Inducing Labor at Home

Congratulations! Now, you are past the tough time of your pregnancy and you are ready to welcome the newest member of your family. While the majority of the women go into labor between the 37th and the 42nd week of their pregnancy, there are some who may want to naturally induce labor. This is done for different reasons, like when pressures, such as a growing belly, compromised health conditions and grossly overdue date come into play. In such a case a woman and her medical care practitioner, may opt for inducing labor at home. There are many invasive medical ways to induce labor which have many maternal and fetal risks, associated to them. As opposed to this, naturally inducing labor at home, helps start labor by helping you to tone and soften your uterus. Here are some of the common methods of inducing labor at home.

Natural Ways of Inducing Labor at Home

Get Moving: Walking around or climbing a flight of stairs, is known to help position the baby properly for childbirth. As the pressure of the baby’s head presses down on the cervix, it is thought to bring on labor by helping you toward cervical effacement and dilation.

Having Sex : Although, sex at that point of pregnancy might not really appeal to you, but it is still one of the most popular methods of inducing labor. The semen contains prostaglandins which are a type of hormones, that open the cervix. Having sex can also aid in releasing a hormone called oxytocin that causes the uterus to contract.

Nipple Stimulation: One of the best methods of inducing labor at home is by stimulating the nipples. It induces labor by releasing oxytocin in the same way as sex does.

Herbs: Natural herbs can be the answer when you are trying to induce labor at home. Since time immemorial, midwives have been using black and blue cohosh to regulate the contractions, in order to make them more effective or to strengthen uterine contractions. Another widely used choice is red raspberry leaf tea. However, make sure that you consult a doctor before using these herbs, as they are known to have certain side effects.

Exercising: Physical exercises such as dancing, bouncing on a birthing ball and swinging may start your labor. This is because the movement gets blood flowing, promotes the proper hormones, engages gravity and may help the baby rotate in the pelvis.

Diet: Eating spicy foods can stimulate the bowels which may cause labor to begin. However watch out for the resultant heartburn, nausea and diarrhea. In addition to this, certain fruits like pineapple, mango and kiwi contain an enzyme that may start labor.

Maternity Acupressure: Acupressure is considered to be one of the safest and most reliable method of inducing labor at home. It involves applying pressure on specific, sensitive points, along the human body, using fingers and thumbs. It helps the cervix to dilate and finally encourages the labor to start naturally.

Relaxation: Relaxation is a great method for inducing labor, as it helps your body relax and focuses your mind on getting labor started. Meditation and pregnancy yoga can be of great help for relaxing and de-stressing.

It is important to remember, that before using any of these techniques for inducing labor at home, talk to your health care provider about the precautions and the things to avoid. A vital point to keep in mind is, that you should ideally be past 37 weeks before you try to induce your labor naturally or else you run the risk of giving birth to a premature baby, who may have to spend extra time in the hospital with health problems.