How to bring on labour is a huge topic amongst many pregnant woman nearing the end of their 9 month pregnancy marathon. We have been through it all, sickness, cravings, mood swings, weight gain, stretch marks, uncomfort…. etc etc And now we just want it to be over! We want to hold our little baby in our arms safe and protected from the world by mummy. It is understandable why we are eager to bring on the inevitable labour when we are near the end, we worry about the baby growing too big, the longer it is inside, whether the Placenta can sustain the baby if it goes over 40 weeks and all other kind of worries – Just to reassure you, I went 9 days over with Thomas, he was perfectly fine, the placenta can sustain for at least 2 weeks over so there is no worry there, They usually induce you if you are more then 10 days past your due date anyway.

A couple of weeks before my due date, I started reading about the different methods on how to bring on labour. All the methods were not scientifically proven, yet they had worked for some women! Also I think when your near the end of your pregnancy your willing to try anything, if only to keep your mind occupied and keep you busy while you wait…and wait.

1. A Hot Bath
I took full advantage of this old wives tale to bring on labour! Apparently a hot bath will relax your muscles and help them to open up bringing on the labour process. I had a hot bath every night, with candles and relaxing music! I loved it, time on my own gave me chance to relax and think about things, I am so glad I took full advantage of my baths when I was pregnant as since having Thomas I am lucky if I get a bath, it’s usually a quick shower while he is asleep.

2. Raspberry Leaf Tea
I read that the natural ingredients within raspberry leaf tea will soften your cervix, although for this to occur you need to take raspberry leaf tea for a number of weeks. On the other hand It is important not to start drinking Raspberry leaf tea too early as it could bring on a miscarriage due to the softening of the cervix (It does say this on the Raspberry Leaf Tea packet). I took raspberry leaf tea from around 35 weeks although it had no effect. If you are not keen on the tea there are also the Raspberry Leaf  Tea capsules – Some people say the tea is better others disagree and say the capsules are best.

3. Sex
I did not enjoy this method of bringing on labour,  was huge! Felt really unattractive with my stretch marks and all my weight gain. Nevertheless I gave it a whirl, apparently semen has something in it that weakens the sack around the baby which will encourage your waters to break. Having sex late in your pregnancy can’t harm your baby as nothing goes near the baby. I also remember reading that a female orgasm can also help to bring on labour. This wives tale is meant to be the most true of them all as there is some scientific proof.

4. A Hot Curry
A hot curry is meant to bring on labour as they often make you need to go to the toilet, any form of diarrhoea or bowel movements will loosen you up down there, encouraging labour. Some people have a spoonful of Castor Oil to create the same effect, although I think castor oil can make you go to the toilet in the extreme, therefore it is highly Not recommended to try as it may cause some complications.

5. Squats
Any form of gentle exercise is said to help bring on labour as you are naturally aiding the baby to get into position, pushing it down into the birthing canal. I borrowed a large yoga ball and used this to sit on and bounce gently several times a day. I also did squats and plenty of walking, I am a strong believer that exercise during pregnancy is great for both mum and baby! When a mum to be is out of breath slightly through exercise she passes lots of positive hormones onto the baby which will make the baby feel good and give it a burst of energy. Squats help to get the baby into position and increases mums stamina ready for birth.

I tried all the methods named above in attempt to bring on labour, although they were all done in vain as my cheeky chappy decided not to turn around! He was quite happy to stay head up, it wasn’t until I was 8 days overdue the doctor realised I had a breached baby! You can read about my birth experiences here. In hindsight I should have sat back, relax and make the most of my final weeks of pregnancy as I have not had a chance to since Thomas was born! Plus no matter how many methods I tried to bring on labour nothing would have worked because I had a breached baby. I do agree though that it is important to keep your mind occupied at this important time, therefore trying a few of the methods cant hurt I suppose.

(This blog is a continuation from part 3)

That night I did not get a lot of sleep, I spent most of my time sat in the day room, speaking to Nathan on the phone, watching TV and talking to the other girls who also couldn’t sleep. The Christmas tree in the day room was really festive, all tinsel and bright lights. The general feeling from everyone I spoke to was to be home for Christmas, I shared the same concerns. I spoke to a girl who had just given birth to twins by section, she told me what to expect and explained how the anesthetist had a hard time putting her epidural in her spine…Not the best choice of conversation I know. I remember looking up at the clock, it was 2am! I thought I had best try to get some sleep, I need to be alert if I have the baby today. At that moment I stood up from the chair in the day room, and the flood gates opened! It was like someone had turned on a tap, water was leaking out of me at speed. I was embarrassed at first, I thought I needed to go to the toilet, the baby must have been pushing on my bladder – I quickly walked to the toilet to clean myself up. It wasn’t until I was in the toilet that I thought, this could be my waters! I went to the nurses station and explained what had just happened, the water seemed to keep coming. She tested my clothes and confirmed that my waters had broken. The midwife put me on the monitor to keep an eye on the babies heart beat. My concern was that there was some meconium (Baby poo) that came out with my waters, which is dangerous with a normal head engaged pregnancy as there is possible infection of the baby breathing this in. Although I was told because the babies head was no where near where the meconium was that everything was ok. I didn’t get a wink of sleep, I kept expecting to go into labour, I tried to lie very still on the bed so I wouldn’t trigger labour, I didn’t want to give birth naturally feet first! I was away from Nathan, he wasn’t allowed on the ward over night, it was horrible I felt alone and scared.

Later that morning I was told that I would be going down to theater for the first section of the day, I think my waters breaking escalated my situation. I was so relieved, my baby was going to born! Nathan came straight up to the hospital he was there when the anesthetist discussed the C-Section (Cesarean) procedure with me. I think everything went a little too quickly for him, I didn’t get  chance to talk about what had happened the night before when I was rushed into surgery. I was glad though I just wanted our baby out safe and sound, Nathan was allowed in the theater with me as I had an epidural, I was conscious when Thomas was born a healthy 10 Pound 1 Ounce baby boy – The best moment in our lives!

I remember our baby being passed to Nathan who was sat at my head side, a bundle of joy with a head of black hair, he was perfect. I was not able to hold Thomas at first because I was hooked up to all types of equipment, the blood pressure band was being inflated every few minutes on my arm I didn’t feel confident that I would be able to hold him securely. The nurse took loads of pictures for us, the cutting of his cord, him being cleaned up, almost every picture has a screaming face, its funny I don’t remember hearing him cry when they were sorting him out, it must have been all the excitement. I was a little upset that I couldn’t hold him in my arms at that first moment, and that Nathan didn’t get the chance to watch our baby being born or cut the cord. But I was just so happy that he had been born safely! In the theater we were told that Thomas may have a hydroceal which is fluid inside the testicles as they were inflamed – This often occurs in breached babies because of their position. I also remember his legs looking like a frog, they were up at his side, again this was likely to be because of the position he was in. I was told he would need to have a hip scan to make sure he was ok. All this worried me as I didn’t want anything to be wrong, but I was reassured he was healthy and these small “Issues” would easily be resolved.

All three of us were taken to the recovery room where I held Thomas for the first time, although I still couldn’t feel my legs at that point I didn’t care as I had my world in my arms for the first time. It was in the recovery room that we agreed on the name for our baby, we had always loved the name Thomas, it was the only boys name we had really, we had lots of girls names but only one boys – Thomas.