Does anything actually work to bring on labour?

[Morehotchocolate]

Trying to avoid being induced as everything I read says it's awful.

So does anything actually work to bring on labour? I've bought some raspberry leaf tea, just had a spicy curry after a walk and may get active in the bedroom later if I can be bothered 😬

But does anything really work?

Moderate to vigorous exercise

With No1 I put in 7 fence posts then went into labour (dug 2ft deep hole, mixed post-crete and then manouvered 8ft 4"x4")

With no2 I went to a ceilidh and danced on/off for 3 hours. That was much more fun.

Both were early too

Walking walking walking
Raspberry leaf tea
Tiny drops of clary sage oil in the bath
Ball bouncing
Sex
Nipple twiddling
Breast pumping to stimulate nipples

All did jeff all, at the start of induction my bishop score was 2! Induction did work though.

As someone who has worked in research for prevention of pre term labour and inducing (term+) labour, I can say with all my heart, no nothing you can do will induce labour.

My ex put too much chilli in a curry, it was painfully hot. I couldn't be bothered to cook anything else, was hungry. DD arrived 3 weeks early.

I don’t think anything except nature will kick things off.

Anecdotally I took a lot of evening primrose oil and raspberry leaf tea when I went over, neither of which started labour but apparently I did have a super stretchy cervix at my sweep (that did kick things off btw) and a very very fast labour which could be related.

Good luck!

Yep. The nipples thing. Made my waters break.

For me, it was stopping anticipating and being excited. I’d had numerous sweeps & tried everything. I finally gave up hope of baby arriving naturally at 41+1 and got on the induction list. It worked. I’d become so despondent about the baby coming that at 4cm dilated I was insisting I was just experiencing really bad wind. Baby arrived 8 hours later.

Nipple stimulation requires about 3 hours a day of effort apparently!

Being relaxed and comfortable and not ‘on edge’ will help.

Animals will not give birth if they are stressed or in a dangerous situation. You need to feel safe and relaxed.

Please no caster oil.
Nothing csn force it unfortunately.

They come when they're ready. Simple as.
I tried raspberry leaf tea, long walks, curry etc but both of mine were three days overdue.

Well it's not scientific obviously but when I was desperate not to be induced with ds I scrubbed the carpets on my hands and knees on his due date which seemed to do the trick nicely.

The day before dd was born I mucked out three stables, built a flat pack wardrobe by myself and ran up a steep hill carrying a curtain pole and a car seat (could see a traffic warden by my car - he let me off lol). She was two weeks early though so maybe I overdid it a bit .

Still, I do believe keeping active can only help if you want to get things moving.

My midwife swore by clary sage oil...I used it and went into labour 24hrs before my induction app but that was probably a coincidence tbh

Change the wheel on a car - worked for me!

Yes the nipple thing worked for me but could have been coincidence. Had pains while doing it and baby arrived next morning.

I went 2 weeks over with both of mine, was induced with the first and the induced labour went on for over 24 hours,2nd one I was determined not to to be induced so went for a long walk the day before and kept walking even when the mild contractions started, went home and stayed active until 9pm then went to hospital ds was born at midnight.

Good luck