If you have gone over 40 weeks in your pregnancy there are a number of things that you can do to help yourself. 40 weeks of pregnancy really is an arbitrary number based on averages and only about five percent of pregnancies actually result in labour by the 40 week. However, if you have gone overdue it is very likely that your care providers, such as your doctor, midwife or obstetrician, will begin to get nervous for every day that you have not gone into labour.
So what can you do about it?
For starters, recognise that you are one of the 95 percent of women who do not begin spontaneous labour on the estimated due date. You are in the majority. 95 percent pregnancies take somewhere between 265 and 300 days from the mother's last menstrual period. This is quite a broad range of days and the estimated due date is based upon a 28 day regular menstrual cycle, which in itself is also unusual, as most women range widely from every 2 weeks to every 6 weeks, to sometimes not even knowing when their next period will come because it is sporadic. You cannot set the due date if you want a natural birth. The best way of looking at your due date is to call it a guess date and give people a month range such as, "the baby will be born somewhere between mid October to mid November".
If your care provider has suggested an intervention to initiate labour, ask him or her if there is any medical necessity which justifies their suggestion for the particular intervention? Such interventions include doing a cervical sweep, rupturing the membranes (the amniotic sac) or applying a gel to the cervix to ripen it. All of these carry risks, so it is a good idea to question the suggestion and at the bottom of this article there is information on a You Tube video which gives a list of questions that you should ask your obstetrician or midwife if they are talking about interventions.
Depending upon your care provider, sometimes they may subscribe to Active Management of Labour (AML) which, as you know from your classes, can result in a surgical birth because of the diagnosis, "failure to progress". It is true that once an AML time limit is placed upon a labouring mother her labour will often falter and she may feel under pressure. This will result in her cervix naturally tightening due to the Fight, Flight or Freeze stress response and this will prompt the caregiver to administer drugs to augment and speed up labour. If the cervix remains tightly closed she will fail to progress and end up with a surgical birth. So it is OK to say no to your care provider once you have asked them these questions, and heard their responses and if you are not totally comfortable with having the intervention. One of the happy compromises that often works between caregivers and overdue mothers is to have an ultrasound to check the placenta and the amniotic fluid to ensure that both are still functioning normally. Usually they will be, in which case you can respectfully decline the offer of jumpstarting labour. Your baby knows when he wants to be born. Let him guide you and your body to initiate labour naturally.
Activities you can do to initiate labour naturally
To get your body and mind and body ready for labour, particularly if you are stressed out about going overdue, you should stop everything and slow down completely. Stop working, stop errands, stop planning, stop cooking, stop cleaning and stop preparing the baby's room. Get someone else to mind your other children. Just stop everything and slow down. Go deep within your body through relaxation. Imagine your body working for you. Imagine powerful, comfortable surges that make labour and birth swift and easy. Talk to your body and baby about how excited you are to start birthing. Relax everything and spend as much time in relaxation as you possibly can. Sometimes labour will not start simply because your head thinks that you are too busy to do it. Stop everything. Tell your head and your body that you are ready. Use imagery extensively in your relaxation and watch your body respond.
Acupuncture and acupressure work brilliantly if you have such practitioners where you live.
Nipple and clitoral stimulation releases oxytocin - the chemical which initiates surges.
Have sex daily and preferably to orgasm. This helps with the secretion of oxytocin and the rhythmic waves of orgasm can initiate labour surges in your uterus.
Eat hot and spicy foods.
Cleanse the bowel with either an enema from the chemist, or castor oil (take 1/2 tablespoon every 1/2 hour for 3 doses, repeat the following day if necessary)
Visualise your surges commencing and your joy that you baby is coming now.
Walk, gently and slowly.
Do a Fear Release relaxation (taught in class). Release the fear of starting labour even if you don't think you are fearful of starting labour. Pretend you are and release that fear.
Drink lots of water to ensure your body knows that it is well hydrated enough to start labour without hindrance.
Talk to a homeopath or naturopath about remedies or herbs to initiate labour gently but only if you already have a relationship with a homeopath or naturopath. Homeopathy will not initiate labour if your body isn't ready for birth - it only works if your body is ready to begin birthing in the first place. Herbs however, are powerful and can have the same effect as artificial induction of labour, causing continuous spasmodic and painful contractions if you take too much. You only want to start labour, not make it labour hard for yourself. Take extreme care with herbs.
Hopefully you will not have pressure from your care providers to initiate labour artificially. Do what you can to get it going naturally. The most important and empowering thing you can do to help yourself is to relax. Your body is a living miracle capable of so much. Birth is just one of the miraculous things it can do! So relax, let go and let it happen...
To access the video "Questions to ask your midwife/obstetrician", go to YouTube and search for "hypnobirthtrainer".
Happy HypnoBirthing!
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