Every woman who has ever been pregnant has been to that point.  The point where she just can’t do it anymore.  The point where she just wants to get this baby out and get on with life.  It occurs somewhere near the end of the third trimester, anywhere from the 35th week to the 42nd week (God help you).  It is even more frustrating when your doctor is tempting you with unnatural induction-DON’T DO IT!-and people are giving you that “When are you going to have that thing?” look at the grocery store.  Not to mention, you no longer have any clothes left that fit, and you are walking around in your nightgown all of the time or in your husband’s shirts (and maybe pants).

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Don’t worry, the baby will come.  IN IT’S OWN TIME.  The baby knows when it is ready.  It turns and releases chemicals that signal to your body that it is ready to come out.  All of this will happen when the baby is large enough and developed enough to live safely outside the womb.  For all intensive purposes, we should respect this process and just let it happen.

Now there are some times when it is medically useful to induce.  Most commonly, when the mother has a genuine case of preeclampsia, and she and the baby are at risk to problems, or when the baby is very overdue.  Sometimes these things happen, and I think that we would all rather be safe than sorry.

However, if you want to avoid an unnatural induction (which you do, believe me), you may consider trying the following things to help get labor started before accepting Pitocin (also known as The Devil in natural childbirth circles):

1. Herbs such as Black Cohosh and Blue Cohosh are suggested for getting labor started.  (Check with your care provider before taking any herbs during pregnancy.)
2. Castor Oil.  I actually heard several ladies talking about this on Twitter the other day.  Several said that it worked for them or their friends.
3. Walk.  Walk briskly with your arms swinging vigorously.
4. Pressure points.  There are places on the body that you can press to stimulate uterine contractions.
5. Now for the fun ones!  Sex and nipple stimulation.  Well, you are probably thinking that these don’t sound terribly fun at this point in the pregnancy, but they are effective.  I read about this in Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth, and though I have never used it, she said that many of her couples have used this technique to start labor and to help labor progress in cases where the mother was tense and labor had slowed.

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I hope these work for you!  Let me know if they do, or if you have successfully induced your labor by other means.