How to Naturally Induce Labor

You are pregnant and you're past your due date. You don't want to have your doctor medically induce labor because you're not quite convinced that's good for the baby. Enough time might not even have passed since your expected delivery date for a doctor to consider inducing labor. But you're unhappy to admit that you'd kind of like to get that baby out of you. Yes, you know that's not really a motherly thing to say. But it's true. The baby has been growing inside of you for nine months now and you're ready to introduce it to the world.

So how do you convince the baby that it's time to come greet the world? The first thing that you need to do is to relax. Babies have been being born for much longer than medical doctors have been predicting due dates. Your baby will probably emerge from your body when he/she is ready. That's going to be a lot sooner if you're relaxed and ready yourself instead of impatient and anxious. Unless your doctor has given you any reason to assume otherwise, assume that your baby is healthy and fine despite being behind schedule. Meditate, indulge yourself with kindness and surround yourself with people who love you. Being relaxed and as stress-free as possible is going to make the labor happen more quickly and go more smoothly.

Once you've gotten yourself in the right, relaxed state of mind, there are a few other things that you can do to induce labor naturally. The most effective (and commonly suggested) way of doing this is by doing something that you wanted to do nine months ago but probably don't really want to do right now: have sex. If you're still with the baby's father or some other male sexual partner, you want to gently get his semen inside of you. That's because it contains a hormone that can be labor-inducing. This is most effective if you have sex on your back (with him in the kneeling or standing position and not on your belly) and remain on your back after the sex is over. Have your partner stimulate you to orgasm to further encourage the onset of labor. Your hormones and your partner's together have a good chance of inducing labor naturally.

Not in the mood for sex? That's okay, there are other methods of inducing labor naturally that don't require you to get naked and get hormones into you. Simple changes to your diet and very mild exercise are other methods that women commonly use to induce labor naturally. Get off your back and walk around. Ride a stationary bike or enjoy some mild water aerobics. Don't go all out. Make sure to stay in touch with your body so that you're aware of what's going on at all times. After exercise, make sure that you get plenty of water. Then further encourage inducing labor by eating some tropical fruit (such as pineapple) which some women have reported to have the effect of inducing labor naturally.

Sex, food and eating right. They're the basic components of a healthy life (as is rest) and they're the factors most likely to convince your baby that life is something to get out here and enjoy. Follow the links below for additional information about these tips as well as for additional tips on inducing labor naturally. And, of course, make sure that you've spoken with your doctor about any attempts that you're planning to make to induce labor on your own.