What worked for you (inducing labour naturally...)

[angel205]

Just wondered really what if anything worked for you inducing labour?

Im 37 weeks tommorow, and in extreme aggony, the babys reported to be of a very good size so wanted to start trying things along tommorow.

Ive heard of the usual things, pineapple, sex, currys, long walks, caster oil and various herbs including raspberry leaf tea and black cohosh - but which and what worked for you?

Ive a electric breast pump and will 'nipple stimulate' as this is also supposed to help move things along.

Im so uncomfortable i just want things over and done with, this is my third and quite possibley the last baby im having !!!

Thanks all =]

Nothing, sorry.

sex for the first (was 14 days late though)...was induced with the rest.

Good luck!

Oh great - =[

With my 2nd pregnancy i had to try to start things along myself - and nothing worked i must admit, but i am remaining positive, im pretty sure this babys as annoyed as i am =] x

Sex may have worked for us - or maybe it was just time anyway. Who knows. But at least that's one thing to do which is hopefully a pleasant way to spend the time. DON'T do castor oil - I've tried it myself but reportedly it does bugger all but give you a horrendous tummy.

I dont think the husband deserves sex though, LOL!!

I suppose its worth a try

Acupuncture worked brilliantly for me - one session and next day I was off. Probably won't do the hardcore pins until 38/39 wks though

Sorry that should be I've not tried it myself

OMG, i hate needles really dont think i could do that accpuncture, although it sounds highly successful from what i have read into !

Do u feel the needles go in?

9 days late, tried everything. On MW advice really reluctantly had sex- and THAT worked!

On reflection it was the least sexy sex ever.

With both my boys I started using Clary Sage essential oil from week 38, putting a few drops in the bath and in a lotion to massage on my tummy. And ta da... my first was born on his due date and the second the day before, honestly I dont know if it was the Clary Sage or the fact that I finished work the day before I had both of them so was very active all the way through. Good luck luvy xx

I read up on this before mine were born (first one overdue, but arrived after a sweep) and found there have been limited medical trials of castor oil, but that in this trial in 2000, it has been shown to work for over half the women who took it (but I think it is pretty unpleasant - you spend a good amount of time on the loo with stomach cramps pre-labour).

See the article here,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10631825

(sorry, can't seem to make the link active - I've summarised the main results below)

RESULTS: Fifty-two women received castor oil and 48 were assigned no treatment. Following administration of castor oil, 30 of 52 women (57.7%) began active labor compared to 2 of 48 (4.2%) receiving no treatment. When castor oil was successful, 83.3% (25/30) of the women delivered vaginally. CONCLUSIONS: Women who receive castor oil have an increased likelihood of initiation of labor within 24 hours compared to women who receive no treatment. Castor oil use in pregnancy is underreported worldwide. This small series represents the first attempt to evaluate the medication.

Thats interesting - ^^ Pawan, thank you.
Caster oil it is for me then !!!
My main concern is that the baby would get into destress as aparently the caster oil technique has that affect on the baby - and worse still having the squits as im pushing the baby out - it would be so embarrasing !!

Do we know how much caster oil to take and how often - to induce labour..?

Think ill be going to the chemist tommorow =] x

Sorry, yes you do feel the needles in acupuncture - it feels weird though not like having pins stuck in. Probably more like little electric tingles.

Not a damn thing, unfortunately.

sex

castor oil is a big no no

please don't do it

you can end up ill, dehydrated and in agony with stomach pains, it can also increase the incidence of baby passing meconium in utero, which could mean complications for labour.

so it is really not worth it

also, you might end up on the loo in pain, pooing for england and no baby, or labouring on the toilet

at 37 weeks you really don;t need to try to get things going too aggressively.

sex & nipple stim release hormones, that are naturally occuring, so your body won;t overdose itself with anyhting

I left nothing to chance, but as i really didn't want my dd to be born on my birthday i didn't start till my birthday iyswim? I had rasberry leaf tea, a curry, a whole pineapple, a long walk followed by birthday sex-woke up in labour the next mornig! May have been a coincidence as she was born the following day exactly a week late so it could have happened anyway but i do think it helped as i think she was very happy where she was

Just remembered i was also having acupuncture and that week she used some of the points she had been avoiding that can induce labour.........

I only know 1 person that castor oil didn't work for. But it'll be like drinking out of the chip pan.
Don't do it.
The baby will come when s/he is good and ready.
Sorry

Sex. Absolutely.

I was due to be induced on a monday, 8 days before first born was due. On the friday evening prior to this, went out for a meal, and my DH and I had sex when we got home at 11pm. My waters broke at 5am the following morning and I gave birth that evening at 11:47pm (yesterday, two years ago!).

Both my DH and I commented that evening that the sex felt different. Great, but different , so we just sort of helped her along a bit!

Hi hope im not hyjacking but just wanted to say with my ds1 i was a week late had been drinking the tea religiously walking having sex eating currys etc nothing worked a week late i had a tablespoon full of castor oil and my waters broke 2 hours later. However! Im now 40+4 with ds2 and got so impatient yesterday i had some castor oil in the morning. Nothing happened till i ate then had the poo's lol then ate again had the poo's no tummy ache till late last nite thought i was in serious labour but pain was constant and yup you guessed it

was just the poo's again. Only went on half an hour but i wont be tempted to take it again. It must have been coincidence the first time. If you find a good one let me know im dreadfully fed up lol

I definately reccommend eating a hot curry it worked for me, my mum and a friend! I was 6 days overdue and went for a curry on the saturday night and my DS was born on Monday morning.

cumin tea.

i made one cup at 38 weeks right before bed and woke up in labour

just brew some cumin seeds or pwder in boiling water an add some honey to sweeten, it doesn't taste too bad, kinda like warm dirty water, and it does work!