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November 2015 Moms
eilykylie
member
Natural Things To Do To Encourage Labor?!
eilykylie
member
So I have been away for a little while, been going threw some personal things. I'm sorry if this is a repeat let me know and I'll shut It down!
Now that it's November it's crunch time for us November moms, and I was wondering have you guys tried any cool recipes or exercises, etc to encourage labor. I heard of walking a lot, & sex of course. I also heard of these crazy lemon cupcakes that put women in labor and also acupuncture so those seem like some cool ideas. Has any 2nd time moms tried anything that has actually worked and has any one else heard of anything interesting and cool to pass the time while we wait for our little ones? Not really trying to rush it just I have 2 weeks left so I thought I'd try some old wise tales and things for fun.
Now that it's November it's crunch time for us November moms, and I was wondering have you guys tried any cool recipes or exercises, etc to encourage labor. I heard of walking a lot, & sex of course. I also heard of these crazy lemon cupcakes that put women in labor and also acupuncture so those seem like some cool ideas. Has any 2nd time moms tried anything that has actually worked and has any one else heard of anything interesting and cool to pass the time while we wait for our little ones? Not really trying to rush it just I have 2 weeks left so I thought I'd try some old wise tales and things for fun.
Re: Natural Things To Do To Encourage Labor?!
If you're hell bent on trying to encourage labor, just read and research and never try castor oil. Remember the longer your LO is in there, the stronger s/he is becoming and the healthier s/he will be.
Quick extract:
Analysis indicated that inducing labor with Pitocin was linked to a higher likelihood of a newborn's unexpected admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for over 24 hours, and was also a significant risk factor for Apgar scores of less than 7 at five minutes.
OP there was a lot of posts on this, but I may have seen it in the october 2015 board. It went from walking, spending the whole day cooking, eating a lot of pineapple, eggplant parmiggiano(lol), having sex... Thats really the ones I remember, I am only 37.2 weeks and wont try anything until I am like 39.5. I just really want to avoid induction
OP - sorry but labor will happen when your body is ready. There are things your OB can try (a sweep) and you can try other tactics (eg walking), but if your body isn't ready it simply isn't ready.
And I definitely would not recommend castor oil either, this is downright dangerous.
Married 9/28/13
DS born 11/12/15
EDD 8/13/18
When some women decide to work until they pop, how can we know they are not going into labor because of too much activity.... It is a short line and seem to be an extremely sensitive subject on this board and really OP was not asking for crazy self induction techniques, but more what to do to get your body ready.
There was also eating dates everyday - could help getting cervix ready or something - that I remember now.
OP, I'll be trying the pineapple old wives tale and walking if I don't need a c-section. Because delicious foods.
And I'm eating dates daily, mostly because they're tasty. I'll probably try a few more things if I hit 40 weeks, maybe even sex (probably not). Thankfully most supposedly labor-inducing foods are delicious!
My prenatal masseuse does induction massages with accupressure and aromatherapy, which I might do at 40 weeks, because massages are awesome even if they don't induce labor after all
And ditto on castor oil, that's one midwife recommendation I plan on refusing if it's made. No thanks.
As far as other natural ways to induce: raspberry leaf tea, sex, nipple stimulation.. However, it's impossible to tell if this stuff works because no matter what, a baby is born after these are attempted.
As far as pitocin goes, it is actually seen as beneficial to take AFTER labor to stop bleeding and encourage shrinking the uterus. It ain't that bad of a drug. Sure, it can be seen as a "gateway" to medical interventions during labor since it intensifies contractions but you have to trust your health professionals and who's delivering your baby- they likely want what's best and safest. For example if my little one doesn't show up by 39w I gotta induce due to my GD diagnosis and pitocin could be used. It is what it is.
Baby will come when baby is ready. It's just one of the first of many, many things they'll hijack in our lives.
I am drinking raspberry leaf tea a few times a day, walking, having more sex, getting a pedicure, induction massages (I don't care If it works, I just want the massages), and adding more pineapple and dates to my diet because they are delicious.
I also did these things except for the induction massage with my son starting around 37 weeks. He came at 39 weeks on his own. Is it because I did those things? Probably not. But, as long as the things you are trying are healthy and not dangerous to yourself or your child I don't see the problem.
And, FWIW, I have no issues with pitocin. I ended up needing it with my son because I stopped progressing. It made my labor speed up and I got a perfectly healthy baby with a great apgar score. I think pitocin gets a bad reputation when in reality it is like most things, there are both positives and negatives.
Baby Boy born on 1/14/13
Anyone had any success with this?!
The youth of today.
Did you send the notice via certified mail? Very important to keep your documentation accurate
I'm dying at the thought of a pigeon running into my belly over and over again!
Now that I am 38 weeks with my fourth and extremely uncomfortable, and having start and stop labor I personally have started all the old wives tales to encourage a faster and easier labor. Walking, pineapple, red raspberry leaf tea, primrose oil pills, etc. Most of these won't start labor on their own they simply help if you are already, ready.
If I get to L&D and they suggest pitocin to move things along I will gladly accept it. They are doctors for a reason...