Chance of spontaneous labour

[Sawa75]

40+4 today but think actually 40+3.
Secind pregnancy- first I had prom at 38 weeks.
Mum had preeclampsia so I was born at 37 weeks and she had prom with my sister at 39 weeks. Of the 4 births of my mother's two sisters, it seems that they were induced at 41 weeks x2 births/36 weeks 1 due to twins/1 x unknown.

I will hold out until 42 weeks but I really want to avoid induction and go into labour myself.

Loads of BHs and pelvic pressure which had increased in the last week.

Any words of wisdom?

*has increased

Keep active. Walk sideways up stairs, or walk with one foot on pavement and one on road. Bounce on your ball. Get oxytocin going to trigger labour so warm baths, massage from partner, watch a comedy. Basically you want to be as happy and relaxed as possible so your body releases the right hormones

Hopefully you will go into labour yourself, got plenty of time before midwives will talk about getting booked for induction. Lots of being upright and mobile, going for walks and bouncing on your ball. Sex if you feel like it.
Also nipple stimulation- expressing colostrum is great but don't get hung up on how much you produce. Babies are much better at getting it out than we are by hand. The stimulation will help release oxytocin.
The other thing though is to try and relax and not think about it all too much... with my DD2 I tried everything under the sun and was still pregnant at 41 weeks. I gave up trying everything and just relaxed and baby was born 41+2 after a 2.5 hour straightforward labour.
Wishing you all the best!

Stay active, relax, do things that make you happy and will release oxytocin but most importantly don't feel pressured I to induction. Pick a date that YOU are comfortable with if it comes to it.

DD came on her own at 41+6 after much cajoling to induce

DD1 was day before due date - DS 10 days after and DD2 4 days after.

DMum was induced with first two and went into early spontaneous labour with third.

DSis was after due date but spontaneous labour and was induced with her second.

I think keeping active helps a lot and relaxed - though I was really stressed with our third and she still came though think she might have been a few days earlier if I had been more relaxed. First came day after I finished working and had also just completed and submitted major course work for the OU course I was taking.

Hi OP, my first baby came at 41+2 spontaneously, despite me feeling it would never happen.

As others have said, relax as much as you can. You want to get your oxytocin flowing. Lots of walking, warm baths, massage and sex if you feel like. Bouncing on your ball and nipple stimulation are also worth trying.

As others have said, don’t feel pressurised to have an induction. You went into labour spontaneously with your first so there’s no reason you shouldn’t this time! Good luck!

Thanks so much to everyone for your comments. I'm pretty good with the staying active part, walking alot and looking after my 2 yesr old - not so much the relaxing part - but working on it. Hopefully baby will arrive in the next week:-)