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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Best tips for bringing on labour....

33 replies

MrsRV · 04/03/2012 08:00

Come on ladies, all your best old wives tales please... Due a week tomorrow but can't wait any longer!! Induction date for term + 9... But I'm determined not to get there!!!!!!

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rrrayray · 04/03/2012 08:01

Acupuncture worked for me. That said any of the tricks will only work if body / baby ready. Good luck.

fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 04/03/2012 08:07

I'm a little shocked that youre a week away from your due date but you have an induction date already booked. Is this standard policy at your hospital? You can refuse this you know. I was induced for being overdue with my first and really wish I'd refused. Dd just wasn't ready yet and I had an awful time.

alessthandomesticgoddess · 04/03/2012 08:08

Raspberry leaf tea/tablets to 'ripen' the cervix.
Sex.
Lots of walking.

franke · 04/03/2012 08:11

Book youself a whole load of appointments - hair, massage, lunch with friends, last blast date with dh/p. Baby's bound to come just before the one you're most looking forward to Grin

TheOneWithTheHair · 04/03/2012 08:16

Don't drink raspberry tea. Consultant told me it hardens your cervix so when you want it to relax. It may bring on labour but it will make it harder as your cervix is taught iykwim.

TheOneWithTheHair · 04/03/2012 08:16

Playing with your nipples is meant to work. :)

littlemissnormal · 04/03/2012 09:09

Oh I've got a great big list of things to try after both previous DCs went to induction at 42 weeks!

Evening primrose oil - orally, internally and rubbed on bump
Clary sage and lavender oil
Blue or black cohosh
Raspberry leaf capsules
Acupressure spots (fleshy bit between thumb and finger, above inner ankle)
Acupuncture

My friend swears by castor oil but knowing my luck I'd just get hideous diarrhoea and no baby!!

planetpotty · 04/03/2012 09:12

My MW told me gravity, so lots of walking but the single best thing for it is sex Wink

Ilovekittyelise · 04/03/2012 09:29

I tried it all. spent a fortune on acupuncture, had epo coming out my ears, still had a monstrous induction. dont waste your time.

BoysBoysBoysAndMe · 04/03/2012 10:16

Absolutely nothing worked for me.
I tried everything.
I was eating up to 3 pineapples a day. A hot curry a day. Walked two miles a day-albeit very slowly, in fact it was more of a waddle. Sex. R leaf tea. You name it I tried it. I was 10 days overdue and was due to go to hospital the following morning.

I decided to relax in the garden, stretched out like a basking walrus in the sun. That evening my contractions started.

I just think when it's time it will happen. If he's not ready why would he come out earlier?

Good luck though. Enjoy the last few days of peace and sleep! X

melliebobs · 04/03/2012 12:31

At 42 weeks today I can say nothing works. Unless your bodies ready there is nothing you can do to hurry things along

insertwittyusernamehere · 04/03/2012 12:58

My waters broke after eating labour cookies. I've got a feeling that was pure coincidence though Grin. My midwife said sex is the best way.

littlemissnormal · 04/03/2012 16:30

What are labour cookies?? I get sucked in by loads of things!

insertwittyusernamehere · 04/03/2012 17:17

They're spicy ginger cookies and delicious, I ate loads of them just before my waters broke. I don't know how to link from my phone but you can find the recipe if you google labour cookies. Yum, I think I want more now.

littlemissnormal · 04/03/2012 18:50

Thanks! Love ginger so may try them telling myself it's for labour and nothing to do with my biscuit addiction Wink

my2centsis · 05/03/2012 05:41

From 36weeks I walked an hour a day, from 37 weeks I walked an hour aday, had sex every 3 days (you have to orgasm and tilt yourself so the sperm is touching cervix for a good 5min) and swinging on a swing at the park everyday. I had DS at 38.7weeks. Who knows what works. Walking helps thin cervix so I'd suggest that. Also I was told using a vibrator can jump start contractions couldn't tell you if that works tho lol.

Ps I tried castor oil and it made me shit myself out in a walk didn't work. I also drank raspberry leaf tea and primrose capsules with dd (1st dc) and I went 11 days over due.

I think it depends when baby's ready :(

melliebobs · 05/03/2012 09:16

Walking helps thin the cervix?! What a load of old crock. Either that or I have a cervix of steel!!!!!!!!!! I walk over 3 miles a day thanks to my hyper lil pooch and 42 weeks and 1 day later nothing!

Bowendoctor · 07/03/2012 12:48

Bowen Therapy and Acupuncture both work in my experience! Good luck ;-)

ItsOkItsJustMyBreath · 07/03/2012 16:03

Walk walk walk walk walk walk, preferably up and down hills. Worked a treat for me and rlt was great for 2nd stage Smile

Please, for the love of god, do NOT try castor oil. It does nothing but make you ill!

jaylee89 · 07/03/2012 16:24

defiantly castor oil. worked for me and 3 of my friends within about 3 hours.

dont get me wrong you will be sitting on the toilet alot lol but i swear by it.

if you do use this method make sure you chuck it straight back neat all in one go some ppl try and mix it with pure orange and it just lays on the top and it turns you completely off it.

let us all know xxxx

fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 07/03/2012 16:46

No no no to castor oil. Noone is that desperate that they need to give themselves a nice dose of the shits. It can distress the baby too.

Flisspaps · 07/03/2012 17:00

Right.

None of it works.

It's all, quite frankly, bollocks.

If curry, sex, raspberry leaf tea, long walks, pineapple, orgasm. If any of these things worked to induce labour, we'd be told to avoid them all until we reached 37 weeks. Have you been told to avoid curry or pineapple during pregnancy?

Thought not.

If they worked, then there would have been no need for the invention of syntocinon or prostaglandin pessaries, and going in to hospital for induction would be unheard of.

Raspberry Leaf Tea tones the uterus, making contractions more efficient but doesn't induce labour.

You'd need to eat something like 7 pineapples a day for weeks for it to have any effect.

Sex - in semen there is prostaglandin which is what pessaries used for induction contain. However it is in very concentrated amounts in the pessary, and in order for you to get the same amount from sex, you'd need a lot of sex. I get extra annoyed when women say they don't really want sex, or their partner doesn't, but they do it anyway to try and get the baby out. NICE guidelines say that sex shouldn't be suggested as a method of induction.

NICE clinical guidelines say that nipple stimulation may work, but there needs to be more research. If you are going to do it, you need to do it for a long time, and frequently. It's no good having a quick twiddle twice a week when Mr Bloom's on TV and thinking that'll do.

Don't bother doing any of this stuff. Labour begins when a hormonal exchange takes place between you and your lovely baby. Instead of wearing yourself out or making yourself miserable or thinking you have to do something, try the old fashioned sitting on the sofa eating Jaffa Cakes (or any other biscuit/cake/treat) because you're going to need all the energy you can muster to get through labour when it starts.

Oh, and normal pregnancy is between 37 and 42 weeks, so no-one is actually 'overdue' until they get past 42 weeks :)

festive · 07/03/2012 17:17

none of the usual stuff worked for me but a few drops of clary sage oil in the bath (perhaps a few too many but i was 40+12 and desperate!) at 8pm was followed at 1am by first contraction. good luck!

Flisspaps · 07/03/2012 17:21

festive I'm going to go out on a limb here, and suggest that at 40+12, you were very likely to have gone into labour then anyway.

Chances are you could have stuck a few drops of orange juice or poster paint in the bath, and you'd have gone into labour then anyway Wink

jaylee89 · 07/03/2012 17:34

well everyone has there own way of trying to bring on labour. whether it be with clary sage or walking miles. people like to believe things help them bring on their labour. its what we like to talk about any advice given is a help!

try what ever you feel comfortable with hun. chances are the first thing you try could work :) xxxx