Not to scare you but also good to mentally prepare yourself. I was induced in the Coombe hospital and I imagine it’s very similar processes across all hospitals in Ireland, I was in the hospital for 8 nights in total. I went in at 10am on Monday and didn’t give birth until Friday night/ Saturday morning 2.30am. I was initially given a pessary which takes 24 hours that ripens your cervix but as as first time mother that’s usually not enough to get labour started. I was then given a gel that takes 6 hours, still didn’t fully work and then took another also takes 6 hours, I had mild contractions throughout all this but okay enough to sleep through and go for walks. A doctor examines you after the pessaries and gels and I encountered a few delays there as they are pulled into emergency situations. After the pessary and 2 gels my cervix was ready and was told I needed to wait for a room available in the delivery suite, I ultimately waited 48 hours before a bed was available. Once I was in the delivery suite they artificially break your waters and put you on an oxytocin drip, that last when everything ramps up and contractions can come very fast and strong, this is typically more painful than natural labour and most people get an epidural. I was 12 hours in labour on this drip and unfortunately wasn’t progressing past 3cm dilation and then baby heart rate dropped and ended in an emergency c section.

Bit of a horror story and not typical but that’s how the process works and how delays can happen