Has anyone had the Foley Balloon Procedure done?
April 28, 2015 2:57 PM   Subscribe

(also known as cervical ripening balloon) Curious about other's experience with the balloon procedure? How painful or how much discomfort did you feel?

Went to 39 week doctor appointment today and they are going to induce me. On May 4th they will examine me, and most likely insert the balloon in me first, send me home overnight and I'll return to the hospital on the 5th to see if I dilated and what the next step to induction will be.

I am being induced because there is a very strong history on my mother's side of overdue babies going into distress. It's not ideal but better then the possible alternative of losing my baby. Trying all the tricks to get baby to come early but just want to know peoples experiences with the balloon process and what I should expect!
posted by bluehermit to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)
 
I had this procedure done when I had my child 12 years ago. He was a week overdue when they advised me to have it done. My recollections: it was more "twinge-y" than acutely painful; having it in was annoying because it made moving around difficult; and finally, it didn't work for me because I wound up having a c-section. I don't recall having any medication to ripen my cervix, just the foley balloon.
posted by Janta at 4:17 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


My experience was the opposite of snickerdoodle's. It wasn't painful at all, and didn't work (or only partially worked). I was slightly dilated at the time (1-2 cm) and my procedure was done with no drug treatment. It increased my dilation to about 4 cm. The only physical sensations were some pressure. C++++, would do again.
posted by medusa at 4:19 PM on April 28, 2015


I don't recall it hurting (even though I wasn't dilated) but I threw up when it was inflated. YMMV.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:57 PM on April 28, 2015


One thing to perhaps ask your provider about, if you go in and your cervix is at least a little dilated and soft, would be AROM (artificial rupture of membranes, of breaking your water). I was induced twice for my deliveries, and the first time was just with Pitocin, which honestly wasn't as awful for me as many folks made it out to be, but I didn't want to be hooked up to an IV and continuous monitoring for the second one. So I asked my doctor to break my water for me when I went in and then they gave me 2 hours to walk the unit and try to get things going (the next option they were offering was misoprostol if I wanted to go that route). I went in not contracting at all except the occasional B-H, and by right around 90 minutes I started to have regular contractions and didn't have to have anything more - I went into labor and delivered my son a few hours later. I know for me I would have been really irritable about the idea of having a Foley bulb and then going home just to hang out and come back the next day, although of course I would do whatever your provider thinks is the best option for you. I just wanted to go in, get it done and get home with my baby in hand.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 5:54 PM on April 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


I had the Foley, they placed it the night before induction. It was unmemorable. It did the trick in starting dilation, birth ended in c section.
posted by crazycanuck at 10:20 PM on April 28, 2015


I had a Foley (38.5 weeks, hypertensive) and it caused some contractions and completely voided my appetite. Felt like very intense period cramps. I was upset for other reasons (had planned a home birth, the hospital staff in my particular case were jerks) so that colors my experience, but the actual physical fact of having the Foley wasn't that terrible. I wound up with a pitocin drip the next morning, and the Foley took me from 1cm to 4cm. I delivered vaginally with an epidural because the pitocin wore me right out.
posted by lizifer at 4:58 AM on April 29, 2015


I was going to have one inserted with my son but my cervix was so high, hard, and tight at 40.3 that the Dr said she wouldn't even be able to insert it.
posted by MayNicholas at 5:04 AM on April 29, 2015


My SiL just had that done last week. And she delivered a healthy baby girl vaginally the next day. She didn't complain about any pain, said it was uncomfortable, but so is being 42 weeks pregnant.
posted by MadMadam at 6:48 AM on April 29, 2015


I had that done last November. I stayed overnight at the hospital while this happened. The first time they put it in, it hurt like hell and then fell out a little while later--it was very likely inserted incorrectly that first time. The second time, it didn't hurt nearly as much (not nice, but something I could and did get used to). That time, when it fell out, I had dilated a lot and it had done what it was supposed to do.

My advice is that if it hurts like hell, ask them to check it to make sure everything is okay. Also, get up and move around if you can--I know that's not always possible when being induced (due to monitors), but do try.
posted by hought20 at 8:00 AM on April 29, 2015


I was induced at 37.5 weeks due to an amniotic leak, not measurably effaced and barely a fingertip dilated. I had ALL the pitocin, plus Cytotec, and then a Foley balloon. The Foley balloon HURT going in. It didn't bother me on its own once in, but the insertion hurt a lot, and checks on it/cervix status were also quite painful. It (and the Cytotec, I presume) did do the trickā€”I went from absolute zero to delivering baby (vaginally, with epidural) in about 36 hours.
posted by tigerbelly at 8:02 AM on April 29, 2015


I also had the Foley (39 weeks, cholestasis of pregnancy, no previous dilation or effacement at all). I didn't find it particularly painful, more like crampy. Of the multiple methods/procedures I had to try to induce me, the Foley was the only one that did anything (it was also the first thing we tried). Had a c-section 4 days after initial Foley insertion. Other methods included pitocin (and more pitocin), cytotec (and more cytotec), and attempting to break my water (even though I was barely dilated).

Oh, also, the Foley fell out on its own after about 10 hours, but they felt it had done all it would do so we moved on to the other things. Had I gone home overnight, it would have fallen out at home, though I don't think that's any big deal.
posted by freezer cake at 2:04 PM on April 29, 2015


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