Natural ways to induce labor

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Are you done with being pregnant and ready to have your baby? Whether your due date is quickly approaching or it’s already come and gone, you’re probably eager to get things moving along. But sit tight, experts say. A full term pregnancy is anywhere between 37 and 42 weeks, and most women will go into labor naturally between 41 and 42 weeks. And if your cervix isn’t ripe, your chances of having a C-section increase.

“We know if someone goes into spontaneous labor they’re more likely to have a successful vaginal delivery,” said Dr. Myra J. Wick, a board-certified OB/GYN at the Mayo Clinic and co-editor of the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy.

Once your provider has given you the green light, there are some things you can try. Find out what works and what doesn’t.

Sex

The prostaglandin in semen can soften the cervix and get it ready for labor, and an orgasm can definitely cause the uterus to contract – but it may not lead to labor, Wick said. In fact, there is no evidence that sex can induce labor, but it’s not harmful either, according to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. If your membranes are ruptured, you have bleeding or your doctor told you not to have sex because of other complications, then heed that advice and hold off.

Walking

“Anytime a woman can be upright, it’s optimal for labor,” said Dr. Michelle Collins, a certified nurse-midwife and director of the nurse-midwifery program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, Tenn. Although walking won’t start labor, if you’re already in labor, it can definitely make the contractions more frequent.  

Nipple stimulation

When the nipples are stimulated, the pituitary gland releases oxytocin, the hormone that makes the uterus contract. According to an article in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, women who had a ripe cervix were more likely to go into labor within 72 hours if they used nipple stimulation than those who didn’t.

There are actually a variety of ways to stimulate the nipples, according to Collins, who said your provider might suggest using a breast pump, standing in a hot shower, or stimulating your nipples like you’re winding a watch. Be sure to get the OK from your provider first.

Food

Tempted to go out for Mexican food in hopes that it might jumpstart your contractions?  Pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down collagen and can ripen the cervix.  However, you would have to eat a ton of it for it to work. Some restaurants even tout special dishes made with eggplant, vinegar or spices that claim to induce labor, but there’s no scientific data to suggest that it actually works, Collins said.

Acupuncture and acupressure

Known to promote healing through the energy pathways of the body, some research suggests that acupuncture and acupressure may help to induce labor.  If you opt for these methods, be sure to use a practitioner who specializes in pregnancy.

Evening primrose oil

Taken orally or massaged on the cervix, there are NO benefits to using evening primrose oil to induce labor, Collins said. In fact, women who use the oil are at increased risk for prolonged rupture of membranes, arrest of descent—or the baby not coming down the birth canal despite having contractions—and higher rates of vacuum assisted births, according to a report in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Evening primrose oil can also put you at risk for having seizures so it’s best to avoid it altogether.   

Massage

A prenatal massage can do wonders for back pain, soreness and stress, especially during labor when the contractions get stronger.  But unfortunately it won’t help to start labor.  

Castor oil

“When you stimulate the bowel, it can stimulate the uterus,” said Collins, who also noted that drinking castor oil is one of the most overused and unsafe methods women have used. Not only can it cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but you can also become severely dehydrated.

A study in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found castor oil didn’t affect the time it took for a woman to go into labor nor did it have any adverse effects. Yet there have been case reports of fetal distress, and it can potentially increase the chances of the baby passing meconium.

Black and blue cohosh

These herbs may start contractions, but they’re not safe and using them can actually be potentially life threatening to you and your baby, Collins said.  In fact, babies whose mothers used these herbs suffered heart and cardiovascular complications, seizures and kidney damage, according to an article in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Red raspberry leaf tea

Used by Native American women for centuries, red raspberry leaf tea can help to tone the uterine muscles, and it may shorten labor and reduce hemorrhaging – but it won’t start labor. Collins suggests drinking the tea three times a day at 36 or 37 weeks of pregnancy to reap the benefits.

Julie Revelant is a freelance writer specializing in parenting, health, food and women's issues and a mom. Learn more about Julie at revelantwriting.com.

Julie Revelant

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CALLING IT QUITS: Discouraged Job Seekers Drop Out of Labor Force

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WASHINGTON –  After a full year of fruitless job hunting, Natasha Baebler just gave up.

She'd already abandoned hope of getting work in her field, working with the disabled. But she couldn't land anything else, either — not even a job interview at a telephone call center.

Until she feels confident enough to send out resumes again, she'll get by on food stamps and disability checks from Social Security and live with her parents in St. Louis.

"I'm not proud of it," says Baebler, who is in her mid-30s and is blind. "The only way I'm able to sustain any semblance of self-preservation is to rely on government programs that I have no desire to be on."

Baebler's frustrating experience has become all too common nearly four years after the Great Recession ended: Many Americans are still so discouraged that they've given up on the job market.

Older Americans have retired early. Younger ones have enrolled in school. Others have suspended their job hunt until the employment landscape brightens. Some, like Baebler, are collecting disability checks.

It isn't supposed to be this way. After a recession, an improving economy is supposed to bring people back into the job market.

Instead, the number of Americans in the labor force — those who have a job or are looking for one — fell by nearly half a million people from February to March, the government said Friday. And the percentage of working-age adults in the labor force — what's called the participation rate — fell to 63.3 percent last month. It's the lowest such figure since May 1979.

The falling participation rate tarnished the only apparent good news in the jobs report the Labor Department released Friday: The unemployment rate dropped to a four-year low of 7.6 percent in March from 7.7 in February.

People without a job who stop looking for one are no longer counted as unemployed. That's why the U.S. unemployment rate dropped in March despite weak hiring. If the 496,000 who left the labor force last month had still been looking for jobs, the unemployment rate would have risen to 7.9 percent in March.

"Unemployment dropped for all the wrong reasons," says Craig Alexander, chief economist with TD Bank Financial Group. "It dropped because more workers stopped looking for jobs. It signaled less confidence and optimism that there are jobs out there."

The participation rate peaked at 67.3 percent in 2000, reflecting an influx of women into the work force. It's been falling steadily ever since.

Part of the drop reflects the baby boom generation's gradual move into retirement. But such demographics aren't the whole answer.

Even Americans of prime working age — 25 to 54 years old — are dropping out of the workforce. Their participation rate fell to 81.1 percent last month, tied with November for the lowest since December 1984.

"It's the lack of job opportunities — the lack of demand for workers — that is keeping these workers from working or seeking work," says Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute. The Labor Department says there are still more than three unemployed people for every job opening.

Cynthia Marriott gave up her job search after an interview in October for a position as a hotel concierge.

"They never said no," she says. "They just never called me back."

Her husband hasn't worked full time since 2006. She cashed out her 401(k) after being laid off from a job at a Los Angeles entertainment publicity firm in 2009. The couple owes thousands in taxes for that withdrawal. They have no health insurance.

She got the maximum 99 weeks' of unemployment benefits then allowed in California and then moved to Atlanta.

Now she is looking to receive federal disability benefits for a lung condition that she said leaves her weak and unable to work a full day. The application is pending a medical review.

"I feel like I have no choice," says Marriott, 47. "It's just really sad and frightening"

During the peak of her job search, Marriott was filling out 10 applications a day. She applied for jobs she felt overqualified for, such as those at Home Depot and Petco but never heard back. Eventually, the disappointment and fatigue got to her.

"I just wanted a job," she says. "I couldn't really go on anymore looking for a job."

Young people are leaving the job market, too. The participation rate for Americans ages 20 to 24 hit a 41-year low 69.6 percent last year before bouncing back a bit. Many young people have enrolled in community colleges and universities. That's one reason a record 63 percent of adults ages 25 to 29 have spent at least some time in college, according to the Pew Research Center.

Older Americans are returning to school, too. Doug Damato, who lives in Asheville, N.C., lost his job as an installer at a utility company in February 2012. He stopped looking for work last fall, when he began taking classes in mechanical engineering at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.

Next week, Damato, 40, will accept an academic award for earning top grades. But one obstacle has emerged: Under a recent change in state law, his unemployment benefits will now end July 1, six months earlier than he expected.

He's planning to work nights, if possible, to support himself once the benefits run out. Dropping out of school is "out of the question," he said, given the time he has already put into the program.

"I don't want a handout," he says. "I'm trying to better myself."

Many older Americans who lost their jobs are finding refuge in Social Security's disability program. Nearly 8.9 million Americans are receiving disability checks, up 1.3 million from when the recession ended in June 2009.

Natasha Baebler's journey out of the labor force and onto the disability rolls began when she lost her job serving disabled students and staff members at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., in February 2012.

For six months, she sought jobs in her field, brandishing master's degrees in social education and counseling. No luck.

Then she just started looking for anything. Still, she had no takers.

"I chose to stop and take a step back for a while ... After you've seen that amount of rejection," she says, "you start thinking, 'What's going to make this time any different?' "

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