Would you try it? Even if you knew it probably wouldn’t work?
By REBECCA SPARROW
Tired, cranky, uncomfortable pregnant women who are past their due date will pretty much do anything to bring on labour.
I should know. I was one of them.
At 41.5 weeks pregnant in October 2008, my daughter Ava wasn’t about to budge. No twinges. No Braxton Hicks. Nada. She was like one of those bull-headed squatters Tracy Grimshaw likes to take a torch to on A Current Affair.
And so like the slightly insane heavily pregnant woman I was, I started eating loads of hot curry, going for walks around the garden and trying to lure my husband into having sex with me.
(I say lure. I think bully might be a better term. I wasn’t the calmest, most rational person at the time. Having sex with me was probably as appealing as having sex with Miranda Priestley. Except at the time, the devil didn’t wear Prada. She was wearing elasticised trakky-daks and an XXXL Mama Loves Obama t-shirt and had Cheezel crumbs around her mouth.)
What’s my point?
Okay my point is none of it worked and before you can say ‘strip and stretch’ I was experiencing a ‘strip and stretch’ (don’t ask) and then spent two days failing to be induced.
FUN! And then we realised her head was so big it was jammed against my hips and an emergency c-section saved me from being turned into a wishbone. Ah, good memories.
So I can’t say I was surprised to read the following story on The Conversation recently about the ‘myths’ that are still circulating on how to bring on labour.
Time’s ticking…. And nothing is happening.
Around a quarter of all Australian pregnancies are medically induced, with a third of those inductions occurring due to pregnancy continuing beyond term (40 weeks).
Induction is not without its risks and discomfort and it is understandable that women may look to some alternate method of inducing labour.
One American study reported that half of women who reach their due dates attempt to initiate labour through a variety of non-medical techniques.
There is a proliferation of DIY methods to induce labour that can be found online, and one of the most common recommendations is to have sex. But does sex initiate labour?
There are biologically plausible reasons why having sex at term may help to speed the arrival of a baby. First, semen is a natural source of prostaglandins, which are used in synthetic form to encourage cervical ripening in preparation for labour. Second, sex plus or minus orgasm has been found to increase uterine activity, and nipple stimulation is also thought to stimulate the uterus to induce labour.
Plus the couples who had sex to induce labour, all gave birth to babies sporting a black eye.
Joking!
We all know it’s impossible for your partner’s Thrill Drill (too much?) to poke your baby in the eye.
At least I don’t think it will.
Anyway … if you’ve been pregnant (or know someone who has been) … what kind of crazy things did you try to bring on labour? More importantly did any of them work?
Comments
64 Comments so far
Always Sex. I carried all 5 babies to 41 weeks. A wonderful midwife told me sex works but only if you have already had a show. Of course so the semen can actually get in there to do its job. Worked every time for me, within hours.
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Ok so we have all got experiences to share. My wife and I have tried them all..our first was born by a C section at 42.5 weeks. So we looked for alternatives… Once we had sex every 4 hours… We did the whole 9 yards every 4 hours she came most times… I was happy for the first 2 days… It worked after 3 days of sex… Once she drank raspberry leaf tea. At week 38.. That worked too. But 1 week of this tea is enough to drive anyone nuts. Let alone 2 weeks. Once we tried bumpy roads that worked too a day later… And on the last one nothing worked and after 42.5 weeks another c section. Mind you I had fun with the sex for a whole week… Was like banking it for the inevitable dry spell that happens when a woman is focused on her new baby.
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I did everything – including three straight days of acupuncture. They said acupuncture worked 70% of the time (not me). I think its quite funny – because you are 41.5 weeks pregnant – so the chances of a baby popping out of you are actually quite high if you do nothing. Hence the believers I guess!
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I was pretty much open to anything except castor oil. My midwife suggested nipple stimulation when I was about 40.5 and I spent days on end tweaking and rubbing my nipples. Still no baby. I threw laps around my town and even ate beef vindaloo. In the end, two stretch and sweeps didn’t work and the balloon was needed and onto the drip I went. All that exercise and I still had to be induced!
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If I’d have known it would take me so long to be brave enough to have sex again AFTER giving birth (4 months in case you are wondering), I would have WAY more sex while pregnant. Like, WAY more
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My daughter was 10 days overdue and I had tried walking for hours, hot curries, rasberry leaf tea and acupuncture. When the hospital finally agreed to induce me, they realised the baby was breech and I was taken straight to theatre for a c-section, before my husband had even arrived.
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Oh my goodness. I did everything!! Sex, nipple stimulation, bouncing on fit ball, jogging, hot curries, pineapple, acupuncture, massage, loads of walking, raspberry leaf tea… I was having twice weekly stretch and sweeps with my second from 37 weeks. Induced with both at 40 + 10, 2 c-sections. I’d do it all again though, even though I know it doesn’t work, its all worth a shot eh and you never know!
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I was due on the 9th of September last year and my niece was born on the 12th of September the year before. I really didn’t want them to have the same birthday. So on my due date I was starving and my husband made me the biggest hamburger you have ever seen in your life and I was joking with him “this is going to push the baby out!”
The next day my plug came away and I had minor contractions I went to the hospital only to be told to come back the next day.
I came back the next day and the doctor told me to come back again the next day to be induced. The next day was the 12th.
So basically what worked for me was a giant hamburger and hoping that he wouldn’t be born on a particular day. Lol
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Use Acupressure, it worked for me with my last 2 labours. Went into labour within 24hrs of doing the acupressure and had quick labours too (even my second daughter who was born posterior). Just google “acupressure points to induce labour” also works for pain relief, stalled labour/failure to progress. It’s similar to acupuncture, however you use your fingers/hands to apply pressure.
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Google “Acupressure points to induce labour”. Involves applying pressure to points in the body with your fingers/hands, very easy to do, can be used for pain relief also. Worked a treat for me both times, went into labour within 24hrs of using it and had quick easy labours.
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I actually tried to post about acupuncture for inducing labour, but it seems to have gone missing! As long as you can find a qualified practitioner, experienced in this type of acupuncture, then it is a safe and effective way of inducing labour. Worked a treat for me, in labour less than 24 hours after the treatment, plus labour itself was quick, 6 hours from waters breaking to baby emerging.
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Agree 100%!
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In my case having lots of sex had nothing to do with bringing on labour — it was because I was as horny as hell!
Hubby didn’t seem to mind
.
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Shopping worked for me I shopped for a full day and went into labour that night it lasted 2 hours and that was that. Oh a good dose of cod liver oil every day in the last month and the baby will just slide right out.:)
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I’ve tried shopping! All it does it make my husband freak about our finances!
Also I’ve read that the prostoglandins in semen are far more readily absorbed by the stomach lining than the vaginal walls, so that kind of makes up for it for him…I’m going to look up acupuncture. I’m not due til Friday, but with the 10-day-overdue policy, babyrabbit would end up with an April Fool’s Day birthday. OH GOD THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!
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OK, 100% success rate for starting labour for each of my three babies using this method! My tip: both the woman and the man have to, umm, “finish”
My waters broke within hours of doing the deed each time, and the babies were born soon after.
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My doctor insisted on a blood and urine test every day to make sure my child was not over time. I tried sex, I mowed our half acre , I went for many walks. My specialist, who was a friend and normally was a gyno’s specialist for big problems, keep telling me that everyone has different gestation periods.
That last few weeks is soooooo frustrating .
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It worked for me. Sex to induce labour that is… just sayin’.
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Dammit! I was about to force my husband into having sex with me, I want this baby OUT!! What do I do now?
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I ate greasy fish and chips at 39 weeks with my first bub and soon after went into labour…the two are probably not at all related, but my body doesn’t agree with oily food so I reckon the diarrhoea brought labour on!
The day before my due date with my second bub my Obgyn did a stretch and sweep (is this the same as a strip and stretch?) and I pretty much started early signs of labour as soon as we left his office! She was born the next day on her due date!
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Hold on, shouldn’t the title of this piece be “Medical Myth: Sex Did Not Induce Labour In My Case”? Very misleading title, especially since in the article, you provide information that shows it is possible that sex does induce labour.
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I was determined for my bub to come by 40wks. I actually thought anything over 37wks was a bad idea (no, I don’t know why!). So I took raspberry leaf tablets, walked at least 2hrs a day, convinced hubby to have frequent sex with me (also knowing there would be none for a long time after!), mowed the lawn, kept doing relief work as a PE teacher, bounced on the fit ball… Yep the lot!! At my 38wk appt my OB checked me – 3cm
I was induced the next day at 6cm & no contractions. 3hr labour (sorry to those who had long ones!). When I have number 2 I’ll do it all again regardless of the ‘myth’ factor 
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If sex doesn’t induce labour, how come we’re both puffing and sweaty by the end?
Oh, THAT labour.
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I didn’t get as far as trying everything to bring on labour – instead I was the crazy woman running all over town trying everything to make my breech baby turn around so I could avoid a c-section.
I had acupuncture, saw a chiropractor every second day for weeks, hung upside down in strange positions halfway off the couch, crawled around on my hands and knees for hours…
And in desperation I even tried this insane trick I read on a website: you prop a board up at a 45 degree angle (I used the ironing board!!) and lie upside down on it on your back – yes, head down, feet in the air. My husband was trying desperately not to laugh (due to fear of emasculation by crazy hormonal pregnant woman) as he helped my unwieldy 35 weeks pregnant self struggle into position on the ironing board… then he did crack up when I started squawking that I couldn’t breathe – bub had slid downhill & was squashing my lungs!! (Plus I was nearly being smothered by my own boobs.)
So after he rescued me (and finished wetting his pants laughing), we readjusted the board to a less steep incline & tried again. This time I could breathe (barely) so I was ready to commence phase two: put a hot water bottle across your lower belly, and an ice pack up by your rib cage. The theory is that bub will try to swim away from the cold & towards the warm. (Told you it was insane!)
So I lay there suffering for the requisite half an hour with my pubic zone cooking, my ribs freezing, and my husband sniggering and taking photos – then gave up.
A few weeks later my still stubbornly breech daughter was delivered by c-section.
She’s now a gorgeous very bright 19 month old – who is still very stubborn! Fortunately she doesn’t seem to bear a grudge… or have a strange aversion to the cold!
Next time I’m just leaving it up to fate!!
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Oh that is hysterical – such a funny mental picture you have painted!
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My first was an emergency c-section, and I really wanted my second to be vaginal. Wouldn’t you know it, he was breech at 38 weeks. I got a torch and held it against my lower stomach for several hours for a few evenings and he actually turned! I was completely shocked, and elated, that it had (apparently) worked!
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Pure gold anon, I have just guffawed out aloud.
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The upside down position is called the Trendelenburg position and its used to stop women from going into labour.
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I went to an antenatal class last year and the midwife recommended sex to bring on labour. Something about the oxytocin in the semen, I think. And clitoral stimulation also releases oxytocin? I don’t know, it didn’t work for us. I just know it’s not a completely fabricated old wives tale.
The midwife also touched on the subject of the baby getting poked by your partner’s ‘thrill drill’. She said often the partner does poke the baby, but the baby doesn’t mind. To which my husband replied ‘yeah, but I mind!’.
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Surely there is no way the thrill drill could poke the baby. How would it get through the cervix unless it was well and truly dilated (in which case you would be in labour).
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I went into pre term labour at 33 weeks, 3 hours after having the best orgasm while pregnant ever. My regional hospital couldnt cater for me and a 33 weeker, so i was transferred to a city hospital, where they managed to stop labour. On discharge the doctor told me (with a massive smurk on her face) that we werent to have anymore sex the remainder of the pregnancy. It was pretty embarrassing to say the least, that our amazing night of passion ended in so much comotion and drama.
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39 weeks here, with a posterior, transverse baby. Any tips?
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See a chiropractor who knows about pregnancy and optimal foetal positioning.
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I just commented above (erm… wrote a novel!) about trying to make my breech baby turn around…
I had no luck at all with anything I tried, but apparently many people do. Of everything I tried, I felt like the chiropractor probably had the best chance of success (going by what I read online) – even though it didn’t help me.
Good luck!!
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Maybe swimming? At least it’s gentle. At 39 weeks there’s not a lot of room for the baby to move so you might just have to accept your horizontal baby! Hopefully he/she will be as relaxed when born.
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My sister just had her baby manually turned at 39 wks. Done at the hospital by the obstetrician. It took about 10 mins is always done with foetal monitoring. The theatre is there if baby gets in trouble and needs a c-section. In my sister’s case a vaginal delivery was preferred for medical reasons. Not all OB’s do manual turning, but many still do. p.s labour started naturally that night.
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turningbabies.com is a start. my first was posterior and loooonng so i did heaps of research when #2 was too. turning babies said it was too late to do anything tricky like the ironing board manouevre but see a chiro or osteopath for regular adjustments and maximise the room for the baby to move around. second labour was 6 hours and lovely.
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I tried everything! Hot spicy food, long walks (at least 5k each walk, twice a day for a week), lots of horizontal activity, squats, bouncing on a fit ball, light jogging, walking up and down our staircase, you get the idea.
In the end I had a stretch and sweep done, and was in labour within 4 hours after having it done. Ended up being in labour for 37 hours and resulted in emergency c-section. Not quite what I had in mind!
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I’ve had three out of three labours start soon after sex (two natural and one emergency c-section for a breech baby). And at the risk of annoying long and difficult labour sufferers, they have been insanely short labours that meant i really should have headed to hospital straight from the bed. In my second and third pregnancies i had this preoccupation with thinking we should have regular sex toward the end to make up for the big sex drought that was coming!
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Ha! That’s what I’m telling my husband at the moment – we’d better do it now because (to put it in Game of Thrones lingo), ‘winter is coming’. After the last two kids it was at least six months before I got any kind of mojo back.
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Haha me too Kate, big fan of GoT as well!
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1st: a full day of maniac Christmas shopping two days before Christmas and into labour we go
2nd: the horizontal dance
3rd: ditto
4th: a few weeks to go yet.
Tried every old wives tale with all of them except the cod liver oil, just couldn’t bring myself to do that, ick….
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I would change the title of this page if I were you. As detailed in the excerpt in this article, sex is the one thing that does have a plausible physical explanation, and may actually work! It’s certainly the one thing the midwife suggested we could try, even though she had doubts about curries, raspberry leaf tea, etc. So, probably best not to claim sex doesn’t work.
I tried a lot of things, including the sex and the raspberry leaf tea. I think perhaps the tea worked, but I was still induced with my second (who then reacted so strongly the induction gel had to be flushed back out to avoid an emergency caesar – wish he’d gotten moving earlier in that case! )
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Maybe whoever came up with it sees “Sex does not bring on labour” as the myth? It’s very confusing – especially with the excerpt.
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Unfortunately, i have learnt the hard way that until a baby wants to be born, there is no rushing it. My first i tried everything, long bumpy rides,sex, hot baths, hot curries, long tiresome walks etc, etc. He was a lovely 8 days overdue
his sister i did nothing to hurry along (although i took a good many raspberry leaf tablets to try and help labour along, my son was a very long labour), and yet again went 8 days overdue.
Moral to the story, babies/mothers bodies have minds of their own, and nothing will make things happen quicker (signed Liv, 36 weeks pregnant with #3, and fully expecting to have another 5 weeks of pregnancy to go)
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I am remaining anon for reasons that may become apparent…
My husband affectionately referred to me as “cue ball” in the latter stages of my first pregnancy. Sadly, it was an apt description!
We both have high sex drives and pregnancy didn’t slow us down. But for a week or so before out daughter’s arrival, I could be seen waddling around the house calling out “Hooooonnnneeeeyyyy…I neeeeeeed you”. I think even he was getting a bit over it!
I tried curry…hot, hot curry. EVERY night. Didn’t work.
Then a friend told me that semen needs to be taken orally. Tried that…several times. Also didn’t work but husband was not complaining.
The day I went into labour I walked around the shopping centre, including a visit to a store I used to work at. My old manager, who grew up on a farm, looked at me and said “I’ve seen lots of cows go into labour and I reckon I should follow you with a mop and bucket”. Delightful! He was right, however, and my waters broke about 2 hours later!
30 hours after that, my darling first born daughter arrived.
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Oh Bec, you just told the story of my first birth!!! And rest assured, our daughter came out just fine – no black eye!
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The night before Jack was born, there was a party at the top of our hill and we all attended. As kids do, they forget stuff, or they want stuff, so I trekked back up and down that hill to and from my house to the party at least 6 times. In the early hours of the morning I went into labour. Unfortunately my lovely husband was, um, still merry from the party. Yep, we were THAT couple in the delivery room. Classy.
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HIlarious. I love your writing Bec!
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Cod liver oil is supposed to be good!
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I walked a marathon around Costco at 39 weeks, and my son arrived the next day! Of course, it may have been the stress of walking around Costco with my mother-in-law that did it…
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Setting up the cot for my first and walking around the city in 35 degree heat with my second brought on labours. But I was four days over and one day early respectively and quite comfortable, so not sure if it counts.
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curry and sex combo worked for me twice.
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I’m sure the curry thing works! I refuse to believe the research!
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SIL heard of pineapple & pineapple juice – has to be fresh…not sure if it worked.
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I’ve heard of this, but apparently you need to eat a ridiculous amount of pineapple. Something like eight pineapples in a day, lol.
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At 40 weeks in the middle of January this year I was so hot, big and uncomfortable I was prepared to try anything…and I did. Spicy food, acupuncture, walking and sex. WELL in the middle of a very intense orgasm my waters broke in one huge gush all over my bed and my partner. At first I thought I had wet myself, but the pressure of the gush and the colour and smell of the fluid made me change my mind. I began contracting pretty soon after and was admitted to the hospital 2 hours later. I was put on antibiotics due to my group b strep status. Unfortunately my labour did not continue to progress. I was put on a pitocin drip for 10 hours and experienced intense contractions that were relentless (90 seconds long, 60 seconds apart). I only dilated 2cm in 32 hours. I had to have an emergency c section. I was disappointed because I had wanted to experience a natural vaginal birth. My daughter was up too high and angled into the side of my pelvis. She was not coming on her own. I wonder now if she just wasn’t ready and if I had been patient would my waters have held out and would she have engaged properly on her own. Next time I will let nature take its course.
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Both times I was overdue and said to my husband ‘Lets go spend the day with my mum and sister’ and both times I went into labour as soon as we got home! Stressful family!
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GOLD!
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As much as I loved being pregnant, at 35 weeks and carrying twins with a stomach measuring 140cm round, I was more than ready for my tiny terrors to come out. I had one baby breach and the other transverse.Unable to navigate past my tummy to wipe my bum (tmi), it was all I could do to push a comb through my hair let alone entice my hubby into bed with me. In the end I reverted to the only physical exertion I could muster. Tears – and lots of ‘em. Thankfully my obstetrician took pity on me and I was induced at 37.5 weeks, giving birth to two healthy babies weighing 3.5 and 3 kilo respectively.
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Annoying as it is “the fruit falls from the tree when it is ripe”. Nothing you do speeds it up, but it doesn’t stop you from trying.
A lot of people attribute the last thing they did to bringing on labour. Sadly just wishful thinking
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Couldn’t agree more. I’m glad I just did whatever I wanted before having my first bub rather than walking around all day, eating super hot curry or wasting money on quacks. Next time around I’m even more determined to relax while I (kinda) still can!
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Drill Thrill. Absolutely cacking myself in my office….
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Agreed, think that is going to be my new words when talking in public, I could see me throwing it into conversation and then watching peoples faces as they register it.
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