Starting labour

[Clca]

Are there any natural ways of starting labour that actually work?

I'm currently 40 + 2 and am getting really fed up. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Hi OP.
I went into labour on my due date, could have been coincidence but I did do some guided imagery that evening.
I have the help of my DH who uses this with cancer patients but it was pretty easy to do.
Basically close your eyes and visualise your cervix then picture something like a waterfall drenching your cervix in whatever the hormones are that kick start labour (oxytocin? Can't remember sorry!) and visualise your cervix opening.... Keep visualising the pattern over and over again.

Sounds quackery but its not as far fetched as you think!

Start rebuilding a kitchen or bathroom and just as your plumbing comes out, labour will start. True fact.

Sex worked for me...

Gym ball all day then lift something heavy. By heavy I do mean full term pregnancy heavy not non pregnant heavy. Don't want to do yourself a mischief right as you start contracting.

You could always put the good linen on the bed to be sure your waters go tonight.

Sex worked for me. Also walking, nipple stimulation to strengthen contractions.

Sod's law works too. Don't shave your legs. Wear your greyest underwear, let the petrol run down on the car, casually remove items at random from your hospital bag, that kind of thing. Dead cert.

There are many supposed 'sure fire' ways to kick things off but most of them are crap!

• Raspberry leaf tea: Only in any way effective if you start drinking pints of it around 36 weeks

• Pineapple: You need to eat so much of it (about 20 whole pineapples) to see any possible effect that the heartburn will probably kill you first

• Spicy food: Nope! It might give you diarrhea though which can give you bad enough intestinal cramping to start contractions in the uterus

• Castor Oil: See spicy food, above. Used to be commonly used to dose overdue mums with but now not recommended, diarrhea can make you really dehydrated and ill, not a great idea before embarking on labour

• Sex: There is an active ingredient in semen which might help but there needs to be a lot of it, it needs to be applied directly to your cervix and it needs to stay there for at least a few hours to work so you would need to be in a farily adventurous position and then able to hold it for a few hours. Not the easiest thing to attempt with a massive bump and..err...other things to do with your day!

• Walking: Gravity can definitely help and once your contractions start staying active can help with pain, help make labour (a bit) quicker and keep the strength of the contractions up. However, walking by itself is unlikely to start labour and if you walk long distances, esp if it is hot outside, you risk over exerting, pulling a pelvic ligament and potentially dehydration

• Bouncing on birth ball: Same as above, can help once things start but unlikely to kick labour off by itself

• Bikini wax: Apparently the shock / pain factor of a wax applied to this region right around due date can stimulate things. Don't know anyone who has tried it though!

I'm 40+3 with no. 2 now and even though I know a lot of the above are rubbish I have had 2 sweeps done, bounced on birth ball for hours and been for several v long walks round the park with DS. Even watched a v scary movie the other night just to see if I could scare myself into labour. Err...nope....

Good luck though!!!

Sex worked for me too. I was 40 + 3 and had tried everything from eating curry to bouncing on a ball. Had sex and an hour later my waters broke!

Did your waters break during sex?