If you’re full term in your pregnancy (38 weeks or more), are not having a high risk pregnancy, and want to just have that baby NOW, you’ll hear plenty of tips for ways to naturally bring on labour and delivery. Here at the Pregnancy Glee blog, we’ve scoured the Internet for tips and advice as given by others who claim their methods for inducing labor work.
*Disclaimer: These methods for bringing on quick labour are NOT tested or sanctioned by this site. If you try any of these methods they are entirely at your own risk. Please be careful!*
Labor Inducing Advice:
Eat Pineapple
Pineapple has bromelain which is known to cause uterine contractions. For this reason, eating pineapple during early to mid pregnancy is often NOT recommended.
Nipple Stimulation
Nipple stimulation during late pregnancy is said by some to bring on labour quickly if your cervix has already begun softening
Sex / Orgasm
Having sex / orgasm can cause contractions. Sperm is also said to contain a substance that ‘can’ bring on labor by softening the cervix. Don’t have sex if you’ve had your water break! This could cause infection.
Herbs
Black cohosh, blue cohosh, and red raspberry leaf are two herbs that are said to cause labour
Castor Oil Mixed with OJ
Some say castor oil, mixed with orange juice, for labor is just an old wives’ tale that does nothing but cause diarrhea but others say it works
Spicy Food
Some food, such as curry or spicy salsa are said to help bring on labor as well
Mild Exercise
Walking or stretching carefully can help things along and some say so can acupuncture or massage.
Working closely with your doctor or midwife is important—whatever you do. Before long, whether by natural progression or by your intervention with these methods (or inducing at the hospital), your precious bundle will be in your arms 
Tags: acupuncture, black cohosh, castor oil, induce labor, induce labour, pineapple during pregnancy, pregnancy blog, tips to bring on labor
So you’re pregnant but you’re a smoker…You know you need to quit but you’re afraid of the rough road ahead. Smoking is addictive. Some say nicotine is more addictive than Heroin. But quitting smoking for your growing baby is extremely important.
How does smoking impact your pregnancy?
By not quitting, you’re cutting down the oxygen in your body and this can impact the baby’s growth. The chemicals in cigarettes pass through the placenta directly to your growing baby. You need to be at the best health possible to meet all the needs of your changing body and the life growing inside for you so you need to do everything within your power to stop smoking during pregnancy—despite the cravings.
You need to consider the harsh reality that if you continue to smoke and there are problems with your baby that it might have been preventable—by YOU.
Struggling With Smoking During Pregnancy
Quit as soon as possible. The sooner you do, the better. In Canada there is a cigarette package that has a picture of a pregnant woman smoking with the headline, “Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby“. If you’re in Canada and you decide you’re aching to smoke, use that package so you can think twice before each puff. If you do have to light up, don’t smoke the whole thing. The first few puffs will satisfy your craving and then you can put the cigarette out. If you live in a country that doesn’t put warnings on cigarette packs, tape a picture of a baby or your ultrasound photo to a cigarette package to remind you why you need to STOP.
Fighting the Nicotine Fits— Three Minutes at a Time
A nicotine craving only lasts approximately 3 minutes. Can you make it three minutes? If you use your willpower you can certainly make it through just about anything for just 180 seconds! If you can, that’s one less cigarette you’ve smoked and one more step closer to health. In 3 days, the nicotine has left your body. Fight it off for three minutes and then in three days you’ll be in the clear. That doesn’t mean the cravings won’t come back but it does mean that you’ve overcome a huge hurdle!
- Drink lots of water,
- Get plenty of sleep,
Get plenty of vitamins, - Focus on your willpower
You can quit smoking for your baby and for yourself.
Tags: pregnancy and smoking, Quit Smoking During Pregnancy, smoking and pregnancy health warnings, smoking effects on fetus
Low iron levels in pregnancy are not good. The growing baby puts serious demand on your body, as you know, and increased iron is very important. Pre-natal vitamins contain a lot of iron to meet the demands of your body and women who stop taking them due to morning sickness often find that they have problems with their iron levels which can make their pregnancy quite difficult. Taking vitamins at bedtime can help and if your morning sickness is out of control, your doctor can recommend medication that can help or you can try natural morning sickness cures.
Tips to get enough iron during pregnancy:
- Take your vitamins. Vitamins contain iron plus vitamin C which can help increase iron absorption
- Eat plenty of iron-rich foods (but be sure they’re safe for pregnancy)
- Cook food in a cast-iron skillet
Pregnancy Precautions
- Increase your fiber intake so you don’t become constipated! Constipation during pregnancy is very common but can be avoided
- Don’t overdo it or too much iron can be unhealthy as well
- Don’t eat liver. Liver is often recommended for iron but contains too much vitamin A for pregnancy and too much vitamin A during pregnancy can cause birth defects
It can take a while to get your iron levels back up if your doctor does say they’re too low. You may be told to take a Ferrous Gluconate supplement. Getting plenty of iron from the start can help you avoid problems with your iron resulting in low iron symptoms such as: breathlessness and weakness.
Tags: cast iron skillet benefits, ferrous gluconate, iron deficiency, pregnancy constipation, pregnancy iron
A lot of women who become pregnant want to plan to stay home with their babies either for the first few years, or indefinitely. Transitioning to become a stay at home Mom is seen as a luxury today but may make sense for you for a lot of reasons, including:
- The desire to stay with your children full-time during their formative years
- The cost of childcare
- The fact that you cannot find suitable child care
So, how do you transition from a two income to a one income family if you’re not in a position today where your one income is more than enough to sustain you? There are a lot of options:
- Trim your expenses before the baby is born significantly by getting out of debt and lowering your cost of living. The Money Jar budget is a great method to live lean and get out of debt. You might be surprised at just how much you can cut your expenses when you focus on it.
- Take on a part-time job and work the hours your spouse or someone else you trust is available to look after your kids
- Start a home-based daycare, which enables you to stay home with your children and provide a nurturing environment to other children.
- Work at home. There are a lot of work at home / telecommuting jobs and work at home businesses you can do while you care for your kids. It can be a juggling act but is increasing in popularity and there are quite a lot of companies offering flexible work at home job options such as transcription, medical billing, call center jobs, virtual assistant positions, and more.
Whatever you decide to do, if staying home with your children is important to you, there is a way it can be done. Whether you’re trying to conceive or at a point where you’re pregnant and weighing your options, the great thing about being a woman today is that you have plenty of choices.
Tags: sahm, stay at home mom, wahm, work at home jobs, work at home mom
If you’re pregnant, you might be worried about getting stretch marks. As your belly stretches beyond recognition, you might be left with stretch mark souvenirs after the fact. Battle scars are worth it when you get a reward and your baby will be well worth every pain you endure during the nine months, the labour and the future after the delivery. But can you do anything to minimize the chance of getting stretch marks during pregnancy?
Here’s a helpful post about this very subject:
“Well, to begin with, plan a healthy diet for yourself. Even as you give in to your cravings, stay clear of fried or high-calorie foods as they can potentially damage the skin. Include a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, seeds and nuts. Keep yourself well hydrated with a lot of fluid intake to keep the skin immensely supple and elastic. In addition, though it might not be in your hands, yet try to gain weight slowly and steadily, to as much extent as possible. If you are serious about controlling your weight gain and don’t have risk factors, it is a must to incorporate a gentle exercise regimen throughout your pregnancy.”>> Read more about pregnancy stretch mark prevention.
