What Can I Do to Prepare My Body For Labor?

Clients often ask us how they can prepare for labor. While there are many ways to prepare for labor itself (take a childbirth class, practice good breathing, go on walks, practice relaxation techniques, etc), there are many things you can do starting around Week 36 of your pregnancy to help your body to start to prepare for labor. Read on to find out how!

Eating Dates

Believe it or not, this one has research behind it! Eating dates has shown to potentially have you go into labor before you are post-dates and has the potential to make your labor shorter. Around Week 36, try to eat about 6 dates per day. You can eat them whole or you can bake with them. A lot of folks make muffins or cookies using the dates. You can also make a smoothie. If you prefer to eat them another way, eating a Lara bar is about the equivalent of eating 2-3 dates.

Drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea

Your uterus works very hard during labor. Each time you have a contraction, your uterus is working on squeezing your baby downward into your pelvis. Just like any muscle, your uterus is prone to getting tired after lots of contractions. You can help tone your uterine muscle by drinking red raspberry leaf tea. You can start drinking this at any point in your pregnancy…typically you can have a cup per day equal to what trimester you are in. So if you are in your 3rd trimester, you can have 3 cups of this tea each day. Protip: make a big batch of it and store it in your refrigerator. We hear it tastes better if you drink it cold.

Evening Primrose Oil (EPO)

As you get closer to labor, your cervix will start shortening, softening, and thinning out (effacement). One way to help your body do this is to use evening primrose oil. You can insert a capsule of it vaginally each day once you are 36 weeks. Some folks also take a capsule orally. If you do vaginal insertion, be sure to wear a pantiliner to protect your underwear from any oil that might leak out of you. Please note that using EPO is contraindicated for folks who have had prior Cesarean births.

Pumping

Pumping with a breast pump starting around 37 weeks may help ripen your cervix and get it labor-ready. If you have a breast pump, go ahead and unbox it. Wash and sanitize all the parts. Once the parts are dry, get ready to use your pump. Talk to your care provider about how often you should pump and whether or not you should only pump one breast at at time. Pumping make help release oxytocin, which is the hormone that causes contractions. This is not recommended for anyone with a high risk pregnancy.

Sex

Have some fun with your partner (or yourself). Having an orgasm will cause a huge release of oxytocin. If you have intercourse, semen will help ripen and thin your cervix. Plus, this has the side beneft of you being able to connect with your partner and, oh look, that means more oxytocin! Huzzah!

Perineal Massage

This one won’t help you go into labor but it might help you have a decrease in the chance of your perineal tissue tearing during birth. The American Pregnancy Association has a great tutorial of how you can do this yourself and directions for your partner to do the perineal massage for you. You can start this massage around Week 36 of your pregnancy. Of note, there is some newer research saying that doing this massage too much may actually increase your risk of tearing. Try to limit this activity to just a couple of times per week.

We hope this helps to give you a few ideas of some things you can do to help your body prepare for labor. Please be sure to check with your care provider before doing any of these suggestions.