and assess the condition of the birth canal; perhaps, the amniotic sac will be punctured. If Miropriston has not shown any effectiveness, specialists use other means to induce labor (oxytocin, prostaglandins).

Based on reviews of young mothers who took Miropriston to stimulate labor, we can conclude that the speed of action of the drug depends on the individual characteristics of the body of each woman in labor. Some begin to give birth within 12 hours after taking the pill, others take up to 400 mg at a time, repeat after a day and still do not observe any significant changes.

How long does it take for mifepristone to induce labor to work?

My pregnancy was ideal - no heartburn, no swelling, no stretch marks... I really liked everything. I was pregnant in a good private clinic, I felt joy from every visit to my wonderful doctor, and I was in much the same mood for the birth. I was sure that everything would go as easily as possible. However, the story turned out to be more interesting...

I signed a contract at maternity hospital No. 3 (Chelyabinsk, emergency hospital). Because they recommended a specific doctor to me - Elena Sergeevna Lomova (she is the deputy chief physician there). I’ll say right away that the choice was excellent, but the theme of easy childbirth did not work.

At 40 weeks, I was told to go to the maternity hospital as planned - my cervix was soft, it would allow a finger through, but it was not ready. It spasms, and this can lead to weak labor. In the troika, it seems like there is preparation for childbirth - they talked about some procedures and exercise therapy. In general, no matter how much I wanted to be in the maternity hospital ahead of time, at 40 weeks I went to give up. I had been training for a long time, I didn’t sleep for a couple of nights at home, wondering “what if it happens” - in short, I convinced myself that it would be calmer in the maternity hospital. I went there almost “without an overnight stay,” confident that I would give birth on October 17th. Yeah of course.

Firstly, I now understand that you shouldn’t go to the maternity hospital on Friday. Until Monday NOTHING happened to me. It’s completed, there’s no disclosure, the CTG is good, the baby doll isn’t suffering—there’s no rush. That’s why I was sad within 4 walls, although I could have walked and enjoyed life for a few more days in freedom. I once had a not very pleasant experience of being in a general ward, so I took myself a paid single ward, surrounded myself with books and a tablet and just sat there. I couldn’t hear the women in labor, but my mood itself had greatly diminished, because it was very sad. By the way, there were no procedures, and exercise therapy is ordinary physical education for everyone.

At gestational age 40.4, I was given a stimulant pill - Mifepristone. For the cervix was not ready and was not preparing, and without stimulation the birth would have been very difficult. I really dreamed about this, I wanted to go give birth. I read before that someone gave birth almost a couple of hours after taking the pill, I thought that it would be the same for me. At 12:30 p.m. they gave it to me. At 6 pm light contractions began. By 9 pm they were no longer light at all, but very noticeable.

At 12 at night the contractions reached such a level that it became difficult to endure them lying down. I walked along the corridor all night (with a couple of other sufferers). But they told me - you’re not giving birth, it’s your cervix that’s getting ready. No disclosure. At 4-30 it was already difficult for me to endure, contractions came every 4-5 minutes, but this was considered insufficient. We had to wait for an interval of 2-3 minutes, but it still wasn’t there. I called Lomova, grabbed the doctor on duty, tormented the midwife, but there was only one answer - everything is fine, this is how it should be, this is according to plan, but you are not giving birth, baby. This is the neck being cooked.

Having not slept all night, in the morning I heard again about “you’re not giving birth.” The pain was very strong, compared to childbirth, as I now understand, only 20 percent less. They gave me a sedative to help me sleep, and I lay half asleep for 2 hours. Of course, I couldn't sleep. The contractions continued - sometimes every 4 minutes, sometimes every 7 minutes, but constantly. But I still didn’t give birth.

Here, by the way, for some reason my grandmother came to the maternity hospital (without warning) and brought me a bunch of some food in jars and bottles. Going down to her with contractions, and then dragging a heavy bag - it was a separate adventure.

At 12:30 on the new day (October 22) I was given a second mefipristone tablet. Everything is according to plan, everything is as it should be. I was already wildly afraid of this pill, because I understood that the contractions would be even stronger, even more frequent, and again “preparing the cervix, you are not giving birth.” But there was nowhere to go.

The contractions were VERY painful. I almost screamed, and only because screaming would be the most terrible thing for me. The only thing that helped was to imagine that there was a piston inside me, and this piston was pushing the dolly down, its movement had a beginning and an END. That this is not an abstract pain, but a very concrete process in which something important happens. Sometimes I tried to stroke and comfort the baby doll inside, but mostly there was no time for it.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon I finally heard the sacred - “dilation is 2 cm, let's go give birth.” At that time, the contractions had lasted almost a day, if you count from the first sensations, and 18 hours from the moment they became strong. I didn’t sleep for a very long time and didn’t have the strength, but I had to give birth.

Enema, nightie, CTG - everything is like everyone else. The bubble was opened and the waters were clear. The contractions became even more painful. Lying on a CTG, of course, is tough - I’ve read other people’s stories about this and I can confirm it myself. Here, for some reason, it helped me to wave my hand like a swan’s wing. I also endured it all in silence, I tried to squeak once, but somehow it didn’t do anything, so I decided to hold on.

Then they took me to the antenatal room, where I collapsed exhaustedly on a ball. The ball is a thing. This is what allowed me to survive the contractions in general; on him they felt different, easier. Only then did I discover that there was someone else in the room - the girl was lying there for a CTG. She didn’t give birth, it’s just that other coronary care specialists were busy, and she was taken to prenatal care. Well, here I am with my contractions. We started a casual conversation, in which I periodically froze and tried my best to remain silent and not frighten her too much. The person seems to have another week to walk, why would I terrify her.

By the way, it was then that I realized that I would not give birth with my husband. In general, we had a partner birth, and all this time my husband cut off my phone with the question “I’m leaving!!” But even at the beginning of the contractions, I somehow doubted that I needed it. It turned out to be much more painful, and all my strength went into surviving the contraction. It was unclear how my husband could help me, and in all seriousness I didn’t want him to see it. So I called him and very diplomatically told him that it might make sense to come back later and look at my son, but not at me now.

I began to feel like I was falling off the ball from fatigue. I just can't sit upright on it. They also promised me an injection to help me sleep. So I started calling my doctor, who went to the next room for another birth. When she returned to me, two interesting facts immediately became clear. Firstly, the dilation is complete - in an hour from 4 fingers to 10, so there will be no sleep. Secondly, I feel pain, dear mother. Lomova told me - great, let's push. Well, at least the girl seemed to have already left by this time. Seems. The doctor sat with me, reassured me, praised me. She said that I was doing everything right and there was just a little bit left. I, who planned to be a steadfast tin soldier, screamed like a fool, and no “don’t scare the baby” worked here. It was even worse for me to push than to endure contractions, because here I understood that I would simply burst. There were a lot of attempts, not just one or two, as I had imagined. Somewhere after pushing for 6 Lomova said: “The head has appeared, give me your hand and feel it.” For some reason I was very afraid of this moment, so I began to beg her: “No, don’t ask me to do this, please, I won’t touch anything!” Well, no, no, so we went to the delivery room.

I also imagined the delivery room differently. It looked exactly the same as it probably did during my mother’s birth - an old soviet chair, no “clinics” or “Doctor Houses” for you. By the way, the whole maternity hospital looks like this, but I expected something more advanced from the delivery room. However, I didn't care. I flew up onto the chair, and the attempts continued. There were quite a few of them again, probably about six of them, before the midwife said: “No, well, there’s nowhere to go now,” and chucked me. It was very noticeable and painful, but I didn’t care, I even managed to ask for an incision before this.

And... Nikita was born. With one push, the head, then the body. He was plopped onto my chest, and a wave of uncontrollable... surprise washed over me. I silently looked at him with square eyes, they even asked me why I was so amazed. I couldn’t believe that there was a person inside me, and now he’s here, and this is also my son. Nikita was groaning, moving, was warm, wet and stained with blood. 19-10, 8/8. With a weight of 3730 grams, a height of 51 cm. His head was 36 cm, it is no wonder that it was so difficult for me to give birth to him.

I instantly came to my senses. With a smart look, she noticed that the last stage of childbirth remained - the placenta. “Well, not really,” they told me, but the placenta was born instantly and unnoticed by me. However, I wouldn’t want to look at it, but for some reason they showed it.

“Not quite” meant that they would need stitches. This process was endless, it lasted almost an hour. Well, about 40 minutes exactly. Here we also had small talk, during which I periodically hissed - the ice-caine did not work everywhere. I had three stitches, but there were a lot of stitches. During this time, I clarified how many children are born on average, how a midwife manages to work like that, and so on. The doctor observed my stitches and decided that “even better than it was.”

Nikita was first on my chest, then he was transferred to the table. The midwife who stitched me up turned out to be the only person who described the children, so for a while he just lay there and squeaked.

Then 2 hours in the corridor, with the child at my side. He was tightly swaddled and placed on my very narrow gurney; I was afraid to move and didn’t really get a good look at him. My husband came, and we didn’t care about the scary corridor, the uncomfortable gurney, the pain... We looked at our son and tried to realize that he was real, that he was ours, that now we have a child.

Then I was taken to a room for four. I was there first. Then another girl arrived, and then... the one who was with me at the CTG. After looking at me, she came to her pathology without signs of labor, after 2 hours contractions began, and after another 2 hours she gave birth! At 38, maybe, weeks.

The next day I moved to a paid ward. In the three, all chambers are “mother and child”. And it's very difficult. You hardly walk, you can’t sit, your stitches hurt like crazy, but you have to take care of the child. However, this is a very cool school of life - in the shortest possible time you learn everything. The thermometer in the room showed +30, it was very stuffy, children were screaming around, milk was coming in and all the worries associated with breastfeeding... At 5 am I got up to treat the sutures (and I fell asleep, say, at 3), then until 10 am there was always someone comes in - one round, another... It was hard for me in the maternity hospital, but by the last day there I got involved and learned to cope with everything. And I even slept a little.

My labor lasted 22 hours from the moment of strong contractions. And a little more than 2 hours from the moment the water broke. As soon as the neck started working, everything happened very quickly. Such a long labor is said to be the result of stimulation. Therefore, I would suggest anyone who does not have problems with the cervix and wants to speed up labor to think again. Of course, mefipristone doesn’t always work this way, at least I’ve read easier stories with its participation. But somehow I didn’t like giving birth.

And I will end my long story the way everyone else does. The very next day I could not remember the feeling of the contraction. I remember that it hurt, but the feeling itself was simply erased from my memory. All these days merged into one time period, and it no longer seemed so endless and wild. Everything is forgotten, for one simple reason - now I am a mother. Nikita was born very beautiful, not at all like a newborn - rather, like a baby a few days old: with cheeks, plump and round. He looks like me, only he is very serious and sticks out his lips funny. You want to hug, kiss and protect him, and therefore it doesn’t matter at all what preceded him.

After the maternity hospital, I enjoy how good it is at home. I won’t say that it’s simple (now I know what “gaziki” are, and this is a separate saga), but having a son is very, very cool.

Pros and cons of the “miracle” tablet Miropriston for inducing labor

In some cases, drug stimulation is vital for the expectant mother and child. Advantages of the method:

• reducing risks for the baby due to hypoxia and intrauterine growth retardation;
• relief of the well-being of a woman in labor during late gestosis and exacerbation of pathological processes in a chronic form;
• resumption or stimulation of contractions if they are very weak or have stopped.

As a rule, pregnant women are afraid of such interference in natural processes and fear that the drug will negatively affect the unborn child. A competent doctor will be able to explain all the nuances of stimulation with Miropriston and dispel all myths by answering the questions of a worried mother. No one will prescribe this method of accelerating the birth process if there is even the slightest doubt that it can harm the woman and the fetus. All manipulations will be performed exclusively in a hospital setting in the presence of a doctor and with the permission of the expectant mother.

This method also has significant disadvantages. None of the options for interfering with the natural birth process is absolutely safe. There is always a possibility that things will not go according to plan.

Disadvantages of Miropriston for inducing labor:

• more severe pain compared to natural childbirth without medical intervention;
• the likelihood of oxygen starvation of the child in the womb;
• the risk of developing jaundice and problems in the central nervous system in a newborn.

Miropriston can sometimes cause adverse reactions, especially if the permissible dosage is exceeded:

• adrenal insufficiency;
• heavy uterine bleeding;
• aching pain in the lower abdomen;
• general weakness;
• dizziness, migraine, fainting;
• nausea and vomiting;
• diarrhea, intestinal motility disorders;
• increased body temperature;
• allergies in the form of skin rashes.

Serious complications are also possible, such as:

• sepsis;
• infections of the uterus and urinary tract;
• inflammation of the uterus and appendages.