How to Induce Your Own Labor

I absolutely loved being pregnant, right up until the last few weeks. During my first two pregnancies I was so lucky. I delivered before my due date. When my first son was born, I was 10 days early, when the second one arrived, he was almost 3 weeks early and surprised us all!

But a few months ago when I was due with my daughter my due date came and went. I was so frustrated. I started frantically looking for ways to induce my labor at home. I knew that if I went much longer without delivering that the doctor would step in and induce me.

Frankly, I just didn’t want to subject my unborn daughter to that trauma, so a natural induction approach was the only thing for me.

What I Found Out About Inducing My Labor

Some Suggested Ideas

There’s certainly no shortage of ideas about how to induce your own labor. Not only did I find a whole bunch of ideas online but it seemed that every female friend and relative of mine had their own approach to solve the problem and get me into labor.

A few of the things I found included:

Castor Oil. This was one that my mom and a few other mature women suggested. The idea was that I’d put some castor oil in a glass of juice and drink it. I knew enough to avoid this one – they never bother to tell you that it comes with the side effect of diarrhea which is no fun for any women especially a pregnant one.

Making Love. Naturally my husband came up with this one, but he did say he found it online and I did as well. The problem with this is that when you are that pregnant – intimacy is the very last thing on your mind. I never did try this.

Spicy Food. I did try this because I absolutely love spicy food. All I got was indigestion though. My daughter still didn’t arrive after a big spicy meal.

Massage. A well-meaning friend bought me a massage when I passed my due date. She believed it would help stimulate me into labor. It was so relaxing and soothing, but it didn’t help bring on the delivery at all.

Then I found this and my daughter arrived! It was the only thing that worked for me.

What About Acupressure?

This is What Worked for Me!

Several women that I worked with told me that acupressure was what worked to help bring on their labor. They said it was safe and it worked – two things that I needed to hear seeing that I was overdue with no end to my pregnancy in sight.

I was still a little skeptical though but I did some research and found that all that was involved was that my husband would need to press on specific pressure points on my body and that would bring on the contractions.

Unfortunately we couldn’t find a site that explained in detail where he needed to press, how hard he should press and for how long. Then we found “Easier, Shorter and Safer Birth.”

We loved that it was easy to follow and that it came with a money back guarantee. We wanted to induce my labor at home that night and using the techniques – we did! Our daughter was born early the next day.

What About Childbirth Pain?

Acupressure Helps With That Too!

I hate to admit it but one thing I worried over constantly when I was pregnant was how much labor and delivery was going to hurt. Most of us have heard all those horror stories from other women about how the pain is unbearable and you feel as though you are being torn in two. When I had my two sons, it did feel that way. And it seemed worse with the second than the first. I was so scared that it would be completely unbearable when our daughter was born.

I was dreading it so much. That was until I realized that acupressure actually helps with labor pain too!

I can tell you that the pain I did have when our little girl was born was much less than when our sons were born. My husband used the acupressure techniques we learned to help alleviate some of the pain. It did work for me.