The Pizza Order That'll Get Contractions Going

Pregnancy is supposed to last 40 weeks, but when you're uncomfortable and impatient to meet your baby it can feel like 40 years. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was convinced I'd go weeks past my due date. I was wrong, of course, and my baby came three weeks early. I'll never know if it was always going to turn out that way, or whether the spicy meal I ate the night before had anything to do with it. If you're hoping to meet your baby sooner than later, you might want to consider a pizza order to induce labor. Grab a slice (or four or five, no judgment here), and see if the cheesy, saucy concoction does it's job. (Even if it doesn't, are you really going to complain about eating pizza?)

It's quite simple. All you have to do is pile on all the spicy toppings you can think of. Red pepper flakes, jalenpeños, spicy sausage — the works. There's no concrete evidence that spicy foods help induce labor, but according to What To Expect lots of moms feel it worked for them. And there's a reason it might have an effect. According to Fit Pregnancy, eating a ton of spicy food will probably make you have to poop. That makes the muscles in your gut contract, potentially including your uterus. Uterine contractions are obviously a very necessary part of labor. What To Expect also noted that this same idea leads some women to drink castor oil to induce labor. But Baby Center warned moms that not only does castor oil taste terrible, but it can also make you throw up and get diarrhea. I'd personally much rather stick with a spicy pizza than mess around with anything more intense. At least if it doesn't work, you still get a great meal out of it.

Before you try any method of inducing labor, it's important to talk with your doctor first. Belly Belly advised moms to be patient and wait until their due date before trying to induce labor at home, while Fit Pregnancy says not to think about it before 39 weeks pregnant.

Piling on the spicy toppings when you order a pizza may or may not speed things up for you, but it won't hurt to try (unless maybe you're prone to heartburn according to Fit Pregnancy).