Disclaimer: Always check with your health care professional to make sure the following tips are safe for you and your baby.
As a mother of almost seven and a bit on the crunchy side, I always prefer to try natural things before turning towards traditional healthcare. If you’ve been pregnant before, you know the last month feels like it lasts 1,293,874 days and if you’re anything like me, you are trying to find some ways to get labor started!
Here are some things I’ve tried and some I haven’t:
- Drink red raspberry leaf tea (or take the pill form). It’s recommended to start doing this at 36 weeks and gradually increase the amount. The liquid form can be found at most grocery stores in the tea and coffee aisle. It is apparently good for regular menstrual cycles as well. It does not contain caffeine.
- Walking. Lots and lots of walking. Go at a comfortable pace. Try to do 30 minutes at least four times a week.
- Try the Miles Circuit. There are a few different exercises to this but one is walking with one foot on a curb and one foot not. A quick search will show exactly how to do this and the other exercises.
- Nipple stimulation. Do this for 15-20 minutes, three times per day. It releases oxytocin, which is the hormone responsible for starting labor.
- A bit more invasive but not a medicine-induced way to jumpstart labor is to have your healthcare professional do a membrane sweep. It usually works within 24-48 hours. Pumping can also help.
- Adding more fresh garlic to your meals.
- Have sex with your partner or by yourself. Sperm contains prostaglandin, which can help to soften the cervix. Oxytocin is released during self-stimulation.
- Acupuncture/accupressure.
- Eat dates or pineapple (especially the core).
- Get plenty of rest. It has been shown that melatonin and oxytocin work together to get labor started, which is why most women go into labor in the middle of the night.
I hope these tips help someone who, like me, is ready to have this baby! It’s been a hot summer already and I’m older now, so my body feels the pregnancy aches and pains more than it did when I had my first son 15 years ago. Let us know in the comments what you’ve tried that has worked (or didn’t)!
