Do any of these work?

[Mousesmummy]

Just wanted a general consensus please ladies (if that is ever possible??) - what are the thoughts on things that bring labour on (raspberry leaf tea, pineapple etc) Do they work or not?

I ate half a ripe pineapple the night before my DD was born, could just have been coincidental though as I was 6 days overdue...

A few days prior to this I ate hot curry to no avail, so hot that both my DH and I got a nosebleed.

No. A baby comes when it is ready and you wouldn't want it any other way. For every woman who coincidentally had sex/ate curry/went for a walk, you'll find far more who sat on the sofa/ate chocolate/picked their noses. There is no evidence that any of it works.

The specific examples you mention in particular- pineapple has an enzyme in it that is linked with labour. You would need to eat 8 whole pineapples in one sitting to even theoretically have enough to make a minute difference. And raspberry leaf tea I think is little to do with starting labour but strengthening the uterus or something in preparation for contractions.

All that said, feeling like you're doing 'something' is probably quite positive!

nope sorry, i tried everything, still 9 days over EDD

In that case I shall continue to sit on the sofa, eat chocolate and pick my nose, SOH .

"A baby comes when it is ready and you wouldn't want it any other way." Absolutely! But it's SOOO hard when you've been led to expect arrival on a certain date...!

I had acupuncture and went into labour the next day, v quick labour too.

I'm still sceptical, though!

I also had acupuncture, went into labour soon afterwards, 2.5 hours labour. i'm convinced it worked for me.

Raspberry Leaf Tea isn't supposed to bring on labour - only to make contractions more efficient.

The sex thing - I read somewhere your other half would have to stand and deliver 50-60 times in 24hours to make that work. But hey - tis fun trying.

Anyway - as sceptical as I am, I'm planning on a "old wives remedies" day for DC1's due date. Walks, curries, pineapple, nipple twiddling, sex, clary sage, total relaxing, massaging pressure points - the lot - All in the name of scientific research and also to shut up people when they say "have you tried..." Hubby seems ok with the idea - but then it involves food, exercise and sex... what man wouldn't?

I think SoH was spying on me before both DD1 and DD2 were born...Sat on the sofa - check Ate chocolate - check. Picked my nose - For the record, DD1 was 1 week early and DD2 was 2 days late.

Probably not although I went into spontaneous labour all three times after exercise:

DD - running in park
DS1 - hiking in very hilly park
DS2 - swimming very fast crawl....

I was drinking loads of RLT tea and it definately brought on lots of strong BHs.

Nothing worked for me, apart from a sweep (and that might have been coincidence.) Tried everything apart from sex and i would've rather waited than have sex at that stage.I just did not at 41 weeks pg, want to be, as my friend put it, stuffed like a turkey! Ha ha ha!

I;m never completely convinced by these "remedies". As SoH says, it could be mere coincidence!

Personally, I started having raspberry tea leaf capsules and went into labour within 48 hours, 12 days early. Passed on the remaining capsules to a friend who was due the same time as me, and she was 15 days overdue and had to be induced. So two contrasting results from the same bottle of raspberry tea leaf capsules!

With dc3 just over a week before my due date I had sex, afterwards bum on a pillow to pool semen round my cervix, did some nipple stimulation.

Had first contraction five mins after finishing bonk. The only problem was that for hours I thought it was a false alarm due to the bonking & the whole thing took longer than my first two & I wonder if that was because he wasn't really quite ready. Having said that I had a nice homebirth & positive experience, would do it all again....

tHE FUNNY THING IS i HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT THEY COME WHEN THEY ARE READY, NOW NOT SO SURE ABOUT THAT

Sorry about caps, never was v good at typing & bf at the same time!

Rinder, have you had your baby yet? Is that DD2 you mentioned? I'm still pg but only just...

I took raspberry leaf tablets with all 3 of mine, and had nice short labours (4h, 3h30, 4h40) but couldn't tell you if it was down to the tablets or if I was just programmed that way!

I had raspberry leaf tea after 37 weeks and labour was much quicker & easier (just gas and air and 30 mins of second stage!!)- 2nd stage contractions much stronger and more efficient, unlike 1st time around. Might have just been the 'second time is easier' thing but worth a go!

ds 1 - mum shut my hand in car door at 38 weeks -2 hours later went into labour

ds 2 - 39 weeks - dh went off through 2 foot blizzarding snow to work 28 miles away - once he got there promptly went into labour, took him 3 hours to get back.

murpheys / sods law worked for me but i really don't recomend it!

I had a sweep at 2.30pm on 40+7, left the surgery with period type pains and was having contractions 20 mins apart by 7pm. Still didn't actually give birth til 50hrs later though so who knows - perhaps with no sweep I'd have gone into labour later and still given birth at the same time [oh nooooo emoticon]!!!

In all seriousness though nobody can tell you whether ANY of those things are effective, as there is no way of knowing what would have happened without them IYSWIM. In science I believe it is called 'a control' or similar!

Good luck

PS tried having sex near my actual due date, it was bloody awful and didn't work so I don't recommend it! Ditto acupuncture which was agonising!

Hey Speedy, yep gorgeous DD2 is now 5 weeks old and a little star - so calm and sweet.

Best of luck with your birth - will look out to see your birth story.

Wish I had taken your advice with the manduka - had terrible colds and bugs throughout the last few months of pregnancy, am sure it would've done me the world of good

nothing I tried worked, still went 2w over, still needed to be induced BUT the raspberry leaf stuff is well worth taking for the labour benefits.

Speeeeeeeeeeeeedy! not long to go, hey?

Congrats, Rinder!!! Hurrah!!!

Anyday now, thumbs, anyday!

Went 12 days over with DD. Tried everything (except the sex, bleug could not face it ). Nothing worked until I had a sweep. that did the trick.

I did hear that the pineapple worked better if (ahem) inserted rather than injested. something to do with ripeing and softening the cervix. Didn't try that either though.

With DD1 I tried everything, even sex and more than once to no avail and was induced.

With DD2 I didn't want to be induced so had 3 sweeps in 4 days at 41 weeks which set things off slowly. I had 2 nights of contractions that were irregular and manageable. On the 3rd night we had sex and they immediately stepped up several gears. Still took until the following night for the birth though - 16 days late.

As far as RLT goes I took the tablets 1st time and drank the tea 2nd time and always had strong BH. 2nd time my waters went at 8:30pm on that 4th night after contractions started and was fully dilated by the time I was examined in hospital. I think the long labour was a lot to do with the cord being round dd's neck though.

My contractions started about 1 hours after I had a sweep. Was 2 days before my due date, midwife offered, so I accepted. Will be trying this next time. Yes, babies come when they are ready but going overdue must be a real pain as those last couple of weeks can be really hard work...

nothing works, except perhaps castor oil although it's not recommended! Babies come when they want.

Having said that I'm sure we enticed dd2 out with a series of sweeps!

As I understand it, raspberry leaf helps the cervix to soften and efface (anecdotally). I drank litres of the tea and the midwife commented that my cervix was like jelly!

In terms of starting labour I think the method which probably hold most scientific 'weight' would be having sex.