Home methods for starting labor
Home methods for starting labor
You may need to encourage labor when:
• the bag of waters has broken, and labor has not started,
or it has started but the birth is not near.
• the mother has been in active labor for several hours,
but the birth is not near.
• the mother has been in light labor for many hours
and the labor is active enough to keep her from
resting, but it is not strong enough to open the
cervix.
Do not try to encourage labor if there are warning signs, especially if the baby
is in an impossible birth position, if there is unusual bleeding, or if the baby’s
heartbeat is slower than 100 beats a minute. Get medical help.
Page 191 lists some very safe home methods to start or strengthen labor.
Those methods have little risk, so try them first. If those methods do not work,
and you cannot get medical help, try the methods listed on the following 3 pages
to strengthen labor.
Risks of these methods
The methods here can all be used at home, but they do have risks. The greatest risk
is that they may not work. Trying to encourage labor can waste precious time —
time that could have been used traveling to a medical center to get help. If these
methods do not work after an hour or 2, get medical help — even if it is very
far away.
There can also be risks from the method itself. For example, some plant
medicines strengthen labor but can also cause high blood pressure.
WARNING! Never use drugs (like oxytocin or misoprostol)
to start labor at home. These drugs can cause contractions
strong enough to kill the baby or the mother.
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A Book for Midwives (2010)