In honor of May 5th, I offer you my best tips and experience for trying to induce your full-term baby. If your baby is fully-baked and you want to help nature take its course, there are some home remedies for kicking labor into gear that folks are talking about.*
I’m not telling you which of these I tried with Holden-to-be, but I will say that we were gunning awfully hard for a 05/05/05 birthdate (so much so that my husband took 5/4 off of work so we could get to business):
- Sex - what got ‘em in will get ‘em out
- Nipple stimulation – trust me, whatever you do is nothing compared to nursing a real baby
- Spicy food – Ruen Pair’s medium spicy makes my head sweat!
- Ride on a tractor – my grandma said it worked for her
- Jumping jacks – as recommended by my own doctor
- Pizza - eating a fully loaded Prego Pizza at Skipolini’s in Walnut Creek or a big meaty Zachary’s
- Castor oil omelet – blech
- Long walks – up hills or on the beach is even better
- Chocolate - I believe my mom recommended a full pound in one sitting
- Aggressive pedicure where they hit all the acupressure hotspots
Kendra from ShoppingForTwo.com has shared what she calls her “Jump Start Your Labor Cookies” recipe.
I will also say that once labor really started and we got our precious baby home, I wondered why I was in such a hurry.
Do you swear by any unusual labor-inducing ideas? Anything that worked?!
* you KNOW we’re not doctors, call your doc about your own situation if any of these ideas thrill and concern you.
sex, spicy food (they might be wives tails). I made my husband sleep with me when I was 40+ weeks and he wasn’t too happy about it. I also took a run the day before my son was born. Seemed to work as my water broke that night.
also try mothers blend tincture (available at scarlet sage)
There are some acupressure points on your foot and ankle that are supposed to help induce labor.
Black cohosh tea worked for me when I was 10 days past my due date and nothing else (walks uphill, spicy foods, sex) worked. Two cups with two tea bags in each cup and I was in labor 3 hours later.
acupuncture really helped me – but we did a protocol from week 26 or so. My daughter came on her due date!
the long hike i took the evening before also helped – i think
Red Raspberry Leaf tea. Supposed to help “tone” your uterine muscles and bring on contractions. Might be coincidence, but as soon as I started drinking the tea in my last week, I started getting contractions and had a nice, quick labor and delivery.
Spicy food, sex, excercise…tried them all, and still we were two weeks overdue. Finally, the night before they were finally going to induce, I did the castor oil in OJ…oh so gross…but I was in labor by 1am, so it was worth it!
When I visited my midwife several weeks before my due date she asked what I was doing to ripen my cervix. She suggested sex and nipple stimulation and using evening primrose oil capsules as vaginal suppositories (which you should stop immediately if your water breaks). You can also take evening primrose oil orally, but apparently the suppository method is more effective. Also, my midwives recommended drinking red raspberry leaf tea beginning several weeks before the due date. I was willing to try anything (including spicy food, walking) because I was afraid of natural childbirth with a big baby…so I didn’t want to be overdue. Nick was born four days past his due date after a very long labor (34 hours of natural childbirth) and was 9 pounds 7 ounces. [My friend who recently had her baby at an area hospital had her OB/GYN discourage the evening primrose oil - so obviously you'd want to check with your doctor.]
My husband somehow convinced me to take castor oil-blech is right! Disgusting. I went into labor that night, but I’m still not sure if that’s what did it.
Cleaning the house and mopping the floor – that’s what work for me with both my boys. I don’t know if it was “hey this dump is finally clean, I can get out now” or just all the bending and squating, but it worked. And they were both born before their due date, so I was saved the last agonizing weeks of pregnancy. (only to get quicker to the first delirious weeks of having a newborn…)
My childbirth class instructor said that she sanded the deck before her third child was born. Her husband thought about reminding her that the chemicals were not so good for her, but instead, just enjoyed the last burst of energy toward the house.
I’m currently 39 weeks and i’ve been trying everything for the past few days. Drinking rasberry red leaf tea, taking primrose evening oil pills, sex, and walking nothing seems to be working hopefully something soon.
I tried the castor oil with my first and i would never do it again, i was on the toilet for 3 days but i did have him at the end of it..
i do not want to do it with my second i have been drinking the rasberry tea but nothing yet
Labor acupressure is what worked for me, and there are some pressure points that also help with pain relief during labor.
My friend is a midwife, and after hearing from the doc that if I didn’t go into labor within the next few days, they were going to induce me…she suggested 2 oz. of castor oil with orange juice (I was 3 days overdue)…and after about 4 hours, it kicked in and I was on the toilet for about 45 mins…but 3 hours later, my daughter was born!!! Definitely jump started me!
I’m due and still NO BABY!! I’m being induced in a week but i’m so ready for her NOW!! I wanna try castol oil but I’m scared!! Do you recommend it or not??
[...] learned, for example, why trying every trick in the book to self-induce labor is a stupid idea. In brief, if your cervix ain’t ready, painful contractions are not very [...]
How do you make that omelette? I’ve tried just about everything and am trying to avoid induction. Will look at your cookie recipe too….
YOU ARE ALL SELFISH! YOUR BABY WILL COME OUT WHEN HE/SHE IS READY!
After being sent home from the hospital because, although I was contracting, I wasn’t even the tiniest bit dilated, I spent the next day gardening vigorously (angrily! because I wanted my baby! now!) and the next night we were officially on our way. (The only thing standing between us and our baby was a 26-hour labor!)
I was in a lot of lower back pain with my second baby and had a toddler who still wanted to play and be held. We were ready and she was a big, full-term baby!
We did the following on the day I went into labor:
Red Raspberry Leaf Tea
Fresh pineapple
Long walk
Castor Oil (and no resulting accidents, thankfully! yes, TMI)
Sitting on my yoga/balance ball
I doubt it had anything to do with these very natural things I did that day, but she came really quick. I actually didn’t realize that I was in labor but she came within two hours of us leaving the house for the hospital. We were so unsure that I was in labor that we left our bags & camera in the car…no pics! I think the quick delivery had more to do with her being my second baby.
acupuncture works! just make sure you see an acupuncturist who specializes in pregnancy…. good luck!
I went to the 2 week mark with baby number 2. My midwives were pretty flexible but they definitely started to worry that this baby was not going to come out on his own. I tried it ALL – sex, evening primrose and other various homeopathic tinctures, spice, acupuncture, nipple stimulation, walks on vertical hills, chocolate ice cream, even that damn famous eggplant parm recipe which took all day to make (good thing I made it – I had some hungry in-laws that came to visit after the baby was born!). The only thing that worked – my midwife coming to my house (we were having a home birth) and breaking my bag of waters. Baby was so low and engaged – no water even came out! 2 hours later – a very stubborn post term baby entered the world.
Scalini’s Eggplant Parm! It is delicious too!
http://www.scalinis.com/Bambino.htm
There’s a restaurant here that swears their eggplant parm will do it. The recipe is on their site as well.
http://www.scalinis.com/eggplant_parmigiana_babies.htm
When I was pregnant I was so miserable and impatient. I was scared to try all of the tricks mentioned in your blog but I did do some bending and reaching (cleaning up) and my contractions started the same day. Though they were mild, a day later the real contractions came and I had him a day before my due date.
Curb walking! I was overdue and sooo swollen & i heard about walking for an hour or so with one foot on the curb the other on the street, switching sides every ten minutes. Really silly, but 2 hours later my water broke. I told a friend who was overdue about “curb walking” & she laughed and said she would try it & she had the baby that night. so who knows
We tried it all too! We weren’t trying because he was late but rather because I had had two days of very tiring “early, disorganized labor” and was trying to have a natural birth. After two days of sleeping, walking, eating spicy food, bouncing on a yoga ball, scrubbing floors (which DID get him to turn out of posterior!) and nothing… we tried the evening primrose oil vag. suppository, sex, and nipple stimulation. Ten hours later we had our little boy! But my midwife told me, those things will only work if your body is actually ready to have the baby. If you aren’t, it won’t work at all.
I do have to agree though- after having him, I wondered why I was in such a hurry!
Hey Jessica, it’s not selfish if you’re trying to avoid induction or a c-section! I was induced with my first and it SUCKED – I wanted to avoid that with my second, so started drinking raspberry leaf tea like crazy the day after my “due date”. 5 hours after my second cup, the contractions started. 5 hours after that, we had a baby boy. I recommend it to all the pregnant ladies I know.
My theory was that babies come at inconvenient times. So I tried to create those times. I’d go for long drives, with little gas, leaving my cell phone at home. I always let my cell phone batteries die. I was convinced I’d go into labor in the church at a March 3rd wedding I went to (L was born on March 7). But, alas, none of it worked.
We tried sex, acupuncture, raspberry leaf tea and evening primrose oil, including oral capsules and rubbing some on my husband’s penis before sex. I’m convinced that it was the acupuncture that did the trick but who knows? I was already 9 days late. 16 hours after I got acupuncture, I started having contractions(and I hadn’t had ANY by then) and 16 hours later, our daughter FINALLY arrived(on 8/8/08).
I went to an acupuncturist specializing in reproductive health. She offered to meet me at the hospital in case I had to be induced and said that acupunture could help inductions go more smoothly and less painfully. I didn’t know that was an option so I set it up and thankfully, had to cancel.
I made these yesterday, i could only eat two because they are so disgusting! I was getting sick while trying to eat the third…So still preggo, guess i will just stick to walking. Good luck everyone.
Castor oil makes you violently ill – throwing up, diahrrea, etc. It’s that which can sometimes induce labor. I’m not sure why anyone would want to put themselves through such misery to begin a painful labor, especially since sometimes you don’t stop being sick for the whole labor!
[...] a day spent wolfing down jump-start-your-labor ginger cookies and an evening enjoying the Oscars at Whitney’s house, I went to bed feeling a little [...]
Gotta say, the Prego Pizza from Skipolini’s is a BAD IDEA. Don’t want to be too nasty here, but that pizza will give you and everyone who eats it really nasty gas. And let’s just say that if you happen to go into labor within a couple days of eating it… and perhaps you happen to be one of those unlucky ladies who passes a little poo while you’re pushing… well, you see where I’m going. STINKY! Just trust me, I’m speaking from experience here… do not eat the pizza if you’re close to giving birth! Although I have to admit that it sure is a tasty pizza!
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[...] for my pregnancy because it sounded cool. My husband, Alec, stayed home from work on the 4th and we tried all the stuff: sex, meaty “prego pizza”, and a stationary scooter “ride” to simulate a [...]