When to start inducing labor naturally
10 Tips on How to INDUCE LABOR ON YOUR OWN | NATURAL Ways to INDUCE Labor | Birth Doula | Lamaze
- Hey mamas, is your due date right around the corner,
or has it already maybe come and gone
and you're sitting at the computer screen
with that burning question,
how do I get this baby out of me?
I get it mama.
By the end, you're so uncomfortable
but probably more than anything,
you are just so ready to finally meet your baby.
So in this video, I'm going to be sharing with you
10 tips to help you naturally induce labor.
I'm Bridget and I'm a birth doula
in the San Francisco Bay Area
and I love helping moms love their birth.
For more tips and tools on how to have an empowered birth,
make sure you subscribe to my channel
and hit the little bell
so you don't miss any of my future videos.
(air whooshing)
First of all mamas, you can do all 10 of these tips
and if baby isn't ready, they still may not come.
Baby is kind of running the show here,
they are the captain of the ship
and so if they're not ready to set sail yet,
then they're gonna stay in there cooking up still.
With that being said, these tips have helped so many women,
myself included, who in the hopes of getting labor started,
tried these tips and got what they wanted.
So, let's get started on these 10 tips
to induce labor naturally.
As with anything that you do in pregnancy,
you wanna make sure that you are checking in
with your care providers so that they give you
the green light to do all of these things
before you do them.
So the first tip that I have for you
to naturally kickstart labor
is to clear out your fears.
Labor is going to progress best when you are feeling calm
and relaxed and sometimes our fears
are what's holding us back from getting labor started.
So when you're anxious or afraid,
your body is gonna hold onto a lot of tension
that's going to really prevent your body
from becoming soft and open
to allow baby to come down and out.
Not only that, but the hormones that are released
from fear anxiety are killers of the natural labor hormone
called oxytocin.
So obviously, if there's fear and anxiety about birth
that's going to affect you getting into labor somehow.
I'll go into depth about how fear creates pain in labor
in this video, so make sure you check that out
so you know exactly how fear plays a role
in the birth space.
So how exactly do you clear fear?
Well, we have nine more steps to go
and I created a whole video about this.
So instead of giving it all right here,
I'm gonna have you check out this video up here,
I'll link it down in the descriptions below.
So make you sure you check that out
so that you are able to eliminate your fears
about childbirth and start that natural induction for labor.
So the second tip that I have for you
is to practice hypnobirthing.
Now, before you start thinking,
I'm a crazy person trying to hypnotize you,
I want you to know that hypnosis is a state
that most people experience on a regular day to day basis.
So you know that feeling when you're really
in the groove of doing something,
maybe if you're an experienced driver
and you're driving, you know the roads
and you've just kind of like gone into that trance mode
or maybe you're cleaning and you know all the steps
that you have to do and you're just kind of in this like
zone where you're relaxed but know what your body is doing,
that's a state of hypnosis.
That is a state of deep relaxation,
whether you know it or not.
So hypnobirthing uses visualization and meditation
to deepen this state of relaxation.
So one of my favorite phrases is
where the brain leads the body follows
and so in that same regard,
when you are listening to a track of someone
who's doing hypnobirthing,
or you are listening to a live person
who's speaking these affirmations for you,
they are speaking these truths to your brain
so that your body follows in that same direction.
So basically, as your brain is letting those words
and phrases and affirmations to really seep into the brain,
they're going to seep in and then transform your body
to be able to walk where the brain is leading it to go.
You can search in YouTube
several different hypnobirthing meditations.
I'm going to have some
pregnancy affirmation meditations coming for you
so stay tuned for those or you can go more in depth
and take a course on it and I will link in the descriptions
a eCourse on hypnobirthing that I absolutely love
that you can check out for yourself on your own time.
So hypnobirthing is a great way to naturally induce labor.
The third tip that I have for you is exercise.
Movement is one of the best ways to prepare yourself
and your baby for labor.
Now, I know as pregnancy progresses,
it can become a lot more difficult to move your body
and get out and exercise but mama,
if you are sitting on the couch all day,
your baby is going to be sitting on the couch all day too.
What do I mean by that?
I mean, that baby isn't going to be super motivated
to come out if you aren't really being active and moving
and kind of helping them along that process.
If you are moving, baby is going to be moving too.
So what are some exercises that you can do?
Obviously, walking is a super great one
especially when you are so late
in the game during pregnancy,
it's a really easy one on your body
but it's a really good one with the way
that you're moving your body to help baby come down
into the pelvis to put pressure on your cervix.
If you wanna step it up a little bit,
hiking is really good too.
Swimming is fun if you just have kids
that you need to be active with
go to the park with them, play with them
really whatever you can do to get up off the couch,
get up off your bed and be active and move your body.
Tip number four is to use a birthing ball
and a birthing ball is basically
a special word for an exercise ball.
If you're looking for a cheap but great birth ball
to get started on, to help you induce your labor,
then I have one, I'll link it in the descriptions below
that I use that I let my mama's that I work with use
and I absolutely love it.
So check it out if you would like that one.
So a birth ball is great in helping induce labor naturally
because it can really help open up your pelvis
and allow baby to get in an optimal position
to put nice, good pressure on your cervix
so that they can kick start labor for you.
Not only that but it also is a really comfortable stretch
that you can do and it's really nice
towards the end of your pregnancy
and so just brings a lot of comfort
while you are trying to induce your labor.
So the first thing that you can do with a birth ball
is just to lean over it with your arms.
So it's nice and comfortable.
So your chest is on the birth ball
and your belly button is facing towards the ground.
So this is really going to help
if baby is in a malposition
where maybe their back of the head is resting on your spine,
to help them turn over while your belly is kind of suspended
and they have a little bit more wiggle room
to twist and turn and turn around
so that their face now is facing the spine
and the back of their head isn't on the spine.
So that can really help put them in a good position
to start your labor for you.
The next step that I have for you have a little fun way
to help you remember what to do on a birth ball
and that's to rock and roll on it.
So basically, when you're on the birth ball
you just kind of sway your hips,
you rock them back and forth just like that
and then you can roll your hips as well
so that it's kind of in this circular motion
or a figure eight motion
and while you're doing that,
you want your legs pointed outward
so that you have the most space between your legs
so that it's opening your pelvis
for baby to be engaged in it in a optimal way.
These are just a few tips on how to use a birth ball
to induce labor.
If you want to know more tips
on how to use a birth ball during pregnancy,
during labor even into postpartum,
I'm going to be making a video
all about how to use a birth ball.
So make sure you are tuning in for that video.
So the fifth tip that I have for you is acupressure
and I have two methods to share with you
to help induce labor naturally.
So the first location that I wanna show you
is going to be between your index finger and your thumb
and it's just this nice fleshy part of your hand.
If it's too far out you're too close
to like the outer part of your skin, that's not it
and if you're too far towards the center,
it's gonna be bony.
So if you're feeling like any bone,
you need to come up a little bit.
So it's just this nice fleshy area
and a good tip for you to remember how to do it
is to bring your thumb close to your hand
and where this little bulge of flesh is,
is where you're going to place your finger
to apply firm pressure to.
The next acupressure location is right above your ankle,
about four finger widths above the top of your ankle
and it's behind your shinbone.
So again, if you're on the bone,
then you've gone too far forward
you wanna just slide your finger back a little bit
so you're on that nice, like fleshy area
that's behind the shinbone
and four fingers up from the top of your ankle.
Now, in order for acupressure to be effective
in inducing labor naturally, you need to make sure
that you are actually spending time doing it.
So if you're just doing it once a day for a minute or so,
then it's probably not going to be very effective.
So for both the hand and the leg acupressure,
you're going to want to do it for two to three minutes
every few hours all throughout the day.
And when you're applying pressure,
you definitely want it to be firm enough
where you can feel it
and maybe it's not like the most comfortable sensation
but you definitely don't want it to be painful
and that's how you know that you're applying enough pressure
for that acupressure to actually be effective.
So the sixth tip that I have for you is nipple stimulation
and you can use this to help naturally induce labor
as well as during the birth process
to make sure that labor progresses nicely.
So let me give you a little science lesson
behind using nipple stimulation to induce your labor.
So when your nipples are stimulated,
oxytocin is released from the pituitary gland.
An oxytocin is that beautiful labor hormone
that makes the cervix nice and soft and helps us
uterine contractions become nice and consistent
as well as helping them build an intensity
to eventually bring baby down and out.
So studies show that nipple stimulation
will generally work better
when a woman already has a favorable cervix.
So, when it's softer,
when you're a little bit more dilated, more effaced
that's when nipple stimulation is really going to have
the best effect.
You can either do it with a breast pump
or you can do it manually and if you're doing it manually
basically what you wanna do is take your fingers
or you can use your hand and you're going to want to
rub or like roll the nipple between your fingers
and you can massage or like rub around the areola,
which has a darker part around your nipple,
anything that's going to feel good
and that is stimulating your nipple.
You wanna focus on one breast at a time
and you can do it for five minutes
and then take a five minute break
and then switch to the other side
and you can do this for about 25 or 30 minutes.
I should mention here that the more that you enjoy it,
the more effective that it will be.
So if you enjoy having your partner be a part of it
let them join the process and help you do some stimulating.
The seventh tip that I have for you
is to use essential oils and the two that I'm gonna focus on
in this little area is clary sage and rosemary.
These two essential oils are really awesome
to help induce labor, but also to use during labor
to keep those contractions coming nice, steady and strong.
I've even worked with nurses during births
who have little blends of their own, that the hospital uses
to apply to women on their acupressure spots
to keep those contractions coming.
But of course, with anything
you wanna talk to your care provider
before you start using them
either during pregnancy or during your birth.
Another thing that I want to add is to make sure
you are using therapeutic grade essential oils
because if they aren't pure into the highest quality,
then you aren't sure what exactly you're putting on
or into your body, which can pose a risk for you
and for your baby.
The ones that I love using are dōTerra,
Young Living and Aura Cacia.
So how can you use clary sage and rosemary
to help kickstart labor for you naturally?
Well, the first way that I have for you
is to use a cloth, either flannel or cotton
or some kind of material of some sort
and put a few drops of clary sage
and a few drops of rosemary
and just inhale that during the day
or put it under your pillow at night
so that you are smelling it
or another way to do it is just to diffuse it
in a diffuser throughout the day.
So if you're trying to induce labor
with these essential oils, make sure you're using
a good amount.
Don't be stingy at this point,
make sure you're doing several drops in that diffuser,
several drops on that a piece of flannel cloth
that you can put under your pillow
so you're actually getting it into your system enough.
So another way that you can use that clary sage
and that rosemary is, like I said earlier
with that the nurses use, they use it on acupressure points.
So you can do that on your own too
by applying that clary sage and rosemary
to your hand or to your ankle,
or if you are getting a massage
at a professional massage place
or you're just having your partner give you a massage,
either way you can apply that topically
with a carrier oils, such as coconut oil.
So you just do several drops of clary sage,
several drops of that rosemary with some coconut oil,
slather that on your body and get a massage
and hit those acupressure points
and labor may start for you.
The next tip that I have for you is to use castor oil.
So not a ton of research has been done
on the use of castor oil to induce labor,
but on the studies that they have done,
women who have used castor oil
to help them induce labor naturally
are 58% more likely to go into labor
within 24 hours after taking that castor oil
than women who didn't use it.
So basically, castor oil will cause your muscles
in your intestines and your uterus to contract.
Now, sometimes these contractions
can make you feel nauseous or have diarrhea
but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.
If you have reached that moment of desperation,
make sure you reach out to your care provider
because it really varies on doctor to doctor,
whether or not they support taking castor oil
to induce labor.
So make sure you go over with them
but if they give you the green light to try it out
then what you're going to want to do
is take a tablespoon of castor oil
and wait 24 hours to see how it kind of affects your body.
Make sure you are prepared to drink lots of fluids
that might be displaced from any nausea
that causes vomiting or any diarrhea that you might have
because that is a common effect of taking castor oil.
So the ninth tip that I have for you
that I recently learned about and wanted to share with you
because I've heard it's really really effective
is midwives brew.
And this is a German labor cocktail
and it's really commonly used by midwives in Europe
and so I'm going to share the recipe
with you guys right now.
So these are the ingredients that
you're going to want to grab
in order to make your German labor cocktail.
You're gonna wanna have 10 ounces of apricot juice,
eight ounces of lemon verbena tea,
two tablespoons of castor oil
and two tablespoons of almond butter.
You're gonna wanna mix that all up
and make sure I bruise up really nicely
and then you're gonna wanna drink that on an empty stomach.
Now this drink is not easy on the stomach
probably because of the castor oil that's in it
and so you just wanna be careful when you're drinking it
to again, make sure you are replacing any fluids
that you're losing from possibly vomiting
from the nausea or having diarrhea from with lots of water
so that you are staying nice and hydrated.
If you're wanting to make this midwives brew,
definitely check in with your care provider first
but then I'll link all the ingredients
and the recipe down below for you to check out.
Now, last but not least, the 10th tip that I have for you
is sex.
So just like nipple stimulation,
sex is going to help your pituitary gland
to release that oxytocin which I told you before
is that labor hormone that is going to help your cervix
get nice and soft and help those uterine contractions
to begin.
Now, sex is especially beneficial
in helping kickstart labor naturally
when mama is able to reach orgasm
and the reason for that is because an orgasm
is basically like a mini feelgood contraction
and so basically if that is triggering a contraction
it may trigger those uterine contractions that you want
that is going to help enable labor to get started.
So not only does sex help the body to release oxytocin
and give that little contraction,
that orgasm that moment experiences
but when a man ejaculates semen into a woman,
that semen contains a ton of prostaglandin
and prostaglandin are what help ripen and prepare cervix
to open, to dilate, to prepare for birth.
Mama, baby is going to come out
the same way the baby was put in there
so spending time with your partner, having sex with them
is actually a good way to help induce labor
and is also kind of a fun way to get labor on the road.
So those are my 10 ways to help you naturally induce labor.
If you have any questions about any of those things,
about when to start them, about how to do them specifically,
make sure you ask them in the comments below.
I would love to get back to you on those answers
and thanks for watching this video.
I hope it helps you, if you are at that 40, 41, 42 mark
and you're desperate to have your baby in your arms finally
I hope that these 10 tips help you.
Thanks for being here
and I will see you in the next video.
Bye mamas.
