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You’ve waited nine long months to meet your new little one. You’ve gone down that pregnancy road and now that you’re ready for the show’s grand finale your body won’t cooperate. Some women need a little nudge in the right direction to get things stirred up and moving. This is known as labor augmentation or induction. Though it’s not a guarantee in all cases, a large percentage of the time, labor inductions will work, bringing with them the desired results.
What has to take place before a baby can be born? The cervix must dilate completely to 10 centimeters and efface (thin out) to 100%. The uterus must contract to open the cervix and to push the baby out. Inducing labor helps the cervix to dilate, efface and the uterus to contract.
With the medical advances of today labor inductions both medically and naturally work equally just as well. For a woman who is approaching childbirth naturally, she can pursue the natural remedies of labor induction. (Even if you plan on having a hospital birth you may want to consider the natural means of inductions before trying the medical ones).
Should labor be induced medically, these are the types of “medical” inductions: breaking of the bag of water, IV drip of Pitocin (to contract the uterus), prostaglandin gel (effaces and dilates the cervix) and stripping of the membranes - in hopes of bringing on true labor.
Natural Labor Inductions
1. Enemas- this causes the bowels to contract and could cause the uterus to contract, which will open and efface the cervix.
2. Exercise- Walking, swinging in a swing and general exercise contracts the uterus.
3. Fasting and Dehydration- If pre-term labor occurs, a big percentage of the time, dehydration is the cause. This is a dangerous mode of induction and should be used with the utmost in caution.
4. Herbs- Black and Blue cohosh, borage oil, castor oil, evening primrose oil, goldenseal, mugwort, and yarrow are uterine stimulants. Evening primrose oil placed directly on the cervix will aid in dilation and effacement.
5. Intercourse- Having sex helps to induce labor because semen contains prostaglandins which helps to dilate and efface the cervix. Orgasm also causes the uterus to contract.
6. Nipple Stimulation- This causes the uterus to contract much the same way an IV Pitocin drip would. Stimulating the nipples causes the release of oxytocin which contracts the uterus. This can be done by someone sucking on the nipple much the way a baby would while nursing or by placing the nipple between the thumb and forefinger and “rolling” it for 10 to 20 minutes at a time every couple of hours.
Neither medical nor natural labor inductions guarantees that it will work 100% of the time. Usually if a woman is ready to go into labor it will only help to bring it forth. A word of caution: do not try any of these means without first seeking the advice and help of your doctor or midwife. They can tell you all the side-effects and the dosage and duration (where needed) of each method while also telling you if you are a good candidate for natural labor induction.
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