An Update on Natural Labor Induction

I am happy to report that I am the proud mama of a new little girl. She is perfectly healthy and thriving. A while back I had written a post on natural labor induction techniques that I had been trying throughout my pregnancy to give my body the best shot of starting labor in its own for the first time ever. Well, I am not sure if any of them work or if the combination of all of them worked or if it all came down to the baby herself deciding she was ready to come but my labor did start all on its own this time. My water broke and I was able to have the completely natural delivery that I had always dreamed of having that involved walking, drinking, snacking and completely trusting myself to get the job done. It was pretty amazing.

Looking back on everything I still cannot pinpoint anything in particular that seemed to be the corner stone in starting labor. The least few days I spent a lot of time on a yoga ball just trying to ease some discomfort, but the baby was still very high even  according to a belly photo I took 5 minutes before my water broke. I continued eating dates in addition to a healthy diet and drinking raspberry leaf tea. I spent a lot of time in my own head encouraging myself and instilling positive thoughts and affirmations. My elliptical continued to be used  on a regular basis and stretching allowed me to remain relaxed. During my last midwife appointment we tried some more invasive methods such as stripping membranes. 

At exactly 39 weeks labor started and little girl made her arrival. The high of a great delivery was followed by some of the lowest moments of my life as complications in the days following threatened to change life completely. Thankfully I was able to get through those tough days and as happy as I am for the care and compassion of the midwives whole helped me achieve the natural arrival of baby I am also eternally grateful for the medical intervention that saved my life.