help with natural induction

[summermum]

can anyone help with methods od natural induction, i don't want to go down the medical route if i can help it. I am currently taking 5 raspberry leaf capsules a day (the 640mg ones from holland & Barret) and just started on 3 Evening primrose capsules orally. I read somewhere that you can insert the evening primrose oil capsules vaginally as they come, this should be done at night and apparently they dissolve over night and help to ripen the cervix quicker than orally, I am unsure as to the safety of this. has anyone else heard this or is it really dodgy, can anyone give me any more tips on getting things going. Oh yeah I am trying sex ( not the easiest as a beached whale) and adapting yoga positions twice a day to try to encourage the baby to drop into the pelvis properly. HELP I am desperate to go!!!

never heard about the evening primrose oil - sounds a bit odd to me.

but have you tried eating fresh pineapple, has an enzyme in it that is thought can help to trigger labour

also reflexology is VERY effective, they can stimulate the pituitary gland. i went into labour the evening after a session...

Please be careful with the Evening Primrose oil - my pack says you shouldn't take it if you're pregnant.

cheers wigwambam, apperently the reason they say to avoid EPO in pregnancy is because it is thought to help ripen the cervix, therefore potentially could cause misscarraige in the 1st 3 months and prem labour if used too early in later stages. The pineapple sounds good though mazzystar, does it neeed to be fresh or is tinned okay, at least it is healthy as well thankfully i like pineapple. reflexology sounds good aswell at least it will be enjoyable, is it very expensive and how do you go about finding a practioner who is accustomed to dealing with pregnant people. I am willing to try anything but cant be bothereed to wait for ages for an appointment with a reflexologist hopefully i can find one quickly.

clickonfind a reflexologist

if you explain your situation they should be helpful

must be fresh pineapple

good luck. my bf is due on thursday and also DESPERATE.

I would advise against putting anything up "there" at all, except if you're trying the sex method! You don't want to risk an infection or reaction do you.

FWIW with DD1 I tried raspberry leaf tea, a vindaloo, pineapple, sex and accupuncture and she was still 10 days late. They just come when they're good and ready I think.

Know how you're feeling. Am due on Friday!

I am only 37 weeks (due 19th december) but desperate to get it over iwth as I have had what is called an irritable uterus and have been in and out of hospital with false runs since 24weeks, had 2 sets steroid injections and the last time contractions were 4 mins apart after 24hours thought it must be it, went in as I could barely walk with the pain, needed gas and air only to be told yes I am having severe contractions 170 ++ on the foetel monitor thing for your uterine activity but was not dilating, took two days to settle and sent home with no baby, so i am really fed up already and just want here to come, it will be typical though i will probaly go overdue now, this is 3 rd baby and last one was born prem at 35 weeks so i was also told this one would be early, I blooming wish. I have sent DH out for fresh pineapple, think i will stick to EPO orally only to be safe though. I have had 9 visits to hospital in all so far and still no baby.

summer - that sounds hard going - i completely understand why you don;t want to go over

i very much doubt that a decent reflexologist would press the - er - eject buttons before 39 weeks. but they might be able to make you more comfortable in the meantime.

thanks mazzystar, i had a look for one thro your link there are 3 who live/work less than 1 mile from my home so i think i will look into that and book in for the earliest they are willing to push th "eject button" i like that phrase. At least if i have not gone before then then dh and i will know roughly when things are going to happen, he hates it at work when his mobile rings as he panics every time and thinks og god not again, he is grateful to get through every day without a hospital trip, just as well he has sympathetic employer as he has had loads of time of recently and nothing to show for it, his boss is female and had her daughter at 29 weeks so she knows what it is like ( her daughter is 9 now). Will let you know if i have any luck with the reflexology or pineapple. ta

just returned from DS2 playgroup and asked for advice on getting things underway, EPO, raspberry leaf and clary sage seemed to crop up, a few people also mentioned the reflexology route, think i am going to ring today may aswell have something nice and relaxing ' calm before the storm' i suppose.a few said they had tried RL & EPO and it definately help so heres hoping the next week may bring a baby. I am due another scan on Monday, to check her size as I am considered small for dates so i suppose MOn would be a good day to go save 2 trips to the hospital.

just had home visit from midwife and discussed a membrane swwepp with her for next week if i have not produced anything by then desperate measures are becoming needed.

hi, glad your midwife is on side. not sure that clary sage would bring on labour but is a muscle relaxant so makes it happen quicker. there are probably some homeopathic remedies too. might be worth a google.

let us know when it all happens!

ive heard evening primrose oil inserted into vagina can cause irritation and burning sensation in some people,personally i would avoid this.

Whilst I can imagine how VERY unpleasant your situation is the 170 that you mention actually mean very little, the only way to know how strong your contractions are is to put the monitor into your vagina.
If you have an irretable uterus is it wise to irrate it more?... I use to work for herbalists and they specifically told me that raspeberry leaf tea is to be taken as a tea to work (not as capsules). Also what you need is for the cervix to ripen.... so I'd work on that... sex will help (it's prostaglandin in semen), pineapple is old wives tales.
AT 37 weeks though - depsite byour currrent worries and past.... does not mean your cervix will be riped before 40 weeks..... you can always sweep yourself....

Should add: Homeopathy in your situation should not be taken lightly! For example caullophyllum would irritate your uterus even more.

Sex and the hottest curry I could manage has worked twice for me. Bit embarrassing when the neighbours popped round though...

thanks pupace, been on raspberry leaf capsules now for over a week may explain why nothing happened if tea is better, sorry to get graphic here, but how would i go about doing a sweep myself, would this not be rather awkward, willing to give it a go though, how can i tell if cervix is ripe enought to do it though. Also trying the sex thing , not as much as DH would like though, so blooming awkward with bump. I have started Evening primrose oil capsules in the hope that will help ripen the cervix then at least if i need a sweep hopefully the CX will be favourable for it. do you know of any other herbs, i am also looking into reflexology, not leaving anything to chance here. Did try caulophylum 200c last time the false contractions started, in the hope it might keep them going and turn into real ones, however after 24 hours fake ones, 4 mins apart went to hospital only to be told upon exam cervix still tightly closed. Ahh well she cant stay there forever at least, even if it feels that way

just to concur with pupuce on the homeopathic stuff, i wouldn't dose myself with remedies if i were you, as your condition is clearly a wee bit complex. if you want to go down that route i would go to see a qualified person.

(but our local midwives were positively pushing the pineapple on us, i think there was even some research about it....will see if i can dig it up)

thanks mazzystar, i am going to buy one anyway, may as well give it a go, cost a fortune this time of year i expect. I am not abandoning the post but i am going out xmas zhopping now for the day, never know the stress may help things along, Bye for now

A short hill walk following by doggy position definitely worked for me. Did both of these two days in a row and the second time, immediately following sex felt distinctly heavy down there. A few hours later, waters broke and about 5 hours later, George was born.

Ooh - just remembered. We also went sofa shopping that morning too - lots of bending and sitting up and down. Must have helped.

I did some training with midwife recently and she explained how the pineapple thing works. Apparently it's because the nerves for the uterus run parallel to those of the bowel. Pineapple really irritates the bowel as it is so fibrous & full of enzymes and therefore the uterine nerves get really irritated too. You have to eat a whole one (minus skin, obviously) in one sitting for it to work though.

She also said that it is dangerous to take cod liver oil and had seen women hemmorrage really badly as a result of the violent and very quick labour that can result (apparently it's so quick your bits have no time to stretch either so the baby ends up shredding everything on the way out... eeeoooowwww!) HTH

what also helped for me was to get some workmen in!

to sand the floors that is.

into labour that very day, ten days early (after a very pleasant afternoon at the reflexologists)

I think if any of these things worked (with 100% certainty, within a specific time period) then we'd all know about it. let's face it, the closer you are to 40 weeks, the more likely you are to deliver.

Ohhh, I just started a thread about fresh pinapple and was linked to this thread.
How interesting.

I've also been taking Raspberry Leaf tablets as woman in health food shop said they were more concentrated, damn and blast. will get drinking the trea as of this weekend.

I'm also taking caullophyllum.

Have had some fresh pinapple as well.

Don't want baby to arrive this weekend so come Monday I'll start on the actual tea not the tablets, keep on with the caullophyllum. I just left a message for my midwife to ask if she'll do me a sweep next Friday I'll be 38 +1) and I'll have a hot curry and sex that night as well. Intend to walk everywhere as much as poss once my maternity leae starrts which is the end of today

just to let you know thomcat, the tea stuff tastes really foul, you are supposed to drink 2 -3 wine glass (actually says this on pack)full a day, not sure icould manage a full pineapple at once I had decided to avoid castor oil anyway as i had heard really dodgy reports abut it.