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Did you take castor oil to start labour?

12 replies

loganberry12 · 09/08/2009 20:35

if you did what was your experience? did it work? i did this with my last pregnancy and had the baby within 4 hours of taking the first dose and 45 minutes of taking the second, but was already having contractions before hand.The labour was natural and straight forward and i had a healthy baby weighing 8lb at 37 weeks pregnant. It was 14 years ago but i cant remember having bad diarrhea or feeling sick just had strong contractions and went for a bath to ease them my waters broke and 45 minutes later he was born. Im asking because ive been in slow labour for a weeks now very uncomfortable strong braxton hicks back ache ect and was thinking of trying the castor oil again, im 37 weeks pregnant.

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ThePregnantPhantomPlopper · 09/08/2009 20:37

Never taken it and I definitely wouldn't at 37 weeks.

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loganberry12 · 09/08/2009 20:45

baby is classed as full term from 37 weeks, i certainly wouldnt consider it other wise Thepregnantplopper

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littleducks · 09/08/2009 20:47

baby is classed as full term at 40 weeks, at 37 weeks it is no longer classed as premature but is not the same thing at all

i took castor oil with dd at 40 weeks

would only do under mw supervision

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ThePregnantPhantomPlopper · 09/08/2009 20:53

Baby is still in there for a reason, it will come when it's ready.

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l39 · 10/08/2009 08:04

Yes, at 40 weeks with my oldest child I did. I had diarrhoea for hours and felt terrible. I didn't have any contractions. Then at my next antenatal appointment a few days later I'd lost weight, which my consultant put together with my height and the fact that my baby wasn't engaged, and booked me for a caesarean on the grounds that my pelvis was too small to give birth. I gave birth naturally at 41 weeks, the day before the caesarean was planned.

Pregnant with my second child, I mentioned the castor oil thing to my midwife who was horrified and said it could have been very dangerous. I would never take it again.

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carrielou2007 · 10/08/2009 09:08

I tried everything to get dd out at 42 weeks but one thing I personally would never do is caster oil.

I almost resorted to dynamite to get her out after being in labour for 3 days.

If my mw gave me the ok maybe but no, I would not do it and I won't do it even I get to 42 weeks again with this one!!

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ilovesprouts · 10/08/2009 09:10

no [boak] the smell of it makes me gag

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nickschick · 10/08/2009 09:11

I did

it doesnt work and makes you sick and sh*t yourself......babies come when they are cooked!!

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mummyto2boys · 10/08/2009 21:46

Do NOT take castor oil in order to start labour off -it is dangerous and can lead to dehydration (as nickschick describes) and then have all manner of effects on your actual labour (even if it DID happen to start off labour -which research has shown it doesn't!)...it may then lead to you becoming weaker during your labour and this will have negative effects on your baby's ability to cope with the labour....and the cascade of intervention will start!!

please don't take it -despite others who say they took it and were fine -there are equally people out there who would have been better off without it!

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liahgen · 10/08/2009 22:33

not to be recommended at any cost

37wks is not full term, anything from 38 to 42 wks is considered at our hosp.

Can be very dangerous, can also cause distress in baby, not worth the risk. I think perhaps your body was completely ready last time maybe.

Please be patient, baby is not quite ready.

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eeky · 11/08/2009 20:48

I'm an obstetrician. Please do NOT take caster oil to induce labour - it irritates the bowel, often causing quite torrential diarrhoea (which is unpleasant enough in itself) and can lead to dangerously low potassium levels. As the bowel is next to the uterus this can induce uterine contractions which can similarly be intense and frequent. If the uterus was not ready for labour, particularly if the cervix is unfavourable, this is extremely dangerous. Fetal distress is common, which you would not be able to identify unless hooked up to a CTG (fetal heart monitor). There is an increased risk of an antepartum/postpartum bleed, and of a placental abruption. All of these can be fatal to baby and mum.

If you have not gone into labour yet, your baby and your body are not ready. For the record, "term" is betweeen 37 and 42 weeks in all pregnancies. This does not mean that rying to induce yourself at this gestation is safe. Please be patient!