As I prepare for my HBAC (home birth after cesarean) and continue to have bi weekly to soon weekly appointments with my LM (Licensed Midwife), I’ve been given some options of how to further prepare my body for labor in this final stretch of the last 4-6 weeks. There are a lot of myths out there, things that can actually help, and things that could cause damage as “natural” ways to encourage spontaneous labor and shorten labor. I am not putting myself on a timeline where I have to induce labor and have chosen a provider who will also not put me on a timeline except for what she has to honor in our state per law. She can only attend my birth if I go into labor between 37-42 weeks gestation in the state of California. If I go into labor before that I’d be “early term” so would need to see an OB at a hospital and post 42 weeks I’d have to do so as well because after 42 weeks is considered “postterm” according to the ACOG. BUT… going to 40 weeks, 41 weeks and some days, is definitely fine and VERY NORMAL. I can choose to do more tests at that time as I wait as well to ensure all is well as I wait. I’m not looking to try to force this baby out before the baby wants to come out. (You can read about induction which is now a “norm” in our country at EBB.) I would consider medically indicated induction if I knew for sure it was actually medically indicated, but I wouldn’t do an elective induction (obviously planning a home birth reflects those beliefs).
I’d recommend using the Evidence Based Birth website to watch videos and read articles about specific topics to see what evidence exists as you make your own choices, along with other valid sources and your midwife, OB or family doctor. That helped me. But mostly… I listen to my gut which I believe is actually the best thing I can do to prepare myself for labor. If I can stay connected to that, I will have a great birth, no matter what. My body knows best. My inner voice knows best and I will listen to that. (I’ve done lots of fact finding and gathering from other peoples’ experiences and researched what I can to help me come to these conclusions for what feels right for ME).
Things I’m doing to prepare my body for labor in addition to the all the things done so far in pregnancy (posture, Spinning Babies, weekly chiropractor, walking etc. (see earlier posts). Please research these widely known ways to improve labor outcomes to know if they are right for you. I’ll just list them here with a few links of support to get you started if you’re interested.)
POST 35 WEEKS: Natural Methods of Preparation
- Continuing my prenatal vitamins PLUS some additional vitamin C (some research shows it helps prepare the uterus and fluids, but some research also shows too much could cause preterm labor so I am staying conservative with this addition and factoring in the amounts which are in my prenatal. I am also taking iron supplements because I am low in iron. )
- Continuing Vitamin D supplements (a recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology compared pregnant women taking 4,000 IU per day to 2,000 IU per day and found greater benefits in pregnant women taking 4,000 IU per day.)
- Continuing Probiotics (I’ve done this the whole pregnancy and hope it will help the GBS test at 37 weeks)
- Discontinuing my Omegas as per advice of my midwife after 35 weeks and restarting after birth (from what she told me, here is a similar explanation by Lena DeGloma, MS, LMT, CD, CLC, CCCE)
- Starting to eat 6 dates a day. (usually 3 in a smoothie and 3 just plain)
“The women who consumed date fruit had significantly higher mean cervical dilatation upon admission compared with the non-date fruit consumers (3.52 cm vs 2.02 cm, p < 0.0005), and a significantly higher proportion of intact membranes (83% vs 60%, p = 0.007).”
The effect of late pregnancy consumption of date fruit on labour and delivery.
- Spending more time sitting on the birth ball, moving hips/pelvis and keeping the good posture for baby’s optimal positioning to hopefully avoid any posterior presentation and keep baby head down. (He’s been head down since around 27 weeks thanks to all the things done the whole pregnancy.)
- Drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea everyday (I’ve been doing this since 20 weeks). I may increase to 2 cups a day now in the last month. (Study “Raspberry leaf and its effect on labour: safety and efficacy.”)
- Weekly Acupuncture after 35 weeks! (it’s supposed to shorten early labor by 2-3 hours)
- Positive Affirmations (my own as well as Hypnobirthing audio) and listening to my prenatal yoga playlists that I’ve been listening to most of the pregnancy.
- Staying connected to the belief that I “Trust my inner knowing.”
What I’m choosing NOT to do/take:
- I won’t take castor oil near 40 weeks in hopes of inducing labor (there is a lot of bad evidence about this method that some people use to “naturally” induce labor).
- My midwife offered me an herbal “Labor Prep” syrup to be taken in the last 4-5 weeks of pregnancy to naturally help prepare the uterus and cervix for labor. (It has the same ingredients as this one found on Amazon which are: Blue cohosh, squaw vine, false unicorn, and black haw. I personally trust her and trust that is has helped many women’s labors BUT, it just didn’t sit right with me so I decided not to take it after I tried it. After doing some research on some of the herbs in the mixture, I further solidified my choice. This was one of those… just trusting my gut kind of things. It may be fine to take for many women, but I’d prefer to just take some vitamins and have some herbal tea as opposed to 3 times a day herbal syrup. The EBB video about blue cohosh solidified it for me. I haven’t regularly take herbal supplements so it’s just not something I feel comfortable with with this particular product.
Birth and Botox 