Ladies - what helps induce labour?

[highheavenn]

For a start I personally plan to wait for my baby to arrive when she is ready. Unless the hospital say I need a induction. I'm just curious about this.

Do dates really help?

Does raspberry leaf tea/tablets help?

Has anyone done the curb walking?

Spicy foods, is this a myth?

I know most of this stuff can only help labour not start it.. wondering what you guys may have done to help fasten labour or done during that helped x

The curb walking and red raspberry leaf tea did not work for me. I eat spicy food all the time so if it does work then my body was desensitized to it. I have yet to find something natural to induce labour.

My 2 friends convinced me that walking up a big hill at speed brought on their Labour. I did this 2 days before my due date and nearly killed myself, went into labour 10am the next day and baby was born just after midnight!

My daughter tried the tea,the walking etc - no use at all.
When I was pregnant with her, lots of sex was recommended. It was fun and she arrived 2 weeks early 😊

I did some colostrum harvesting at 37.5w and went into labour the next day. I was not prepared and hospital bag was not packed. So heed this cautious tale! 🤣

Synctocin for me.

For me the only thing that brought on labour was entering the 43rd week of pregnancy and crying a lot (one may or may not be related to the other).

Raspberry leaf tea doesn't induce labour, it tones the uterus, so when you are in labour, contractions are meant to be stronger, thus reducing time in active labour.

Dates ripen the cervix, but you need to eat about 8 delegat noir dates or 3 medjool dates every day for 4 weeks before your due date. Some people say that eating loads in one day will induce labour, but that's probably the laxative effect.

Spicy food works the same way- the bowels contract due to the spice, causing your uterus to also contract.

Castor oil can do the same BUT IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Curb walking, walking sideways up stairs, lunges, etc are meant to help position the baby's head further down, thus triggering labour as the gravity and the rocking motion are meant to encourage baby to fall further down.

Pineapple core contains bromelun, an enzyme that effects the cervix. Some people swear by eating pineapple.

Putting 2 pierced evening primrose capsules up your vagina and sperm (so have sex) is also meant to soften the cervix.

At the end of the day, these things may help, or may just be coincidental, but the baby comes when it's fully developed and then releases a hormone which then triggers labour.

Sit tight, enjoy your last few days and fingers crossed that your baby comes soon. Good luck!

Sex!

I recently had my first baby at 37+4 and I genuinely think colostrum harvesting bought it on, although I'll obviously never know. I started trying to collect it at 36+6 and the next day noticed an increase in CM and generally felt like things started changing!

I didn't try any of the tea, spicy food etc as I wasn't trying to induce labour

I did most of them apart from tea. Mainly big walk, spicy food, pineapple and sex! I was overdue and had already had a sweep and they said I was very favourable so this was me trying to get it going. Ended up enduced a week later!

I had reflexology to induce labour. Baby born 18 hours later at 39 weeks. I was due to be medically induced the following day

Orgasms - ideally multiple back to back - not necessarily with anyone else involved.

Curry and sex worked for me!

Walking up a hill

Oxytocin drip

The only things with any evidence base to suppor them are nipple stimulation and sex. Well, sperm in the case of the latter, but the old-fashioned way is probably the easiest way to get it in there.

I walked, had sex, ate spicy food, harvested colostrum, drank raspberry leaf tea. The only thing that induced labour was an actual induction. Although I did only need the pessary.

I’ve never heard of curb walking, can someone explain what it is?!
With my last one I was due to be induced on the Monday and he wasn’t going anywhere. Desperately, bought some raspberry leaf tea capsules from Julian Graves (anyone remember that shop 😁) - you should have heard my grumbling at the £7 price! and within 3 hours I was in labour, and 3 hours after that he was born.
of course it could have been that he would have come naturally that night anyway, we will never know but I’m going to attribute it to that!

My doula told me sex is recommended mainly for the prostaglandins, which are actually more effective if swallowed. Take that as you will.

Pineapple would only work if you eat about 19 of them. Your tongue will fall out like an overly tenderized cutlet way before that.

Oxytocin helps, snug love hormones from orgasms, hot choc, cosy films, puzzles etc. And exercise, especially stepping.

But really that baby will come when it wants to. With induction make sure you ask questions if you're told you 'need' to be induced. Certainly it's sometimes necessary, but sometimes it's just more convenient for the hospital.

Raspberry leaf tea, I drank slightly more than recommended towards the end.
Exercise ball.
Clary sage oil.

Waters broke 39+4 (2 hours after a bounce on the ball) and born 7 hours later.

I was a week overdue with my youngest. The day before I went into labour id spent all day on my hands and knees doing the garden!

Book a lovely pedicure or massage/reservation to a nice restaurant/promise yourself if you're still pregnant on XX date you'll treat yourself to something. Baby is bound to come before then...

I really thought that in early labour if I'm at home orgasms (solo) would help!! Do you think it would?

Curb walked for a mile or two.
Home to a warm bath.
Nipple stimulation and orgasms.
Went to bed after a drink of lucozade.

Was in labour (at 38 weeks) within a hour of falling asleep.

Curb walking for a hour or so.
Orgasm.
Lucozade.

Was in labour the next day.

Can only tell you what honestly seemed to work for me.

I had sex at 38 weeks, then collected some Colostrum straight after. I went into labour just a couple of hours later.

Maybe I'll try that the day or so before my due date! Is that by hand expressing or?