If you believe you successfully induced your own labour, how did you do it?

[TheWorldIsCrushingMe]

That age old question!

The consultant just told me that he'll likely schedule a c section in Christmas week and I would really rather not! If I can get the baby out naturally just before then, that would be amazing.

So what really worked for you?

Went out for a curry with three others and tasted everyone's curry. 24 hours.

Sex

Nipple stimulation for around 45 minutes while I watched back to back Deal Or No Deal.

I can’t believe I don’t know what a sweep is, in this context. Can anyone enlighten me please?

I tried nipple stimulation, raspberry leaf tea, bumpy bus rides, sex and hot curries every night. Nothing worked. I was eventually induced and would far rather have had an elective C-section, as I had the midwife from hell and a late-night emergency C-section anyway. I still want to smack that midwife.

A midwife or doctor inserts a gloved finger into the cervix and performs a circular sweeping motion to separate the amniotic sac membranes from the cervix.

Clary sage in the bath the night before due date, he arrived at 6 AM…no guarantee it was just a coincidence

Easier said than done but relaxing always helped me. Sat for an hour in the bath just before my induction with my youngest and dilated 2cm. Then they put me on a drip and strapped me to monitors and everything slowed down. It took 4 hours to dilate another 2cm.

Probably similar to bouncing on a yoga ball, but I went out 5 weeks before my due date and may of bounced rather enthusiastically to the proclaimers. There was a bit of a thunk internally. Oops. Baby made a sharp entry soon after.

Acupuncture

I was induced at hospital at 40w 10 days with second and hated it. Planned a home birth for second. At 41 weeks the mw mentioned induction, but then also told me other midwife in the team had held on til 43 weeks and was fine. So I stuck to my guns and went into labour naturally at 42 weeks and had my hone birth. I did have acupuncture but dunno if that made a difference.

We opted for curry and a shag. Husband got busy making a curry and wore gloves to be extra safe with the spices. Ate a lovely lamb curry (we’d even grown the chillies) and headed upstairs for the second part. I was lying with a pillow under my head, a pillow either side of me and one under my hips to make me accessible. Husband went down and started prepping the area and I remember thinking ‘oh that feels nice’ then ‘now it feels a bit weird’ before the burning started. Turns out husband had a chilli seed stuck in his teeth and had generously coated my labia in it. I screamed and tried to roll off the bed, kept in by the pillows and eventually got up and ran downstairs to the bathroom where husband poured milk over my burning vulva. I went into labour the next morning. I don’t recommend this method.

same here! I also did raspberry leaf tea and sex. Neither of those were fun but was always at least 10 days overdue so.

My labours started with 48 hours of having sex

I presume this should read within 48 hours?

Read the leaflet about induction I was given, date booked for after the weekend, thought sod that, don't fancy induction at all...had the worst ever fish and chips for tea, woke in the night thinking it was the F&C - nope baby on way!

Absolutely perfect

🤣 well spotted

@TheWorldIsCrushingMe how are you?

Oh that's interesting. I'm convinced it was pineapple that eventually made my second arrive. I know I'm unusual, but I love the core of a pineapple, so ate lots of that. I spent the day eating loads of pineapple and my waters went at about 1am that night.

I was 41+5,, and had an induction booked for the next day, which I really wanted to avoid!

Reflexology with moxibustion. Started labour a few hours later.

Sex, raspberry leaf tea, cleaning and dancing, literally danced for a couple of hours on the day I went into labour, 40+6. Also had really done everything that I wanted to before baby came, nested and everything was placed where I wanted, all sorted on that day, even to the point of wanting a particular meal.