My sister is well into the 3rd trimester of her first pregnancy. There is some legitimate fear of the dreaded "i" word already. Induction. She is very naturally minded, and wants to avoid artificial rupture of waters and above all else pitocin - the drug from hell. I want to give my sister personal recommendations for natural induction methods that have worked for real Moms I know.
For me, the single most effective natural induction method was membrane stripping. When my midwife did it, it hurt like hells bells. I spotted. I cramped and had Braxton Hicks for a day or two...and then on the 3rd day my water broke and real labor began. I was 38 weeks.
I had also been drinking red raspberry leaf tea like it was water from 36 weeks on.
Those are the only two methods that I used that seemed worth anything. With my first pregnancy I tried the usual techniques people love to tell first-timers to try - sex, lots of walking, spicy food, etc (I didn't use either of the two above methods) and we ended up inducing at almost 42 weeks with pitocin and they broke my water for me in the hospital - and subsequently as many of you know, I ended up with a cesarean. I'm not saying that pitocin was the single most contributing factor to the cesarean, but it does increase your risks and the overall intensity of the entire birthing experience as well. If pitocin can be avoided, my sister would be a happy camper.
So what natural induction methods do you think worked for you?
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Comments (27)
i saw a chiropractor to make sure that baby was perfectly aligned. when your hips and spine are aligned perfectly and pregnancy can throw them off, than the baby can drop down far and properly. I did get induced @ 39 weeks, did have pitocin but no epidural. my labor and delivery was 5 hours total and had to have 1 stitch.
@grizzlybearr@xanga - There are reasons that pressure to induce will likely be heavy. Not by her choice, or even for evidence-based legitimate reasons. Protocol.
My doctor stripped the membranes for me too. I was about 4 days overdue when she did it, but she also didn't tell me that she was doing it so I wasn't prepared for the pain it caused. I don't know if it was the best method for me because I immediately started having contractions after she did it. At first I couldn't even feel them but then they gradually got worse and worse. For two days I dealt with them until it got to be unbearable and I went to the hospital. My water never broke on its own and after 12 hours and trying to push at around 9cm I had to be taken in for an "almost" emergency c-section. I don't know if it would have been any different if I had been induced or not, but I do know that my doctor stripping my membranes without telling me what the effect would be was not right. I also found out that she had done the same thing to two other girls, and both those girls went into labor the night that I did. I'm thinking my doctor was just impatient and wanted to get us all out of the way in one night. Lol. I'm pregnant again right now and am in my third trimester. I'm hoping that it does not come down to membrane stripping, or being induced, but who knows? I am well aware though that I very likely will get a c-section again since I have already had one, but that is alright with me as long as they don't wait and stretch out the labor and contractions to the last possible second. I'm hoping this delivery will be a piece of cake compared to my first, lol. God willing!
@kaitlove__xx@xanga - I was a VBAC mom (who researched from here to eternity about it). Don't induce with pitocin even if your doctor suggests it (and a good dr won't). There is too much risk from your previous cesarean, pitocin is too hard on your existing incision.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - I didn't know that, thank you so much for that information! That is very, very good to know, especially since I'm very close to my due date.
i'm the queen of everything and nothing worked lol. i truly believe women say do this eat that and i truly think your baby decides no matter what you do... but on that note i had sex every night until my husband said enough no more haha! apparently sperm is the perfect riping agent so i read... i did the castor oil gross!!!! will never ever reccommend that to anyone! Did it had horrid cramps felt sick to my stomach and had the poops like none other... i think maybe if my cervix was ripe that maybe this method may have worked but would not want to go threw labor with the poops and needing to vomit. Walking yup did it, washing the floor, ate spicy food, did jumping jacks, ran up and down stairs nothing worked... i ended up getting induced, cervidil, pitocin the whole nine yards it was hell.. though is labor really not hell?? lol i guess with my next one i'll have a better idea on what natural labor is like.
@rwiedenfeld - That sounds like my first pregnancy, and I was 2cm dilated since week 37 (maybe earlier?? It was 6 years ago). By week 41 we were like ???? Why isn't anything working... grumble grumble... Did you ever have a membrane sweep?
My water broke about five days early with my son, I think from an awkward bending motion (or maybe not, I had strong cravings for sugar that day so my body may have been trying to get ready). Maybe try some yoga - at least you'll be relaxed even if you don't induce labor.
I still had to have pitocin though and I remember being able to hear the drip and knowing that another contraction would come right after that. It drove me nuts LOL, but I definitely don't think pitocin caused any extra pain or more intense contractions...I mean, you are pushing a baby out, it's not going to be pleasant either way...But it is well established that I can handle a lot more pain than the average girl so maybe I am not the best judge here.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - Same here i was 2cm "ish" forever dr thought origionally i was going to go a little early lol so wrong!! I asked for a membrane sweep and she told me she doesn't recommend them so no i didn't.
@LupusInvictus@xanga - Pitocin increases the risk of cesarean. She would like to, above all else, avoid an unnecessary cesarean because of an impatient doctor forcing an induction.
The reason a lot of people (me included) feel it increase the "pain" or the intensity of labor is because it reduces or eliminates the valleys of contractions. It's peak peak peak. So no rest makes things much harder to tolerate. It also makes it harder for the baby to tolerate as well. How many "fetal distress" cesareans were pitocin enhanced labors, I wonder?
i understand what people are saying with the doctors pressuring because of evidence based legitimate reasons HOWEVER, i also know that sometimes those so called reasons are really NOT legitimate. my sister saw a physician and had high blood pressure ONLY when she went in (my mother who is a licensed nurse, took her bp twice daily and it was NEVER high). this is called physician induced high blood pressure but the doctor didn't trust the information and insisted that she had a HUGE baby and if she went 40 weeks the baby would be 10 lbs and would have to come out by c-section. they induced her at 38 weeks and since baby can only gain (per drs) a half pound a week, they said it would still be a 9 lb baby and that they were willing to give a trial of labor but that a 9 lber is still too big. her daughter was SEVEN pounds, 6oz!!! they were WAY off. after 12 hrs of labor, she was 6 cm and they said that she HAD to deliver by csection.... obviously they were wrong about weight of baby and as a first time mommy the AVERAGE lenght of delivery is 22 hrs!!!
w/ that being said, i went to 41 weeks w/ a midwife and had a 9lb, 3oz boy and ZERO complications! i did try all the "natural" things including having my membranes stripped three times, seeing a chiro, accupressure, spicy foods, sex, and more. my opinion is that if a doctor is telling you that you HAVE to do something, unless it is b/c the baby is in distress, FIRE HIM/HER b/c ob drs are in the business of making money NOT of allowing babies to take their time which is why the rate of inductions AND csections have gone up in the past 10 yrs. i would take a look at the dr in questions rate of c-sections/inductions b/c a mom is 50% more likely to have a csection if she is induced then if she spontaneously goes into labor. also, babies come when they are ready! sometimes dates are wrong, or things are off that make things slow down but forcing it isn't the way to go. i think membrane stripping, chiro, accupunture are all ways to get your body in sync so when baby is ready then you go into labor! good luck to the momma!
I had pitocin with both of my children. The bottom line is she should be more concerned about what is best for the baby, how the heart beat may be changing during contractions, etc. Sometimes a long drawn out natural childbirth brings on much stress to the baby, and quite frankly, I'd be more concerned about that than I would be stressing over the natural thing. We had no epidurals in my day. But I just kept focusing on the fact that that day would pass, and in the end I'd have my sweet baby, and it would all be worth it. She can compromise with the natural thing if she finds it too unbearable, with maybe one shot towards the end, just for an hour of rest before the beginning of pushing. But I reiterate, the focus is on what is best for the baby, and mom, of course.
@Pollypinks@xanga - Natural in this case has nothing to do with pain medication. I'm asking about ways to try and encourage baby to deliver sooner rather than later. Without pitocin, cervadil, and AROM.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - Thank you for your comment, we definitely think alike. The only thing is, what if you live somewhere where your dr choice is limited to one or none, and the area midwife won't take you? I don't think one should feel forced to comply, compromise, or do it on your own. It's a wonder that women's rights groups haven't been all over this, choices being taken away from women in labor, for years.
My cervix was so closed at my 39 week appointment with my little guy at my doc couldn't strip my membranes. Right afterwards, I went to the mall and got a GREAT pedicure and HARD foot massage. The guy that did it said, "We'll get this baby out, no problem!" Less than 48 hours later, I had a baby in my arms!
@meggiek123@xanga - Interesting! I have read about pressure points around the back of the ankles (not the feet but I didn't look much into it) that could bring on labor. Did the foot massage hurt? Does the pressure have to be hard enough to be uncomfortable?
I had false/early labor from about 35 weeks until i went into labor 1 day after my due date. I had my membranes stripped at 36 weeks with nothing more than some aching for an hour after. I tried sex too, and it would give me contractions but it wouldn't progress and eventually stop. That is until my due date, i had sex that night with no big contractions but about 6 hours later (8am the next morning) it was go time! I had been at 3cm for the last few weeks, but by the time i got to the ER i was 5cm.
Was it the sex that caused it? Doubt it. But i do believe it helped me dilate a little before hand.
@DanielleinParadise@xanga - I couldn't agree more! Great comment. :)
It sounds simplistic, but we used to, way back when, just go out and walk briskly two or three miles a day. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. If the cervix had already begun to dilate, it was helpful. Also, I wish I'd had a c-section with first baby. What they did to her was barbaric, and 5 years later my uterus fell out. If I'd stayed home to have her, I'd probably died. I would never play games with a baby's heart beat going down. Absolutely never.
I was not induced, but my labor was progressing slowly so my midwives suggested I see a chiropractor to try to speed things up. They had worked with a husband and wife chiropractor/acupuncture team before when other women were having slow progressing labor, so we saw them. They adjusted me first, to make sure my hips were not twisted and were aligned to open properly. That also helped the baby get into a better position. Then they used acupuncture on my lower back to stimulate the uterus (which only took about 20 minutes). They said they could have done more if I needed it (including some hand and foot acupuncture as well as another go for the lower back), but after that labor kicked into high gear and my daughter was born about 5 hours later. I would think that this might work for induction as well, as long as the baby is ready to be born. It would at least be worth a try if the doctors want to induce anyway.
@DanielleinParadise@xanga - Awesome comment!
I've read acupuncture can work really well- but it has to be an acupuncturist who specializes in prenatal care. Some of the pressure points are in your feet, so it makes sense that a deep foot massage might do it. Last time my water broke after I"d walked a lot, but that might have been co-incidence. There are lot of ways to soften your cervix (evening primrose oil, red raspberry leaf tea, eating a lot of figs for several days in a row...) but that won't induce labor, it'll just (theoretically) get your cervix ready :)
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - Yes, it was uncomfortable at the time... but my feet were so sore anyway that I didn't mind! He did massage all the way up to my calves, too, I think.
Yeah after pitocin with my second child I opted for the natural induction option called "waiting". Of course, I had no medical reason for the pitocin, I was just in stalled labor at 38 weeks... had stalled labor with my 3rd too and waited... ended up with a painless labor and delivery. No joke, 100% natural and not any pain.