Inducing Labor in Childbirth


When a mother gets pregnant, she’s given a delivery date that is more a shot in the dark than the actual date of your baby’s birth.  In reality, there are many situations where the child will come too soon, too late, or your labor will be induced to protect the health of the baby and the mother.

Nature is an amazing thing.  The cycles and rhythms of nature have the power to handle most of the pregnancy and delivery work on their own time, but sometimes nature needs a push from us humans.  That’s what inducing labor is.
 

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These days, about one in every five deliveries are induced by a doctor for health and safety reasons.  The most common situations for inducing labor is if you’re 1-2 weeks past your due date and natural labor hasn’t occurred, your water has broken but contractions and other signs of labor have not begun, infection in the uterus, the placenta has deteriorated, or if you suffer from high blood pressure or diabetes.

Sometimes induction is planned if the mother lives far away from any hospital, and going into labor unscheduled would put mother and baby at risk.  The only time that labor inducing would not be allowed is if you’ve had a c-section in the past, as this would dangerously increase your risk of rupture of the uterus.  Due to the scar line around the abdomen, it’s much easier for the uterus to tear, which could potentially cause fatal blood loss and infection.

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The reason your physician will induce your birth after about the 2 week past-due mark is because the longer the baby is inside you, the bigger the baby will continue to grow.  This can seriously complicate your labor and put you in risk.  The placenta also begins to age when you wait too long past your delivery date, and that can put the baby in an unsafe environment inside the womb.

If you’ve had a baby before, you might be a candidate for selective induction.  This is when you can actually choose the day of your birth.  They will only follow through with induction if your baby’s lungs are fully mature and your cervix is ready to give birth to the child.

There are a few wives tales about inducing your own labor.  Some people say that eating spicy food, pineapple, or even having sex will induce labor around the natural time of delivery.   There are other theories about herbal supplements that may do the trick, but make sure you check with your practitioner before trying any of these things.

The synthetic hormone oxytocin is the most prominent medication used to induce contractions.  This is often administered through a catheter, but the effects aren’t always instantaneous.  Sometimes it takes up to 3 days for contractions to start after inducing the birth.


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