Homeopathy/Caullophylum To Induce Labor?

I was two weeks late with both my boys and had to be induced with pitocin, because I never even started labor AND my amniotic fluid had all leaked out with both boys. Anyway, I was also thinking of taking homeopathic medicine to try to avoid the whole pitocin thing, but I was strongly urged by a mid-wife (not my mid-wife) to reconsider and to talk to a professional who knew something about herbs before taking anything. Maybe because she was not hired by me, the mid-wife may have felt hesitant about recommending anything, because if something bad happened, she could have been liable...in any case, I would probably wait as long as you can to take anything. Some herbs can have bad effects on the baby. Black cohosh was mentioned by another mom, but I read online that it can be very dangerous to administer that on your own. Try walking a lot, maybe swimming, and visualizing the baby moving down. I also did acupuncture two times, but to no avail. Those were the longest two weeks of my life!!! Make sure the OB has good reason to induce, besides "being two weeks late". Since your due date could be off by a week or so, you may not necessarily be two weeks late. I had pregnancy induced hyper-tension with the first and was about to go there with my second, which is why they induced at two weeks. Well, that and the fact that the babies could have suffocated themselves by pressing against the umbilical cord due to no more amniotic fluid.I am sure your labor is just about to start! best of luck! and congrats!

I was in the same situation as you are - the acupuncture helped, but did not totally induce. I tried some herbs that my acupuncturist gave me - don't know what they were, but they didn't seem to change things. What did work was walking, getting a prenatal massage, and a pedicure. I'm serious! I really needed to relax after constantly trying to induce. I also was really concerned because I wanted to have a totally drug-free birth, and starting it with drugs was not the way I wanted it to go. I finally checked into the hospital with a really good plan - they gave me cervadil, a cervical softener as opposed to pitocin which induces contractions. The cervadil is supposed to take up to 12 hours to work (which is why I checked in the hospital in the evening). I was in full labor within 4 and didn't need pitocin! I went on to have a totally medical-free birth except for the cervadil.

The good news is that your cramping is most likely contractions, labor. I personally tried everything from black cohosh and evening primrose to spicy food. I was induced twice with pitocin. So I can say with great confidence that it is possible to have great experiences even with pitocin. Sorry I don't have any nonpitocin tips, but I do think you are in labor already.

Dear S.,

I would just wait. Most first babies are late (my son was a week late). Two weeks would be a little long, but not unheard of. If your water breaks and you don't go into labor, your doctor may need to use pitocin. My doctor used pitocin on me, but there was meconium present when my water broke, and he used pitocin after five hours when my labor hadn't started. He had to use it again an hour later because the first dose did not seem to have any effect at all.

Good luck! and be patient!

E.

Hi S.,
why do your OB want to induce your labor? A due date is actually an estimated due date, because nobody knows for sure when the conception exactly happened. I understand why you're trying to avoid pitocin induction. To me this kind of induction has only a meaning when there is a real danger, not just a potential risk.
There is many other ways to induce labor than pitocin, which by the way is not the same as the natural hormone oxytocin- as some OB or nurses say sometimes. A great way is sex and nipple's manipulation, that actually trigger the oxytocin, called the hormone of love, which also brings a pregnant woman of 9 months to have contractions.
I don't know much about homeopathy, but I used to work with a doula, who used it a lot, as well as herbal tincture.
I'm a mother myself and my son came 2 weeks past estimated due date. I had prodromal labor (ineffecient contractions a couple days before the effective and (for me) very painful contractions, with wich the whole process of giving birth starts.), but didn't use any medication or artificial induction.
I would recommend acupuncture as well as homeopathy, but with someone who knows about it.
I wish you a wonderful birth!