How to Induce Labor (And Why...)

My daughter is also trying to induce and her doctor says walk walk walk she also has my grand daughter 5 and is awaiting rory bless you D. f

M.,

The best thing you can do is RELAAAAXXXX! Seriously.

The most important thing to remember is how the "due date" is actually arrived at. First, it is an estimation of when you became pregnant by estimating when your last period was. There are many things that can be off by this calculation. If you have irregular cycles or longer than average cycles, your baby may simply be not ready yet. There isn't a real "due date", because not only is your body an individual, your baby's is too! Stipping membranes and all the other tricks in the world will not start your labor until your baby is actually ready to be born. The only way to change that would be to medically induce, but those are powerful drugs and you would likely end up with a cascade of interventions that would be best to avoid.

It's so very understandable to be impatient at this stage. You just want to hold your baby. You are tired of feeling like a "whale". You might even be having real thoughts that the baby will never really come out. I didn't understand this until my third baby-the first two were two weeks ahead of the "due date", so I felt like my third was "late" even on her "due date"! Not even buildig a new flower bed complete with squatting and hauling big rocks around got labor going! She didn't come until two weeks after--but when we did her newborn check it was obvious she was exactly at the right gestational age.

Your best bet is to spend ALL your time just loving up your beautiful little girl--this is the last time she will be your only child, so make it precious for both of you. My prediction is as soon as you let go, so will the baby. They really always DO come out in the end ;)

Blessings for a beautiful birth!

my water broke because i held my pee too long. we were at the movies and i kept having to go pee so i held it as long as i could. when we got home my water broke.

hi my name is S., i have 4 babys and had home births ,you do not want a labor started by stripping membranes, baby will not stay in there forever, it seems like it though!!please please just take it easy and it will be ok, i was 12 days overdue with # 4 and caster oil, lots of sex,walking,stipped membranes worked but was a very crazy forced way of starting labor. lots of starts and stops very crampy, I have a deep regret for not just sitting back and waiting(didint feel like waiting)abby was born 9/20/04 at home, but i am sure would have not been her birthday, and i feel like i was birthraped(i know sounds harsh) with the other 3, i know that the day i had them was the day i was supposed to,stripping membranes gets into intervention that is just not a natural way of preparing for birth. and i was overdue -even though i knew dates were right. good birthing =)

I have heard that spicy food can kick things into high gear...you are living my fear right now!! being over due..and miserable. also long walks thats what they had me do with my first when they were having trouble even getting the hospital drugs to work for inductionsother then that the sex and nipple rubbing are all i have heard. the spicy food though may not be the best to try this late in the game it my make you sick if you still have it in you stomach if and when you go into labor!! anyways good luck and i hope all goes well with the delivery when it does happen!!

Oh you poor thing, it's sooo hard waiting at that stage when you are so big and just anxious to get the show on the road. Sounds just like me with my second child, I also tried EVERYthing in the books to no avail. I finally gave in and at 10 days overdue begged my doctor to induce me. Since I was already 5 cm dilated she was fine with it, she broke my water, I got a smidge of pitocin to kick things off (they backed it off completely once my body took over) and my labor and delivery were fast, easy and wonderful! To the point that I am considering asking for a scheduled induction with my third.

Anyway, all that to say, if you choose to wait it out, your labor will start eventually, it's just hard to know when. Probably in the next few days since most women (I think I've heard around 98%) who are waiting for natural labor to start deliver by 42 weeks gestation. BUT, if you've alredy had a successful vaginal delivery, I think there's VERY little risk in getting a little kickstart by medical induction. Just depends on your fortitude to wait!

Everyone will say this or that started their labor, who knows if it actually did, maybe they would have gone into labor anyway and just relate whatever they did prior as being the cause. I certainly know how frustrating it is to try all those "surefire" methods only to still be hugely pregnant!!

If you're really wanting to try additional "natural" induction methods, check out Penny Simkin's pregnancy book (can't remember the name right now, but you should be able to find it in the library or from a friend), it has very detailed directions on what you can do in a little chart in the back. Her method, for instance, for using castor oil is not just to swallow a spoonful, it's specific amounts, taken certain periods of time apart throughout the morning. I think something like that would be more likely to work if done like that instead of how most poeple do it.

Good luck, and I hope whatever you choose to do goes smoothly and you enjoy your new little one's arrival!

WOW! Ummm...I think you could do all those things and still not have baby want to come out! :) The castor oil thing would actually make you feel worse. Which by now has to be pretty uncomfy. Sex put me into labor with my second child. My OB told me that some of the properties in semen would actually help get things going. Good luck you might want to think about inducing (good ole' pitocin)if gets to be longer for the health of you and baby.

First of all, the baby WILL come out when it is ready. But if you HAVE to induce, blue and black cohosh should do the trick. It can make labor intense, so try a little at a time. Your midwives should know about this herb. My midwife went 3 weeks past her due date, six times. This is normal! You may not have your conception date correct. Even if you think you do...
Good luck! And always get a second opinion!

Massage Therapy is very safe, effective and feels good. There are Practicioners who specialize in pre-natal massage to help induce.

It's the holistic approach!

Good health to you and your baby and good luck!

T. H.

Check this link out....

I say try some pineapple!!:)

Good Luck:)
A.

http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Natural_Ways_to_Indu...

I also had a Midwife with my son. I was so tired of being pregnant. I did caster oil on my 39th week and out came baby 4 hours later. It knocked me into LIGHT contractions, thrity minutes after i took it (i had to take it four times for it to finially work in a one week period. I walked right after i took it. I did not have the bad labor pains everyone talks about, of course it hurt but not like what people say. If my next baby wont come out, I will do caster oil again. Very effective.

Try acupuncture! It will also help you relax, lying on the table alone for a half hour, which is in itself wonderful for a mama. With my first they told me I was never going to have her on time. That same day we walked five miles, ate spicy mexican food, and had sex. She was born two days later! Someone else told me to drink a heavy beer, not my thing but you could look into why. I've also read that the nipple stimulation thing is hours a day, not just a tweak. But like someone else said, adding that second child really is A LOT more work and a lot less sleep, so enjoy this time while you still can!

Well i can tell you what doesn't work, walking. I tried walking with my second, I went every day for a week for a few hours at a time, nothing, finally had to be induced. Just take a nice bubble bath and relax cause the sleep deprivation hits really hard the second time around!

You may want to talk to you Doc about cervidil. I haven't tried it but found out about it when I was about to be induced.

Spicy Thai food worked for me!