My third baby was due on Christmas Eve, so although I was excited, I was nervous too – afraid that the hospital would be under-staffed over the holidays, and anxious about being away from my two daughters for Christmas. I had resisted suggestions of induction during my first two pregnancies, and was not keen to go down this route for my third, though I did wonder if the risk of understaffing was enough to warrent looking for an induction. I checked with my sister who is a doctor and she looked into it for me – she came back to say that the maternity hospital wouldn’t be at all understaffed and in fact it could be a good time to go in, as there would be no planned C-sections or inductions scheduled for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Continue reading →