Right ladies, need your tips on bringing on labour....

[8abyDust]

....I am 39+1 today but growing a very very big baby which means I have only until sunday to go into labour naturally otherwise they want a c section which I would prefer not to do. Babys head is 4/5 engaged so sort of ready! Any tips on ways to get labour going that actually have worked for you?!?!

Thanks!!

xx

CASTOR OIL!!!!

I took 3oz of castor oil at 5:30pm, waters went and contractions started at 2:30am, baby was here 8:02am! :-)

I was 6 days early. Didnt think it would work, was feeling curious. But it did!!

(If you choose to do this get someone else to buy it for you)

Please report back if this was successful for you :-)

I am 40+4, and have tried pineapple, sex, curries, walks, nipple stimulation,clary sage baths and had a sweep. Nothing has worked! I honestly think that babies just won't come until they are really ready!

try castor oil moomin.....

Pretty sure most medical professionals advise against taking castor oil now.

i think its a personal choice. my friend is overdue and her neighbour is a midwife and she TOLD her to take it.

Castor oil is a bloody stupid idea frankly - it irritates the bowel, but can also irritate the baby's bowel and cause meconium to be passed, and then ingested.

Your friends MW should not be advising this.

I'd try the sod's law! ie book some very expensive tickets which can't be refunded or transferred to something that you really, really want to go to. I guarantee you'll go into labour before you can enjoy them!

Curry and sex worked for both of mine

Pls do not take castor oil, at best it will give you the squirts and worst could make you pretty Ill x x

Sometimes babies don't come when they are ready. Make sure you are not too constipated. With DC2, a full week before he was born, on three separate occasions, I had increasing labour contractions 5 minutes apart. They were intense and regular enough that I called the labour ward each time to let them know I would likely be in in the next couple hours. They then fizzled out to nothing. Several days on, it began to dawn on me that my severe constipation might be the culprit. The day before DC was born, I gave in and called the out of hours doctor (was start of bank holiday weekend) and explained situation. He agreed that constipation might be delaying labour and prescribed lactulose and suppositories. Baby was out less than 24 hours later, very quick labour, from 2 to 10 and baby out in less than 2 hours.

By the way, how big do they think your baby is? DC1 was 9 lbs 11 oz, but he came early. No way he would make it to due date - was no room left in there to grow!

Polly if you try nipple twiddling and expressing colostrum as a way of trying to start labour, your breasts will simply make more colostrum for your baby Don't worry.

Think of your milk in a similar way to your blood: the midwife has taken a few vials of your blood over the past 9 months or so, right? Your body has simply made more to replace it. Your milk production and biological make up is remarkably similar to your blood - it's a living fluid (that sounds very sci-fi doesn't it!)

Mine ran out of room to grow at about 34 weeks (both 6lbs) but still managed to go to 42 inside.

Thanks badgerina :) Stupid question number 2: doesn't colostrum, unlike blood, run out when your milk comes in?
I am in 2 minds about trying this... I feel a bit like I would like to keep my breasts my own until they are not anymore. But if I get to 41 weeks then anything is worth trying to avoid induction!

No, your colostrum won't run out. Milk production is triggered by hormonal changes after birth to do with the placenta detaching. So however much you twiddled your nipples you wouldn't run out of colostrum as (unless you're already breastfeeding a toddler) you simply won't have milk yet. In previous pregnancies towards the end I've leaked pints of colostrum at night (and I mean my pyjamas were soaked all down the front but have never run out.

Incidentally you supposedly have to do it for about three hours a day to produce any result.

Your body makes colostrum until 3-5 days after the birth, when the milk starts to be produced.

I'm afraid sex didn't work in terms of induction for me...although it was quite relaxing & did leave a nice after glow for a few minutes! Definitely worth trying! I'd never heard of the pineapple thing...would tinned pineapple slices work (as I find them easier & sweeter to eat)?

choco you'd need 7 fresh pineapples in one sitting, more than once. Don't know about tins, I assume so, but you're going to be sick or shitting past yourself long before you're finished!

The 7 comes from a thread I read on here btw, not my own experience.

Sitting on my arse eating Jaffa cakes worked for me - DS born 40+1 (DD was +16, induced and I didn't sit and eat Jaffa cakes before she was born)

Thanks Zuleika and Flisspaps for the education!

Isn't the bromeline in pineapples in the core too, rather than the fruity bit? It's not appealing either way. Jaffa cakes on the other hand...

Polly The colostrum simply begins to turn, gradually into "milk" a few days after birth. Your hormones, as well as your baby's sucking, give the "signal" to your breasts that the milk needs to change. It will be produced in far greater volume than colostrum, which is why you get the "Dolly Parton" effect on day 3. With DS1, I spent 24 hours switching between hot and cold compresses, and stuffing cabbage leaves in my bra to relieve the engorgement! The absolute best thing to do though is stay in bed and feed, feed, feed your baby.

Breast milk is constantly changing to suit your baby's particular stage in development. Whether they're thirsty or hungry will also change the biological make up of your milk, whether your baby has a long feed or a short feed, will also change the milk, and even within a single feed, the milk changes from the start of the feed to the end. It is truly spectacular what your breasts can do to meet the ever changing needs of your baby. Your body does it all automatically. Magical boobs!

Well then, I might give it a go if I hit 41 weeks. Magic boobs indeed!

Well I'm 40+1 today and hoping that eating a stack of pancakes then having a kip will work :)

If only that were the ticket! Bugger. I WANT PANCAKES NOW

The evening primrose oil capsules up the chuff is a far.more effective way of getting prostaglandins to the cervix than sperm. Three in the morning, three.in the evening, prick a hole in each capsule and then as far up as you can go. It won't bring on labour but will help to ripen your cervix and without.a ripe cervix, your chances of going into labour are minimal.
Also on the castor oil front, try and get hold of some of the pukka stuff, it's a natural version and much gentler, far less likely to cause problems.