Tips for Labor: Let Your Baby Pick Their Birthday

I get asked often if I am a fan of inductions and the answer would be no, however, I am not against induction either. I recognize that they have a place in some situations. So I will not be talking about the draw backs of inductions (why tell you what I don't like, when I can tell you what I do like). However, I will be talking about the benefits of letting your baby pick their birthday.

1st I would like to address those who are getting medically necessary or optional c-sections (not to be confused with an emergency c-section)

If you are having a "scheduled" c-section it can still be benificial to let your baby pick their own birthday. Unless you have a very specific condition where you cannot allow yourself to go into labor or where the baby needs to be taken early, allowing your body to begin labor on its own will help for many reasons.

1) Our bodies produce hormones that help with pain manegement. Since a c-section is major surgery it is always helpful to have as many things as possible helping to control the pain. If your body was not yet ready to have the baby then those hormones won't be in place and you won't get the benifit of them.
2) Ultrasounds, and other forms of measurements for due dates are extremely unreliable. Unless you know for sure the day the embryo implanted there is no way to know for sure just how far along your baby is. However, if you wait until you are in labor you will know your baby is ready. (Also keep in mind 40 weeks is just an average, some women carry shorter and others carry longer.)
3) For most babies "baking" longer in the "oven" does not create any problems. And only has benefits: such as them being bigger and stronger and being more developed.
4) It is possible that some conditions will resolve themselves by the time you are in labor. An example of this would be a breech baby. Some babies do not turn to the head down position until labor begins. While breech is not technically a medical reason for a c-section I recognize that many doctors and midwives will not allow vaginal births for breech babies. So if that is the reason for your scheduled c-section waiting until you are in labor will allow you to see if the baby does indeed turn head down. (However, if you can find a medical professional who will at least give you a trial of labor with a breech baby and you want to give that a shot I think that is even better...but that's just my personal opinion)

2nd If you are choosing to have a schedule induction for whatever reason, please at least wait until 39 weeks. The March of Dimes has more information on why waiting at least that long is vital if at all possible.


3rd If you get to 40+ weeks and still have not had your baby here are some reasons to keep waiting:
1)Spontaneous labor happens when a viraety of hormones begin to work together to help your body birth your baby. Inductions only utilize a few of these hormones which means you miss out on the other hormones benefits.
2) EDD's are notoriously inaccurate. Accidental premies are no fun.
3) Induction without a medical indication greatly increases the chance of c-section. According to ScienceDaily.Com  "Induction of labor for non-recognized indications was associated with a 67% increased relative risk of cesarean section (compared with spontaneous labor).

It also significantly increased the chance of the infant requiring Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nursery care (an increased relative risk of 64%) or treatment (an increased relative risk of 44%) when compared with the spontaneous labor onset."

4) Development continues to take place while the baby is in the womb. They will never get to be in the womb again, so why not give them all the time they need.

-Of course I am not a medical professional. I am a doula, so I can only give advice on options, I cannot give medical advice. Please do not take this post in place of medical advice. This post should only serve as an encouragement to ask questions of your medical professional and do what is best for you and your baby. This post should encourage you to look into your options and find the support you need for the birth you want. However, some situations do not allow for many options and it that case it is best to make peace with the situation given to you. If you are in need of support for the decisions you are making for your birth a doula can help with that. They can also help is you need to come to terms/peace with a medical birth procedure that is not ideal. If you are looking for a doula in the West Texas region please feel free to contact me. And of course always feel free to email me with questions no matter where you live. 

-The Cowgirl Doula