Need Help Naturally Inducing Labor

The only thing that has been proven to work is sex.

Although at 40 weeks pregnant, it was always a toss up to me which was worse - having sex or staying pregnant : )

good luck.

The tea only helps "ripen" the uterus. Continue with that b/c it will help with better stronger effective contractions.

Pineapple is good too. It has prostaglandin in it - which is the same that semen has. So you can skip the sex and still get what you need out of it. HaHA

Good Luck and Congrats!

I second the first two mamas! It sometimes works very late in pregnancy, though it is probably the last thing you want to do when you are so pregnant, lol.

Good luck, and just hope for a healthy baby, no matter how he/she comes into the world. =)

Don't induce labor!! You are not "over-due." You are right on time. Let the baby decide when it's birthday should be. I am a former NICU Respiratory Therapist and now a midwife. Most babies don't come until 41 weeks. Your baby releases a chemical from its lungs to let the mother know when labor should begin and that its lungs are fully mature and ready for life outside the uterus. There is nothing wrong with waiting until labor starts on its own. Don't show up for the induction. I promise they will not come and get you.

I'd reschedule your due date... only FOUR days over? Oh please - their estimated due date is just that - AN ESTIMATE. Give yourself and your baby time... if the baby was ready, 9 out of 10 times labor will start on it's own.

Eggplant parmagiana I hear is a new thing to try -- of course I love it, so that wouldn't bother me :) Of course walking and sex as well. I hate that they induce at 1 week post-date now. What ever happened to waiting the 2 weeks after? Good luck!

Great answers!

I had an acupuncture induction with my son. We were going with a homebirth, and the midwifery team's policy was to have the birth at a hospital if the baby went 14 days over term before labor. At day 10, I received an acu treatment and had my son about 12 hours later. It doesn't work for everyone; if you try to go this route, look for an acu that's also a midwife, or an OB/GYN or CNM who offers this service.

Happy birthing, when the time is right!

First of all, you don't need to be induced if you don't want to be. Induction is SO overused and usually starts a snowball effect of intervenetions, often leading to C-section. As others have said, your due date is an estimate and can easily range from two weeks before and two weeks after. If your baby was "planning" to be due two weeks after your due date and you induce six days after it, you're still making your baby come eights days earlier than it should have. All the things that you can naturally do to bring on labor are just things that can move things along a little IF your body is already ready. If these things don't work, I would strongly consider canceling the induction as you've gotten a clue that your body/baby aren't ready. That said, the things I did were lots of walking, orgasms (semen helps, but just orgasms do as well), nipple stimulation (this means multiple 10-15 minute sessions of pumping a day, not just rubbing your nipples for a few minutes here or there), acupuncture, primrose oil (taken as a vaginal suppository and I think orally as well) and some herbs recommended by my acupuncturist. Good luck!

Have sex with your husband.

If you do not want an induction, and talk to your doctor about it. If it is medically neccessary, that is your answer, but if you have a choice, time will probably be your best bet.

M.

Be really careful, many of the herbal remedies for inducing labor can be dangerous to you and your baby. Don't ever take Blue or Black Cohosh. I know it is miserable being overdue, but remember that the due date is essentially a guess, your baby may still NEED a couple of days to finish growing. If you go a week or more over then it is time to worry, an not much at that. Have you had your membranes stripped? Are you dialated at all? If you are a couple of centimeters dialated and your doctor of midwife strips your membranes it can help get things started. All the "stripping" consisits of is your doctor or midwife using her fingers to separate the amniotic sac from the cervics a bit. When I was overdue with my son it did the trick to start my labor up that day! But I was also 3 cm dialated, I don't think it would really work if you're not dialated yet. Massaging acupressure points involved with the uterus is supposed to be helpful, but my friends and I have not had any luck with that, and we are massage therapists to boot! Good luck, and don't force the baby out, let him have some say in the matter!

See if there is an acupuncturist or massage therapist nearby who does induction treatments. They can work really well. I think having relations with your hubby provides natural prostaglandins that can help. You can also talk with your doc about waiting a few more days. I think the average gestation for first babies is 40 wks 6 days or something like that. If you and the baby are healthy there is no rush.

walk till it you get that baby out!

Sad to say, I don't think there's a magic solution here. BUT it is fun to try the innocuous things (especially sex. Oh, and that pizza with the caramelized onions sounds delicious). What's the worst that can happen? You don't go into labor? That just means you're not ready. And if you do go into labor, how can you possibly attribute it to whatever "trick" you tried? All THAT means is that you ARE ready. That being said, I listened to the "Mars" symphony of Dvorak's (sp?) The Planets. Good song, and it DEFINITELY induced labor, ha-ha. Good luck! And I agree with the ladies who say as maddening as it is to wait, scheduling an induction 6 days post-due-date is maybe jumping the gun.

Reflexology worked for me. Contact massage therapists in your area to find one who knows reflexology. Good luck!

Get a massage. There is a place on the foot that when massaged can stimulate labor. I did that with my last child. My labor was 31 hours long, but the massage got it started. Blessings for a safe and happy delivery!!

Exercise worked for me both times. I stayed on the treadmill or the track until the contractions got close enough together!

I know this is totally and completely anecdotal, but because everyone has already suggested most of the natural labor inducers I'll add it anyway! I see you are from SLC--Cafe Trio on about 7th South and 9th East has something that has been locally called "Labor Pizza" (it's the chicken one with roasted garlic, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and fontina cheese). I went with some girlfriends as a last-ditch attempt the night before I was supposed to be induced with my second. I had already been having a lot of prodromal labor so I may have been ready anyway, but I went into labor early the next morning. It can't hurt to try, and if nothing else at least you get a night out and a delicious meal (if you like garlic!)!!! ;)

Sex, well specifically, semen! Because I was at high risk for preterm labor I had to avoid the stuff like the plague for the last half of my last pregnancy because it would cause contractions.

Drinking kohosh can do it. My mother had me drink it with orange juice the last week of all my pregnacies. I can't say that it actually induced anything for me, but considering both blue & black is on the list as herbs for use in abortion, it makes sense it could help induce a full term pregnancy.

How long have you been drinking your raspberry leaf tea? Is it "real" raspberry leaf tea or the raspberry tea you can buy in any generic tea aisle? If it's the generic stuff, you would have to drink a TON for it to do anything for you. You should order it from a good, reputable herbalist. And while raspberry leaf tea can certainly induce things if taken too early in the pregnancy, this late it more tones the uterus, etc. than anything else. Especially drink it after your birth, with nettle, and it will help your uterus with reduction in bleeding and shrinking back to it's normal size a little quicker.

You can look into evening primose oil. It gets things ready. Sauci-one is right about that one, however, she was extremely irresponsible taking it so early. You however, should have no problems. :)

I have heard eating super spicy food can help. I have also heard castor oil mentioned. A friend of mine tried to induce her labor (she was 3 weeks over due) but this didn't work with her. She tried because it did work for another friend of hers. I have heard sex can stimulate everything (Personal experience with this one; my husband & I got too carried away and our youngest son showed up 10 hours later, totally unexpected a week early. I think things were just ready to go and our little extra activity gave it just the nudge needed.)

I have also been told that massaging right behind the outer ankle bone can induce. Whether this is true or not, I can't say. BUT, I can certainly say that it feels damn good to have it done.

As for being 4 days over, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Due dates are not an exact science. The docs can be off by days. When my oldest son was born, according to one doc he was a week early but according to the other doc, he was born right on his due date. I certainly understand the feeling of wanting that little one out of there but it seems that yours isn't quite ready.

Well, we just had super moon, so that might push ya on into labor today or tomorrow! Good Luck!

With two of my four children, I went into labor 3 hours before I was to go in and be induced. Every time I have a child, I like to clean the house spotless before I go into the hospital so I do a power clean starting about 4 in the afternoon before I am to be induced. I did not do it for baby #1 or #4 (had a house cleaner come over while I was in the hospital), bad idea, I had to be induced for both of them.

Good luck!

trigger points on bottom of your feet, go get a massage & ask for assistance..best wishes

sex- works almost every time
Also I have a massage therapist rub some pressure point on my foot when I was pregnant with my first- he came three days early

Getting moving around. Walk, jump on a trampoline, ride a bike, etc. Be active. Good Luck with your labor!