Idea to Kickstart Labor

There are all sorts of old wives' tales she can look up online, but unfortunately, it's not going to happen until her body is ready (speaking as someone who went 9 days overdue with her first).

My mother's cooking,lol, I went into labor within 30 minutes, 2 differnt times. It just happened to be stir fry.

Lol Julie. Even Pitocin isn't a sure thing... I was sent home after 10 hours of induced labor (because of blood pressure issues I was having) when I was a week post-due, and baby girl baked another 3 days!

Other than that... I would advise SIL not to try to start her labor early... It has been shown that Baby's lungs will release a signal telling Mom's body to start labor when they reach their full development... So, unless there is a medical reason to hurry it up, she really shouldn't be trying to. Those last few days suck, but the baby will come when it is ready.

Whatever she does, do NOT let her do the castor oil trick! I have a cousin who is a L/D nurse, and she has had several mothers who wound up with raging diarrhea and stomach cramps... A few of them did go into labor, but it was anything but pleasant. (Labor is bad enough without hose particular side effects!) I am happy to see that no one has recommended that one yet!

Baby will make it clear when it's done cooking and is ready to face the world!
A due date is just a guess. It is *Estimated* Due Date, not an expiration date. An estimated due date uses averages and generalizations. It assumes that every women has a perfect cycle of 28 days and ovulated and conceives on exactly day 14 and a baby takes exactly 40 weeks from the first day of your last menstrual cycle to fully develop. This is not a set in stone given for every women. Take me for instance. My cycles are more like 21-24 days and I ovulate around 10-ish days, but have ovulated as early as 6 days from the first day of my menstrual cycle. My 3 children were born at 38 weeks and 4 days, 38 weeks and 5 days and 38 weeks. All 100% naturally with no interference. They were all full term and no problems. Some women go longer than 40 weeks because they conceived later than day 14 or baby needs a little longer to develop and be strong enough to thrive once born.
Unless mother or baby are showing signs of ill health there is no reason to artificially speed up anything. Everything people will tell you are old wives tales anyway. My OB took it upon herself to strip my membranes without my knowledge or consent with my first at 36 weeks. I went on to carry 2 more weeks. He wasn't ready.
Those last days are horrible. You so want it to just be done with already. You're so uncomfortable. But it's the best thing to give baby as much time as it needs so it gets the best start to life possible.

My oldest son was 20 days late (we were positive about the due date), he weighed 7lbs7oz at birth. Had he been born "on time" he would have only been just over 4lbs. Babies are born when they are meant to be born. I'm sure *she* feels done, but that baby isn't until he or she is ready to be born.

Baby comes when baby comes.

She could try sex.

My idea is to tell her to let it happen naturally. If you try to "kick start it" before the baby is actually ready to start labor him/herself then you risk an under-developed baby. A due date is an estimate. Your sister could go to 42 weeks and that would be normal for the baby, who may need all of that time for lungs and heart and everything else to develop properly.

This isn't about your sister's wishes or comfort but the baby's needs. If your sister has medical issues and feels she needs an early delivery she should talk to her OB.

It's too bad people are actually giving advice in order to encourage labor in a baby that's clearly not ready. It will happen.

Pitocin.

Seriously everything else is wives tales that don't actually work.

Could have been sheer coincidence, but I drank red raspberry leaf tea a few days before labor for two of my kids, and I went into labor on my own at 38 or 39 weeks. I didn't drink it before baby#2 was born, and I had to be induced.

Just make sure it is red raspberry LEAF tea, and not raspberry tea.

I don not recommend this for NOW, but only if she goes *significantly* past her due date...

I was ten days past due and working with homebirth midwives. We monitored the baby with non-stress tests and at ten days, I went to a midwife acupuncturist who did a gyn check to determine dilation/effacement and received an acupuncture induction. She suggested eating beets, which I did. I had the induction at 4 pm or so, birthed my son at home 12 hours later. I want to be clear-- this midwife had a real special knack for this and had a much higher success rate than most acu inductions--maybe 25% of them usually take, and not every acupuncturist will do this. But it is one option. Otherwise, I say, let that baby keep on cooking... due dates are so iffy. We had actually pushed my due date forward on the calendar so it was about five days later than what the ultrasound doc suggested. Glad we did it... Kiddo had a great apgar and all was well. He was ready, we just needed that little oomph!

Chiropractors, acupunturists and reflexologists have techniques to encourage labor. she might want to visit one of these professionals.

deep knee squats worked great for me

there are trigger points on the bottom of your feet, get a pedicure

Nothing worked, my kiddo was 10 days late. However, I used some homeopathics and blue and black cohosh (ONLY use under care of licensed midwife or medical practitioner), and I credit those for getting me ready to deliver naturally (VBAC). So even if the methods that cause contractions don't "work" as far as getting baby out NOW (sex, walking, spicy food, eggplant, black licorice, etc), they will help her body get ready for the big show :)

Lot's of walking and going up and down stairs.
That's what the nurses at the hospital recommended.
My pelvis bones were loose and my hip joints were grinding the whole last month so walking and stairs were painful agony for me.

I have had 4 kids and only went into labor once on my own. For the 3 I was induced. Would go through 2+ bags of petosin and have the doctor forcibly break my water before finally going into active labor - I was thankful I had midwives and they worked with me because many doctors would have ordered a c-section. There is nothing wrong with c-sections and sometimes they are literally life savers but I wanted to have my babies natural if at all possible.

The only time I went into labor on my own was after an appointment on my due date. Because it was my due date the midwife "stripped my membranes". It was slightly painful and made me bleed but I went into labor that night.