Life
There comes a point in every pregnancy when, no matter how much you liked being pregnant, you suddenly cannot possibly handle being pregnant for one more second of your life. This point is usually heralded by such developments as no longer being able to see your toes, or fit behind the steering wheel, or find a comfortable sleeping position. Assuming your baby is developmentally ready, you'll probably start looking for ways to trick your body into thinking your due date is now. So what are some unconventional ways to induce labor that don't involve actual medical intervention?
If you're actually past your due date or showing signs of preeclampsia or other complications, your doctor might induce labor using pitocin. But that's a different story. These are the methods you turn to when you're not in any kind of physical danger, but you're just so done trying to function with a bowling ball sitting on your bladder at all times. From natural remedies that women have relied on since the days before pitocin even existed to a certain kind of food that countless moms swear by, there's no absolute guarantee that any of these tips and tricks will work... but, then again, there's no guarantee that a lot of the stuff they'll do at the hospital will work, either, so anything is worth a shot! Just make sure you clear anything with your OB/GYN first to make sure your baby is ready.
4
Sex
Everybody from your OB to the lady behind you in line at the grocery store has probably suggested sex as a way of bringing on labor, but there's actually not a ton of evidence to back up this claim. Still, it's entirely plausible. As Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University’s School of Medicine, told Redbook, ejaculate contains prostaglandin (a fatty acid used to induce labor medically).
"Seminal fluid is rich in that, and ejaculate with prostaglandin may hit your cervix," she explained. This advice should not be followed, she added, for women with ruptured membranes.
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Exercise
As with sex, even though exercise is one of the first things people (even your doctor) will tell you to do if you're impatient to deliver, there's not a lot of proof it really works. That said, lots of moms swear that a day of increased physical activity got their labors going, which is no doubt why even obstetricians often recommend it. (I'm positive that an hours-long walk around the city is what brought on labor with my first baby.) And it makes sense, if you think about it.
"There is some thought that upright exercise, such as brisk walking or jogging, may encourage descent of the baby due to the effects of gravity," Lynn Simpson, M.D., told SELF.
Plus, exercise is good for you anyway.