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

It's how my labour started (how I started it??) but I don't know if it would have helped as pain relief as such - I found it quite a weird sensation at that stage due to whole bump tightening.

Raspberry leaf does not induce labour, it just tones the uterus so that contractions are stronger making labour shorter. I have used it in my last two pregnancies and had short labours but you need to use it correctly. Start with one a day and slowly build it up.

to induce labour you need oxytocin, which is the happy hormone. So you need to feel happy and relaxed. Massage, comedies, chocolate. Keep hydrated and stay active without overdoing anything.

Things like spicy food and pineapple irritate the bowel which can cause contractions but can also give you loose stools which isn’t something I’d want to deal with in labour.

Curb walking helps as it helps the baby more into the pelvis putting pressure on the cervix and helping it dilate.

@TheChosenTwo curb walking is walking with one foot on the curb and one on the road. Walking sideways up the stairs has a similar effect.

Thanks @PickledScrump - think I’d have ended up tripping over my feet at that stage of pregnancy - it’s a new one on me!

A sweep. I can't say I felt happy and relaxed.

Many years ago now, in the days when such was allowed I was in the maternity ward of a major hospital, my labour had stopped and the nurses gave me some lavender oil in a bowl and said go and have a nice bath dear. Worked a treat, labour started again soon and the birth was straight forward.

Hmmm. I was three weeks overdue with first and tried EVERYTHING. The tea. Walking. Sex. Bouncy ball. Sweeps. Even medical induction struggled to induce labour. Didn't try anything with second as had C section planned due to first. Was doing a lot of strenuous work day before to her everything ready and unexpectedly went into labour. I just kind of think they come when they want to but induction was awful for me.

Yes, just hand expressing! You can ask your midwife for the syringes or buy them online. They say from 37w onwards. Then anything you collect, you can pop in the freezer and take with you. I didnt get anything before giving birth but a lot after birth (DD was in NICU as she was IUGR so we hand expressed until she was big enough to try bfing).