25 Natural Labor Induction Methods and The ONE That Actually Worked
October 9th. My due date. Little did I know I had two weeks to go before birth!
Staying active. 6 days overdue.
Hike and then fire tower stair walk up the fire tower at 41 weeks.
So over it. 12 days overdue. Emory does at home moxibustion the acupuncturist sent home with me.
This summer I had two close friends deliver at 37 weeks. This set me up for being ready to give birth starting around 36 weeks. Everyone I know who has had a baby this year delivered “early” or “on time.” At 40 weeks, I was READY. Then 41 weeks came, then 42 weeks… The last two weeks every moment was filled with anticipation and the below activities from morning until night. None of them worked, until the last resort method that my midwife had me try the night before I would have had to be admitted to a hospital and medically induced.
This is a pretty comprehensive list of methods that can help get labor going, or generally help your body prepare for birth. Just because they didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean they didn’t help the overall outcome, and doesn’t mean they won’t work for someone else. Birth is still such a mystery! There are tools that can help, but at the end of the day your body and your baby have their own plan and you are just along for the ride.
Drinking red raspberry leaf tea (proven to tone the uterus for pregnancy, birth and postpartum)
Eating dates (3-6 a day proven to help ripen the cervix for birth and lead to quicker labor)
Walking (to the point of losing my balance and bloodying my knees but this was so pushed by my midwife I listened when sometimes I should have just rested)
Hiking (and then walking the stairs to the top of a fire tower at 41 weeks!)
Evening Primrose capsules (swallowed and inserted vaginally)
Epsom salt baths with clary sage and rosemary oils (allegedly these essential oils can help stimulate contractions)
6 acupuncture sessions (out of pocket, $$$, though the last one was gifted out of kindness). My midwife recommended doing 3 in a row for maximum efficacy, so I did 3 at 41 weeks and another 3 at 42.
Moxibustion
2 massages which incorporated Mayan Abdominal Massage (recommended by midwife to relax my body and help things along).
Rebozo every day and night for those two weeks and some time before. My partner enjoyed this at first as it was funny to see me tossled about. Then it got old. I would lie on the floor with a blanket under my pelvis, he would hold the two ends and shake them from side to side to try and jiggle the baby lower into my pelvis.
Talking to baby
Homeopathy (blue and black cohosh, among others in a blend my midwife gave me)
Sex (not fun after about 32 weeks pregnant tbh, but weirdly pushed by my midwife)
Reflexology (I still am not sure where this couple is from, I can usually place an accent, but I grew to love them)
Swiveling and bouncing on a yoga ball
Enema
Reiki (my partner is not trained but somehow can make pain go away with his energy and touch)
Spicy food (not sure how this is such a popular one because—heartburn)
Stair walking (ugh)
Nipple stimulation to help uterus contract (you can do this yourself, have your partner do it, or use a breast pump, I did all three)
Yoni steaming
And finally, the thing that worked: CASTOR OIL! Read more about it here in my birth story.
