clary sage bring on labour

[ghostspirit]

hi when i had my daughter when i was very close to my due date i used clary sage to bring on labour she was 3/4 days early....but did the clary sage really do anything or would she had been born that day either way...

im thinking about doing it again when i get to 39 weeks... has anyone else used it?

[hurryupandgetout]

I've never heard of this but keen to know the answer... also how did you use it?

[ChocolateBiscuitCake]

My midwife swore by it. I used to burn it endlessly with no noticeable difference of ds arriving early. However the smell started to make me feel a bit sick!

No harm in trying along with all the other old wives tales.

[ghostspirit]

when i used it i put it in bath. also added a bit to body wash and rubbed it in my belly

[Wenglish]

I tried it with 2 of mine and alas nothing!

[MrsBungle]

If these old wives tales worked there'd be no need for inductions. That, however, didn't stop me trying them. I was overdue with both!

[Grantaire]

It was coincidence. Normal pregnancy will last between 37 and 42 weeks and the baby arriving in that time is down to them reaching full term, not pineapple or curry or sex or lotions and potions. Coincidentally, somebody will try an old wives tale and have a baby, thousands more will try and won't. Because they don't actually work. If they did work in any meaningful way, we'd be banning them before 37 weeks.

The baby will come when it is ready and realistically, you don't want to have a baby who is not ready to be born yet.

I know the end of pregnancy is tiring and frustrating but the baby will come when it is ready. Best of luck and congratulations.

[Zahrah5]

I dont think it is old wives tales. Sage is herb and just as any other herb contains substances with have medicinal purposses. Essential oils are very concentrated oild containing all these substances from plant.

Question is whether that particular way of use of concentration is sufficient or whether it will work for you.
Certainly herbs wont hurt and ususally do not have negative side effects as medicines so if you want you can try, but you will never know if i was that or not.
There is whole list of essential oils not recommended to use in pregancy because they can bring on uterine contractions.

Same as drinking raspberry leaf tea.

I will be trying all these ways as I would like to avoid induction, my baby needs to go out before due date.

[Grantaire]

Of course the old wives tales are based on theoretical notions. Just like pineapple contains a certain enzyme associated with labour, semen contains a prostaglandin and clary sage is a herbal myth. The base theory is, as you say, debunked by the fact that they do not occur in the concentration or form required to start labour. It's like telling a heroin addict to eat an opium poppy.

You can try any and every method, just as people try all sorts of stuff for getting pregnant but science tells us what does and doesn't work. I have no problem with people trying stuff and clary sage is one of the less worrying suggestions in terms of causing potential unhappiness. I just don't want to see a woman eating curry she doesn't want or pineapple she doesn't like or engaging in sex she doesn't enjoy or going on long and uncomfortable walks because somebody told her that against all evidence, it would start labour. It won't and there's no point encouraging a woman to feel tired, uncomfortable or in pain under a false pretence.

As you say, some things are not recommended for use in pregnancy (sometimes because you can't test things on pregnant women tbh) but the old wives tales are based on things people regularly use/eat/do throughout pregnancy without batting an eyelid.

Raspberry leaf tea is a uterine tonic not meant to start labour but make the second stage more effective.

I hope you do avoid induction if that is what you would like and if you are happy to try anything and everything. I just like to be honest on these threads in case a woman is struggling with the endless rounds of 'have you had it yet' and 'have you tried' and 'my cousin swears by'. It starts there and continues throughout all child rearing. Women have this massive weight of expectation stacked against them and are told what they should and shouldn't do. Some things just are a matter of letting mother nature take its course and Great Aunt Edna and her 'have you tried syrup of figs' should be ignored if you damn well want to.