Dr. Bartos had a great way of making a sometimes not so fun topic really enjoyable and relatable regardless of your knowledge about the medical induction procedures. She used the comparison of your cervix to an avocado. She said that sometimes we really want guacamole -it's what we're craving and all we can think about. So we go to the store and get avocados except none of them are ripe. You want guacamole so badly that you're willing to buy that unripe avocado that you know isn't any good for your guacamole. You take it home and put it in a paper bag, you put the paper bag in the window. You try everything you can to try to ripen the avocado so you can hopefully make your guacamole. Sometimes it's just ripe enough after all your tricks to make some okay guacamole but not always. Sometimes all those tricks and methods you used to ripen those avocados before they were ready isn't enough and try as you might, that avocado is too tough and just won't make guacamole.
This is sometimes what it's like to be pregnant, all you can think about is getting the baby here and not being pregnant anymore! Or maybe we have high blood pressure, diabetes, pre eclampsia or many other medical issues that would be an indication we need to medically induce and not be pregnant anymore. Regardless of the reason you're looking at inducing. We can try all kinds of non-medical induction options like evening primrose oil, sex, increased physical activities and combine them with medical options for cervical ripeners, augmentation like pitocin and many others. Sometimes these things work and labor is kick started and we get guacamole... er, a baby! Other times no matter what we try your body isn't ready, your cervix isn't ripe and labor won't keep going on it's own. Depending on the individual situation, sometimes there is time to wait until labor can start or if it was a medically necessary induction for health reasons it might end in birth by cesarean.
At the end of the meeting Dr. Bartos announced that she is excited to share that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Denton will be offering Nitrous Oxide for patients as a new pain relief option very soon!
