Spontaneous Labour!

[Kable]

I'm 34 weeks with 2nd baby and 1st baby was born via Caesarean due to Placenta Praevia. I want to try for a VBAC. My doctor is supportive of this but has told me the best way is for me to go into spontaneous labour. Given my sisters' have 7 babies between them and only 1 was spontaneous labour history does not seem to be in my favour. He's also told me that if the baby is over 8 pounds he wants to caeser so waiting and seeing isn't really an option. I'm not prepared to get to 41 weeks just to be told the baby is too big and I need a C-Section.

Soooo, after all that, my question to you is what methods do you know for "encouraging labour". I've heard about Raspberry Leaf tea but wonder what else there might be out there that people know about.

[pegasus]

Hi Kable

I just wanted to bump this up as I was interested in the responses. I'm in a bit of a similar position (wanting to go into spontaneous labour, before the date that I'm booked for c/section), for different reasons - as this is my best chance for VBAC. I have started on the raspberry leaf tablets (I heard you have to drink entirely too much of the tea for it to have any effect), but have been worried bout having the recommended dose (6 a day) too early (don't want bub to come before about 35weeks), but am wanting to go into labour before 38weeks...

Anyone with experience in this area, love to hear it.

[Kade's Mummy]

Hi girls

My first bub was born in Feb and it was so hot, I was desperate in the last week to bring the labour on. I did everything! Raspberry tea, eating lots of chili, plenty of sex, many warm baths, lots of walking - you name it, I tried it.

Kade arrived the day before his due date in just 3.5 hours from woe to go! Not sure if any of those things helped bring him along, but when he did come he certainly came in a hurry.

Best of luck to you both! :fingerscrossed:

[Veritas]

Whilst I haven't yet been in labour myself.... I have a close friend who is a massage therapist....

Apparently there are certain acupressure points that are very effective for bringing on labour.... maybe worth a try!

[Bessie]

Hiya
I was in a similar position with my last child - had pp. and a CSection with my DD, but I just spontaneously went into labour on the due date with my 2nd and had a great VBAC. The pains were totally different to the oxytocin contractions I'd had when induced for my 1st child, I just knew it was the real thing. My bub was 8lb 12oz, no probs... I wonder why your obs has put a limit on you as women give birth to much larger babies all the time... plus the whole time limit thing is not an exact science. (If it's due to a small pelvis, it's well worth researching this as pelvises can mould to bubs and they open...)

Be aware that some methods for bringing bub on are not really so great. You really don't want to get the $hits before labour (or indigestion) by eating weird stuff, avoid castor oil like the plague. You want to chill out, try to sleep well and try non invasive methods like the tea and acupuncture if you like. Walking would be fine, but don't wear yourself out, you'll need the energy for labour.

If you have been diagnosed with pp this time (it all depends on the degree, I suppose) then avoid nookie as that could cause a bleed - hopefully they will have told you whether this is a problem this time round.

http://www.compleatmother.com/articles2/childbirth/castor_oil.shtml
"there is the increased risk of fetal distress due, among other things, to dehydration via diarrhea. There is also the fact that being stuck on the toilet with abdominal cramps is a miserable way to begin labor and can put a downward spin (no pun intended) on the whole experience in that sense, right from the start."

My own feelings are that babies come when they are ready. Some sort of chemical balance comes into play and this triggers labour... as I'd had such a bad experience the last time I felt so much safer leaving nature to take its course - also, if you're hoping to VBAC you want to stay well clear of any artificial methods of induction, they have been suspected of causing uterine rupture. Prostoglandin pessaries are not even licensed for VBAC.

Also be aware that if your menstrual cycle is usually long (e.g. 35 days) then expect your bub to be later.

If you're worried about bub, go for regular monitoring check ups... if bub is failing to thrive in there then perhaps there are reasons for intervention, but if bub is OK it's best to just wait and see, take each day at a time, stay positive and treat yourself. Keep yourself in tip-top physical condition, once labour starts try and use positions which encourage your cervix to open using gravity... even if you are tired, get yourself flopped over a beanbag. This should be possible even if you are strapped with monitoring equipment.... good luck.... :kiss:

[bekkyboo]

here are some that i read in "Up the Duff" by Kaz Cooke:

Nipple massage - gently massaging one at a time (massaging both nipples at once has been shown to cause foetal distress.

Semen is rich isn prostaglandins, which ripens the cervix.

Orgasm

Keep moving - keeping upright and moving will allow a little extra pressureto be exerted on your cervix by your babys head.


I too want bubs to come early, Im booked for a c-section but not until 39 weeks, and my heart is worse, but silly cardiologists wont see me for another 2 weeks (then there is only 2 weeks left anway...)

[abbynmonique]

i swear by curry and comedy...
did it with both of my kids.. went out for dinner then hit the friday night comedy show and wet myself laughing,, it gives yr belly a workout , both were born the following sunday, both at 39 weeks..

[Tracie]

Acupuncture - worked both times for me!!!
....bub 1 came day before she was due (2 days after acupuncture) and bub 2 came on his due date (had the acupuncture and labour started that night).

Having said that though, of course everyone is different, there are no guarantees and maybe my bubbies were already cooked anyway?

I agree with Bessie that babies come when they are ready and I also believe in the idea that mums make babies which are just the right size for them.

Tiny ladies birth big babies all the time. 8 pounds isn't a real big baby, so if your OB is pressuring you to have a C-Sec for this reason alone, I would be asking for solid evidence that an 8 pound baby is too big for you? True disproportion is really rare...perhaps you could ask for the appropriate tests - I think they can xray your pelvis etc.

And same goes for a 41 week baby. Term babies are considered to be anywhere between 37-42 weeks, so by rights you are not even overdue until you get past 42 weeks. There are also tests and monitoring procedures you can do to determine that your bub is thriving and happy in his "tummy house" if you are concerned.

If you are really keen to have a VBAC it would be a great idea to do some research yourself on Cephalopelvic Disproportion (baby too big for your pelvis) and also on going past your due date.

Sounds like your OB is putting a little pressure on and if you can be armed with your own facts and figures it puts you on a much more even keel and gives you much more confidence in your bodies ability to birth naturally.

Good on you for trying for a VBAC - hope to hear of your success!

[pegasus]

Thanks ladies for the feedback which you've posted. I can't speak for Kable, but I know what I'm comfortable with and based on the information regarding my health that I have presented to my Doctor, I am confident he is suggesting what he feels is the safest route for me. Having said that, if I do go into labour before the date that I am booked for my c/s, then things need to be reassessed.

I do not believe that all women will grow a baby that fits their body - if that was the case then we wouldn't have any women die in child birth, or have extra long labours resulting in emergency c/sections. Or children born with disablities attributable to the way they exit the birth canal.

I did not feel pressured into the birth plan which I have chosen, however, I have delivered one baby (via c/section) healthily and happily, but my doctor has delivered literally thousands of babies. As I have said, I am only speaking regarding my experience and not Kable's, but the query was regarding Raspberry Leaf and such to encourage spontaneous labour, not regarding whether our birth plan choices were informed.

The fact is that if I go into spontaneous labour, then it is bubba's time and all is good, if I don't then, I'm happy to go through the c/section again, as I've already experienced a fantastic birth with my first boy. What will be, will be, there's no harm in trying something different though!;)

[BJelly]

I can second the laughing thing. I was a week and a day overdue and I happened to watch something really funny on telly - I was laughing really hard, and half an hour later my labour started. So maybe watch some funny movies and see what happens.

I had been drinking heaps of raspberry leaf tea, I'd been going for long walks etc, but the laughing really got things going.

I ended up having a short first labour, 7 hours, so maybe the rapberry leaf tea sped things up that way - I'm seriously thinking of cutting back on the tea if there is a next time - I was drinking a about litre a day - I wouldn't want to have a much faster labour.

[Tracie]

I want to try for a VBAC. My doctor is supportive of this but has told me the best way is for me to go into spontaneous labour.

Hi Pegasus / Kable,

Sorry if my thread sounded like it was questioning the choices you've made - that wasn't what I was trying to do. Big apologies if that's how I made you feel.

My post was more in response to Kable saying that her best chance for having a VBAC was going into spontaneous labour.

I guess what I was getting at was that babies come in their own due time and sometimes all the natural induction methods in the world just don't work.

Maybe they will work (which would be great!) but, in reality, your best chance of going into spontaneous labour (and therefore of a VBAC) might simply be to wait for bubs to be ready. And that can be terribly hard if your OB is telling you that 41 weeks is too long or 8 pounds is too big.

Neither a 41 week pregnancy nor an 8 pound baby are definite medical indications for a c-section, regardless of whether you have had a previous
c-section or not. There would have to be other factors involved with respect to your health, your pelvis size or the health of the baby, to warrant another major surgery.

Because you haven't gone into it on this thread, I don't know your health backgrounds, so I understand that there could be other problems for you.
I am sure you guys are making the right decisions for your particular circumstances.

I do think though, that on a thread relating to having a successful VBAC, that healthy discussion about some of these things can be really helpful for other mums hoping for a VBAC and also wanting to make an informed choice.

Once again, I am sorry if I offended anyone.....I really do take my hat off to you ladies for going for a VBAC and I sincerely wish for you a wonderful birth experience.

[Kable]

Hi all

Thanks for the great responses. Might try the Raspberry Leaf Tea and laughing, I could do with a big belly laugh at the moment. Walking would be wonderful but where did you get the energy to do it:) . I'm too shattered to do much after I get the bed made and the dishes washed.

Anyway keep any and all suggestions coming.

Kable

Me (34)
DH (30)
DS (1.5) C/S Placenta Praevia
EDD 22.6.06