Many pregnant women, as they approach their expected due date, being looking for ways to induce labor. At the 41 week mark it’s been a hard job and there are many options available to women at such a stage in pregnancy.

There are in essence two main ways to induce labor - let the doctor do it, or try it yourself.

For those women looking for home based ways to induce labor, there are many different options.

Relaxation - Stress is harmful to everyone’s body, even more so to a pregnant woman’s. Are you psyching yourself out or working too hard? This could be delaying your labor. Labor will not start if you’re stressed By learning about ways to induce labor, you have begun the process of gaining more control.

Physical Movement - Labor requires that the baby be in a proper position. In some cases, just doing light physical exercise like jogging or swimming is enough to get the unborn child to descend.

Food Remedies - Some women are adamant that eating a spicy plate of Mexican or Thai food induced labor. Some research also suggests that special enzymes in pineapples or mangoes can cause the ripening of your cervix. This can bring on labor. If you consider yourself a gourmand, this is one of the more enjoyable ways to induce labor!

Acupressure - Based on the traditional Chinese ideas of health, acupressure involves applying slight pressure to specific parts on your body. Surprisingly over 75% of women in studies go into labor within 48 hours after proper acupressure. This method is one of the best labor induction methods you can do and has the additional benefit of providing labor pain relief.

Nipple Stimulation - As mentioned before, when doctors learn how to induce labor, they frequently use a drug called pitocin since it often begins contractions in pregnant women. What they don’t tell you though is that pitocin is just a synthetic version of the hormone oxytocin - a chemical women make daily. To cause the release of this hormone for yourself, many mothers rub their nipples. This can often bring on elevated levels of oxytocin in your body which can start contractions.

Just a friendly reminder: If you have problems or think something is seriously wrong, please talk to your doctor or midwife about your concerns.

As you can see, expecting mothers have many different ways to induce labor at their disposal. Be it a medical method or a natural method, either way is trying to jumpstart contractions. In many cases it is successful and you can be a mom in a few days!