Ways To Induce Labor

What is the best way to induce labor naturally?

There are a number of ways to help get labour started, or once labour is started to keep it established.

While I'm not medically trained, and what I say here is not meant to be construed as medical advice (always refer to a trained practitioner) I can speak about my personal experience inducing a baby that was 3 weeks post-date.

My baby had been fully engaged (head completely in the pelvis in the 'ready' position for labour) from about 28 weeks, however rather than tucking her chin in (as babies nearly always do) she flexed her head back as if she were looking toward the place she'd be going.

That is called “brow presentation” and our daughter was a 'complete brow presentation' (which persised through the entire delivery – she was born forehead and eyebrows first!).

What this meant was that the dullest flattest part of her head was sitting on my cervix, not the 'sharper' more 'pointy' crown of her head.

The baby's crown putting pressure on your cervix is one of the many factors involved in encouraging/establishing labour.

I went into early labour a number of times, however it nevery fully established itself until – under my midwives' supervision/instruction, I did the following.

* Sit on a yoga/pilates/exercise ball with your legs spread to 'open' your hip cavity and encourage your baby to sit as deeply as it can.

* Nipple stimulation. In the shower is easy, however I did it sitting on the yoga ball. Using olive oil as a lubricant, 'tweak' and massage your nipples as hard as you can stand it. This encourages your body to produce oxytocin which encourages contractions.

* Shiatsu massage: there are pressure points on a woman that encourage energy flow to the womb, thereby encouraging labour. Please see a practitioner for this information.

* Orgasm though sex (which is fun) or manual stimulation. Orgasm also releases oxytocin in large amounts.

* Castor Oil Cocktail!

This is the famed castor oil cocktail which my midwives have used for years and which has never failed to induce a labour in which the baby was ready to be born (as in my situation). The recipe is as follows: 30ml Castor Oil and 30ml Vodka and 30ml Orange Juice.

It works this way – The Castor oil (which is quite thick, tastes foul) is masked by the orange juice. It is metabolised by your body and becomes prostaglandin, which causes your cervix to dilate and efface. Another side effect of an oversupply of prostaglandin in your body is the loosening of your bowels which is where the vodka comes in. The alcohol actually helps to calm the 'contractions' in your bowels preventing painful spasms (ironic really, when you're trying to induce the painful spasms of labour *laughs*).

This is how you take the cocktail: Mix the ingredients as listed above and chug it down. One hour later, repeat the process. One hour later, repeat the process again. In total, you should have consumed 3 cocktails in exactly two hours. In this way you have a 'timed' release of the prostaglandin in your body which increases slowly as you consume the cocktails.

NOTE: please don't put more orange juice or vodka with the cocktail than is stated. You might think using more orange juice will 'dilute' the cocktail and make it more palatable. This isn't the case, as one of my girlfriends attested. The cocktail in the proportions given is easy enough to chug in one mouthful, and if you pinch your nose while you drink it, you can't taste it (tho you have a foul aftertaste in your mouth).

Alcohol crosses the placenta into the baby, so only take the recommended dosage and no more.

Hopefully you've found this information to be helpful. I know I did. Don't hesitate to contact me if you want some more personal advice.

Acupressure And Childbirth Pain

Acupressure can be extremely helpful during childbirth and has been effectively used by millions of people for thousands of years. This holistic and non-invasive technique is practiced all around the world.

Acupressure is a Traditional Chinese Medicine technique that is based upon the same principles as acupuncture. The only difference is that it uses fingers and thumbs to stimulate specific points instead of needles. This specific points or acupoints are located along the lines called meridians that run along the body.

Traditional Chinese medicine theory divides the body into 14 meridians. It is believed that acupressure points or acupoints are areas of higher concentration of energy and most of them are located along the meridians. Acupressure technique involves the use of fingers or hands to apply gentle, but firm pressure to acupoints, which stimulates the body’s natural self-curative abilities.

Acupressure is known to be beneficial for a great number of health related issues and can also be extremely helpful before and during childbirth, especially as a natural way to bring on labor and alleviate childbirth pain. Stimulation of specific acupoints has been scientifically shown to be very effective related to labor pain and the total length of delivery time. Acupressure has been known to increase the release of endorphins which are extremely effective in relieving pain.

Using this technique is actually nothing more than prompting the body to work more efficiently. There are certain points that can be pressed on to help release the endorphins, relieve labor pains, dilate the cervix, increase the efficiency of the contractions, improve the body’s performance and promote positive feelings.

Unlike medical labor induction and pain relief that involve certain risks for both the mother and the baby, acupressure is completely safe because no pharmaceuticals are being introduced into the body.

The benefits of using acupressure before and during childbirth are many: effective childbirth pain relief, induce labor naturally, encourage regular contractions, dilate better, ease the delivery of baby and placenta, keep the mother calm and relaxed, turn a posterior baby, stop nausea and vomiting, and maximize the probability of having problem
1000
-free and natural birth.

On top of all that, this technique is also very easy to master and can be used with no prior knowledge of anatomy or traditional Chinese medicine. Mothers who have used it have been incredibly satisfied with the results.

By: Robert Hill

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To get more information on how to use acupressure and to learn how to improve your birthing experience, visit: Acupressure And Childbirth Pain

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