What natural labour induction methods worked for you?

[geemeister]

i know natural induction methods don’t work for anyone, I just want to hear from those where it did work!

I’m currently 39 weeks pregnant, I lost part of my mucus plug yesterday but not all of it. I’ve had irregular contractions for days, I have SPD and I’m in agony. I just want pregnancy over but I can’t be medically induced until I’m 41 weeks :(

My LO is measuring well weight wise, I’m a low risk pregnancy so I’ve been trying to induce labour naturally but I’m unsure what actually helps, so id love to hear any methods that worked for you!

I have a scan and midwife appointment tommorow, so I’m going to ask for a cervical exam to see if I’m dilated or effaced since I lost that part of my mucus plug but I already know they won’t induce me for a few weeks. Would they be able to give me a membrane sweep if I am dilated or is it unlikely?

Any advice is appreciated right now! I feel like I’m losing my mind in this pregnancy and I’m so tired now I just want to meet my little boy

The child I did most sitting on my arse and eating cake with was the one that came earliest. So in my very scientific study of 3 cases I'd say that swimming, sex raspberry leaf, walking etc lead to longer pregnancies. Sitting and eating cake leads to shorter pregnancies.

However, I wouldn't take my word for it.

As a midwife I'd say that if anything actually reliably worked then induction would never be needed.

Staying active is good for your health and wellbeing. Rest, relax, eat and drink, keep your energy levels up as you'll need them. Enjoy these last days bonding with your bump and flooding yourself and your baby with all those love hormones.

Have you tried hand expressing? The midwife should be able to give you some sterile syringes which can be frozen if you ask. Though it didn't start my labour, it did give me some light contractions which I'm sure sped things along. When I was examined at 39 weeks I was 4cm dilated so I only needed to have my waters broken to start full on labour (baby born 3 hours later!). Goodluck, the last few weeks are horid!

I haven’t tried hand expressing, but I’ve been twiddling my nipples for a couple of hours every few days. No colostrum so far though, I have a manual and electric breast pump. Should I give those a try?

I tried everything other than sex, I really wasn’t interested at that point. I’m sure it was the bouncing up and down on the birthing ball for two hours that started it for DD2.

I did various things with both my pregnancies and one arrived just before and the other just after the due date. However as I don’t have a control I have no idea whether those things helped or it was just a coincidence! I drank raspberry leaf tea and expressed colostrum (this one on medical advice as I had gestational diabetes in my first pregnancy - I would only bother trying by hand, sometimes being in a warm bath can help) from about 37 weeks ish. I had sex a few times. I had a daily walk and I bounced on the Pilates ball quite a bit (it made me more comfortable anyway). I have no idea which if any might have helped!

Sex and stay very active and up right during the day.
Had sex a n the evening, contractions, albeit mild ones started the following morning. Baby born teatime the following day.

DC1 - curry
DC2 - sex

We were literally mid shag when my contractions started

Castor oil

I'm a midwife and I've just had my 2nd baby. First time I was induced at 39 weeks for gestational diabetes. This time I had 4 sweeps, was constantly bouncing on my birthing ball, hand expressed a ton of colostrum... was trying to get baby out pretty much from 37 weeks. He came at 40+2, so not convinced any of the things I did made much difference!
Some of my midwife friends swear by clary sage aromatherapy oil (few drops in the bath) and a few of my friends swear it was sex that did it for them 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nothing works. Sorry!

Sex. Went into labour within hours. I wasn't in the mood for sex at all throughout pregnancy but I was desperate by then (41+3) and did actually quite enjoy it

There is evidence that sex works, because of the hormones released.

Apparently castor oil also works but don't know about the evidence, I think it's anecdotal.

Walking up and down the stairs to the toilet in Wetherspoons sent me into labour at 39+1!

It didn’t work for me but I was given a whole reflexology and aromatherapy session on the NHS when I went overdue, so I figure there must be enough evidence that can work for the NHS to fund it. If nothing else, it was a nice treat by that point. Worth looking into?

Hmm I would be cautious about castor oil!