Labor Induction: How it Works

Pregnancy is a funny thing. At first you are elated about the idea of it all; a growing being inside you, the enjoyment of eating for 2, and the amazing changes taking place inside and outside of your body. In time the realities set in and you have bouts of morning sickness, difficulties sleeping, and lots of aches and pains. Way back when you first discovered this wonderful news, the doctor gave you a due date to look forward to. It seemed to be months away! Then, the due date is looming around the corner, and you are ready to meet the baby. The due date comes and goes, and the baby has chosen to stay inside for a little longer. This is a challenging situation which often times leads to outside help to get your precious baby to come out and see the world!

During my pregnancy, I was positive, active, and healthy. All things were pointing to a normal delivery without any complications. The due date was quickly approaching. My family was arriving for the delivery, and the house was ready for receiving a new little baby! The problem was my cervix had other plans. The last couple weeks of pregnancy, plan on visiting with your OBGYN every week. I was getting pretty friendly with mine at this point. The appointment the week of my due date my husband joined us to see and hear about what was happening. It's really great if you can have someone with you at appointments at the end of your pregnancy - I couldn't remember anything! My OBGYN did an internal exam as we waited patiently for good news. She declared me "pinky dilated" but my cervix was not ripe yet. I had no idea what that meant.

Basically, my cervix was not cooperating to release the baby. I had been told lots of various things to try to help "naturally" induce my labor. My OBGYN also had some great suggestions for us, we discussed them in detail, and she sent us home after scheduling an induction for 10 days later. 10 days later! I was in tears.

The first thing we were told to do was to have sex. It was the last thing I wanted to do. My husband was ecstatic. I have realized it doesn't matter what you look like, if your husband truly loves you, any sex he can get is great sex. Sperm has lots of prostaglandin in it, which naturally helps to ripen the cervix, and helps it to become shorter and softer making the uterus not have to work so hard. Guess what, having orgasms help too. An orgasm causes uterine contractions, which can also help induce labor naturally.

Along with sex, another natural induction is nipple stimulation. If you want to try this, be ready for sore nipples - although if you are planning on breastfeeding, it will help to prep your nipples for what is to come. By stimulating each nipple for 15 minutes every hour (it is a lot of stimulating) your body releases oxytocin, which is a hormone that induces labor. I tried this for one day and was exhausted and sore and frustrated. No one should stimulate their nipples for that amount of time for any reason.

There are a large variety of teas, supplements, castor oils, and foods (eggplant) that are said to assist in natural inductions. I tried some of them and found it just gave me a headache, or upset my stomach. Many of these suggestions are also not endorsed by doctors. My OBGYN was okay with me looking into them, but didn't feel they would really assist my situation. She still stuck with sex being the best option.

The next week at the OBYN visit, we took another step to get my cervix ready, which was to strip the membrane. This is not a comfortable or easy process. We attempted it twice and didn't have much luck either time. What happens is your doctor inserts a finger into your cervix and sweeps it back and forth to release your bag of waters. This also helps to release prostaglandins and irritates the uterus and cervix enough to induce labor. Some women have great success with this process and go into labor only hours after having it done. Not so with me. I was still trying everything a few days later while waiting for the induction day.

We got to the big day and still nothing naturally had worked. The only other option was to do the hospital route. I was checked into the hospital around 6 pm and the process of induction began. This can be a long and challenging process. I really hadn't done much research, so will admit had no idea what to expect. While I was getting as comfortable as I could in my hospital gown, the nurse explained to me what was going to happen. They were going to start a session of Misoprostol which is a small pill inserted next to the cervix to help ripen and ready my body for contractions. The doctor came in, inserted, left, and told me to lay back and get some rest.

After a couple hours, another pill was inserted and the nurse suggested lights out. I was hooked up to a machine that was regulating the babies' heartbeat and also one checking for contractions. Around 4:30am, I was going to get up to use the bathroom and my water broke. I stood there pushing the nurse button as I felt like one of the 3 year olds at the preschool having a potty accident. The nurse informed me that my contractions might become more intense and once again suggested some rest.

Around 9:00am they started Pitocin through an IV. Pitocin is a version of oxytocin that helps to bring on and regulate contractions. The amount is raised or lowered every half hour or so. A couple hours later, I was a little bored and getting tired on the hospital bed. Not much was happening and I was feeling pretty good. A couple hours later, and a lot more pitocin, the small cramps that had been tickling me most of the morning and early afternoon were taking a turn to wrenching twisting pain. I found myself standing and stomping the floor. Due to being induced, this can sometimes be the problem.

I asked for a painkiller and was told that I would have to lie down. I got into bed, was given the narcotic, and for the next two hours couldn't open my eyes, was screaming - in low tones of course - and really had no idea what was going on. They checked me out, and I was 3 c. dilated. What did I want to do? Bring on the epidural. And bring it on they did. Within 30 minutes my legs were a little tingly and I was able to open my eyes and relax my body. I took a couple deep breaths and tried to take a break for a bit. Around an hour later, I started to feel a dull bit of the contractions and also some pressure on my bowels. I wasn't sure what to do. I also started to shake pretty bad. My husband got concerned and went for the nurse. She checked me out, and the baby was ready to come out! The doctor was called; there was a flurry of excitement, and then all the sudden it was time to push! A couple hours later, we had a baby!

Through all of the pain, excitement, and frustration, I learned the baby will come out when the baby is ready. If you have to rely on medical intervention to make it happen, so be it. Don't put too much faith in all the crazy things you might try to induce your labor. Take the time to relax, get lots of rest, and enjoy the last few days you have being pregnant! In hindsight, I would have spent the 10 days laying in bed and sleeping instead of stressing and trying out every single thing suggested to me!