There are safe, alternative ways to induce labor.
Safe methods exist to help induce labor, and you can implement these tactics at home, ranging from massage to nipple stimulation. When membrane stripping or Pitocin do not appeal to you, try these natural methods when you are past your gestational due date to help bring on labor.
Alternatives to Medicine to Induce Labor
Acupuncture or acupressure, as well as sex, are considered safe ways to induce labor. In a February/March 2004 article of Fit Pregnancy, Peter J. Degnan, an integrative-medicine physician and medical acupuncturist, said practitioners often use acupressure on post-term women. Specifically, acupuncturists put pressure on the "web between the thumb and the index finger of both hands to stimulate uterine contractions."
Additionally, ask your doctor if it is safe for you to have sex to induce labor. Degnan said specific chemicals in semen help start labor, and orgasms might help soften the cervix, thus starting labor.
A 2000 study by St. Michael's Hospital in Bristol, England, found that women past their 40-week gestational due date who receive shiatsu massage were more likely to go into spontaneous labor than women who did not receive the massage. In particular, the researchers focused on three shiatsu pressure points---the gall bladder, the large intestine and the spleen---by putting thumb pressure on these points until the women felt a reaction. Women then practiced these techniques at home.
Another method to try is nipple stimulation. According to a February 2005 article in Baby Talk, "massaging or twisting" nipples two times a day can help stimulate oxytocin, the hormone that starts labor.
What Doctors Say Is Safe and Not Safe
Doctors in an August 2008 article of the Journal of Family Practice cite breast stimulation and acupuncture as safe, natural ways to help induce labor.
Paul Crawford, a doctor at Nellis Family Residency in Las Vegas, New Mexico, advises against using the common remedy of castor oil to induce labor. Castor oil, although effective in inducing labor, causes extreme nausea and diarrhea, he said.
Herbal preparations to induce labor also raise concerns or prove ineffective. A study cited in the August 2008 Journal of Family Practice found that taking red raspberry leaf tablets had no significant effect on inducing labor, although it is not unsafe. Women who took evening primrose oil found no changes in the onset of labor, although the women taking the primrose had a longer active labor, longer rupture of membranes and other adverse effects.
According to the same article, a study that examined sex as a natural induction method found no significant difference in the onset of labor. Another study found that the use of black cohosh to induce labor resulted in a baby with a low Apgar score and is cited to be generally unsafe.
Tags: induce labor, found that, August 2008, Family Practice, gestational date