How To Induce Labor
More and more women are choosing to induce labor for a variety of reasons. Inducing labor may be required if your delivery is late or if their is some complexity in the pregnancy. If you are running past your due date the placenta may become reduced and is no longer able to properly nourish your baby. Also if your waters breaks and you don't go into labor on your own there is an increased risk of an infection.
Labor induction may also be required if you have a medical problem e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, or bleeding, which may compromise either your baby's or your own health. Induced labor may also be recommended if your placenta is blocking the opening to the uterus or become detached from the wall of the uterus. In the case of a prolapse where the umbilical cord works it's way into the vagina, again induction of labor may be required.
Labor induction may also be considered necessary if the baby is positioned sideways in the uterus. Occasionally the decision to induce labor is made on non-medical grounds such as living a long way from any medical help but this must be considered very carefully in order to asses the risks involved. During natural labor the lower end of the uterus softens, this process is referred to as ripening.
Early labor signs includes thinning out and dilation of the cervix. Later on the cervix must become fully dilated in order to allow the passage of the baby's head. The doctor or midwife will examine your cervix and establish the baby's location in order to asses if you are sufficiently progressed for the induced labor to work.
Ways to induce labor include the doctor inserting a gloved finger into the vagina and moving it in order to separate the membranes connecting the amniotic sac to the uterus wall. This process is referred to as "stripping the membranes" and allows the body to release hormones called prostaglandins. These ripen the cervix and start the contractions. There are also synthetic prostaglandins which can be administered either orally, as a gel, or capsule inserted into the vagina.
A physical way to ripen the cervix is by the insertion of a catheter which has a balloon mounted at the end. After the catheter has been located in the uterus the balloon is filled with water and the cervix is caused to expand. In the case where the cervix is already dilated to some extent then the doctor may break your waters by using a small instrument to break the amniotic sac once this has been done contractions should follow.
There is a drug called Pitocin which is a synthetic form of the hormone oxytocin and is sometimes used to to induce labor. The drug is induced intravenously in small doses initially and increased until the contractions are frequent enough for a successful delivery. These ways of inducing labor will typically be carried out in a hospital where mother and baby can be monitored. Typically after induction of labor delivery can expect to take place within a couple of hours but sometimes this can be one or two fays later.
The methods used to induce labor do not usually cause pain but they will lead to your contractions becoming stronger and more frequently than would be the case with inducing labor naturally. Inducing labor particularly using prostaglandins and Pitocin may pose some risks for women that have had a cesarean section in the past as there is a slight risk that the placenta will separate from the wall of the uterus if the contractions become too severe.
The risk involved with the method involving breaking the amniotic sac may result in infection if you don't deliver within one or two days inducing labor.
How about natural labor induction? Inducing labor at home is very popular and there are many anecdotal reports of methods of naturally inducing labor.
Women have tried everything from eating the eggplant "parmegiana" to taking evening primrose oil in pregnancy as ways to induce labor at home. One of the supposed methods to induce labor naturally is engaging in sexual intercourse. The thinking here is that prostaglandins contained in the sperm and the orgasm experience are able to induce contractions. The empirical research on this is sketchy, however, and there is no hard evidence that sex has any real effect.
Another way to induce labor involves nipple stimulation. When stimulated the nipples release oxytocin which triggers contractions, but too much stimulation also can produce very strong contractions that can actually be harmful to the baby. Cohosh labor is a herbal method involving herbs including blue and black cohosh. There have been much anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness of these treatments but again the empirical evidence isn't strong enough to support these claims.
Other remedies to induce labor include taking castor oil. Again the medical evidence doesn't support Research shows castor oil probably won't do anything self induce labor but may irritate your intestine and make you feel unwell. It has been suggested that other natural ways to induce labor include walking and although it is sensible to do some exercise during your pregnancy there is no clinical research to suggest that it will induce labor.
One method which has been shown to be very effective is the use of acupressure to induce labor. Acupressure is a centuries old technique which has been studied and its efficacy confirmed by modern western medicine. The technique which involves pressing certain areas on your skin typically start labor in a safe and natural way within 48 hours. Acupressure triggers your labor by stimulating contractions, helping your cervix to dilate and getting your baby to descend.
Empirical evidence has shown that acupressure for labor is the most efficient ways to naturally induce labor safely. Acupressure helps you avoid medical labor induction and brings on your labor naturally. Acupressure points for inducing labor help the cervix dilate and stimulate labor contractions.
Maternity Acupressure relieves other problems that may delay labor and provides effective labor pain relief, without the risk of stopping your contractions. It has been shown that labor acupressure lessens the delivery time by up to two hours by women who have used it. You can read more about the "Maternity Acupressure" technique here.