Advice on the Best Natural Induction Methods Please!?

I am 36 weeks pregnant and trying for a V-Bac. My dr. has said it is safe to have the baby now while he is still small enough (my first was 9 lbs. 7 oz). So, I need to know your best natural induction methods!!! I already know about sex, castor oil, etc... (I am not trying the castor oil as I already have IBS). Give me your best tips please and how soon after you went into labor! Thanks!Advice on the Best Natural Induction Methods Please!?
My first daughter was induced and from my experience the contractions are more painful when they use pitocin to induce. And it took a long time for it to work. With my last pregnancy i was having contractions but they werent doing anything for my cervix. After about a week I used evening primrose oil, took 1 pill in the morning and 1 in the evening (with concent of my doctor) and it softened my cervix enough that the next afternoon i was in the hospital 4 cm dialated. i delivered naturally without having to have pitocin through iv. this method worked for me, but its not something to automatically start labor, it just helps soften your cervix to dialate if the baby is ready. hope that helps!Advice on the Best Natural Induction Methods Please!?
Assuming that you're enjoying a low risk pregnancy (ie. no complications) then there is absolutely nothing wrong with you waiting until your baby is ready to be born, and labour begins spontaneously.





My midwife is highly experience in VBAC births (most of these women choose to birth at home). In most cases, the mother was given an 'emergency' cesarian because the baby was apparently too big to fit through her birth canal, and if she tried to give birth vaginally the baby would get stuck, go into distress etc... Well, that's what they were told, anyway.





What you need to know is that your body is perfectly designed to birth this baby - whatever its size. In fact, anecdotal evidence points to the fact that (to a certain point) the larger the baby, the easier it is to give birth to. This was certainly the case with me. My daughter was 8lb10oz, my son was 9lb.





And while they're smaller than your bub at the moment, your body would not grow a baby that you were unable to give birth to. I'm a VERY petite sz2 (american sizes, size 6 Australian), am 5'5'; and weighed 103lb when they were concieved.





And, to make matters more 'complicated', my daughter presented her complete brow. That means, rather than tucking in her chin and coming down through the cervix, birth canal and vagina with the crown of her head first, her head was fully flexed, and she came face first.





That means I had to dilate to 14cm to pass her through my cervix - something that's apparently ';impossible'; for women to do.





True, it was a long 30+hr labour. But, I was coping well. My daughter wasn't in any distress, so we kept going slowly. The actual birth part was quick, once she was 'crowning', and I only had a very MINOR first degree tear which didn't require suturing, and healed in a few weeks.





I applaud you for attempting your VBAC, and would love to chat with you more about your decision, and possible birthing options. Feel free to email me off answers.





Good luck, and be well.





Vashti
This is not safe. If the doctor says it's okay then why isn't the doctor inducing?? They can do it in a safe medical environment where if anything goes wrong they can be there to help. It doesn't sound wise to try to do this on your own.
I also had a big child 9lbs 14oz and had to have a c section. We tried everything to natrually induce and nothing worked. If the doctor is concerned about the baby being to big then the dr should be the one to induce. My doctor induced 2 weeks early but the baby was already too big. Good luck.
Tonnes of stuff here:





http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/nati鈥?/a>





However natural induction techniques will NOT work until the baby is read, and at 36 weeks the baby isn't ready. I also suspect that you were perfectly capable of birthing a 9 lbs 7oz baby and got a c-section for ';Failure to wait'; because doctors are idiots. I hope that you have more faith in yourself this time, but it doesn't sound like it. It also doesn't sound like your doctor is pro-VBAC he only claims to be.





*Sigh* Ok for the other answers. Medical inductions are NOT SAFE during VBAC, and c-sections aren't safe at all. And hopefully this woman knows what she is doing
Please ignore that advice to do this ';medically';. That's how you ended up with a c-section to begin with, right? My friend home-delivered a 10 pounder, and she's petite. Women's bodies are made to deliver babies. Babies don't end up in distress because they get stuck in the birth canal. They get rushed by doctors and drugged up and THEN end up in distress! I know it may feel very late in the game for such a change, but get yourself a midwife and you'll have a FAR greater chance of a VBAC. I know people who have done that (switched caregivers so far into pregnancy) and they were SO happy they did. Good luck!!
If you are trying for a VBAC, the very best thing you can do is let that baby come in its own time. Any interventions are going to decrease your chances for achieving that VBAC, and trying to get labor started when your body %26amp; baby aren't 100% ready is setting yourself up for the risk of a stalled labor. Once it stalls, you will most likely end up on Pitocin, which is generally contraindicated in VBACs, so your chances go down even further. It's a snowball effect, usually ending with the ';necessity'; of a 2nd C-section. :(





Search the web for more VBAC info, and inform yourself about the risks and dangers of every possibility that can come your way during the coming weeks. Basically, pushing out a large baby is less of a risk to you, than messing with the possibility of a slow or stalled labor due to trying to artificially stimulate things.





I wish you the best of luck as your baby's birth day approaches!
Then go for C - section