Help My Posterior Cervix Cooperate

[sdejje]

Hello Ladies!

I need your help. I am currently somewhere between 41 - 42 weeks and about to risk out of my homebirth. The baby seems to be in a good position, and I've been having tiny contractions off and on, but they don't seem to be doing anything. I think that the problem is that my cervix is still way posterior. This happened with my last baby, too, and I ended up in the hospital with pitocin after my water broke and I still didn't go into labor. I would REALLY like to avoid that this time.

Sooo...any tips on how to get my cervix to move down?

[XanaduMama]

I'd try a chiro adjustment to get baby into optimal position. It sounds to me as though s/he might not be in the best position to put pressure on the cervix. Lots of pelvic tilts (cat/cow) and crawling can help too.

You can also try the usual things...DTD, EPO to ripen the cervix, lots of walking.

[blissful_maia]

• Take 3 capsules of evening primrose oil (500mg each) orally and insert one vaginally (poke a hole in it with a clean pin and wear a pad to bed) before you go to bed at night.
• Have sex as much as you can. Semen is a rich source of prostaglandins, which will ripen/soften your cervix, and when you have an orgasm it can stimulate some strong contractions.
• You or dp can also (if your membranes are intact) do some cervical massage, internally with a clean hand. Just stretching and "walking the cervix forward" with two fingers can make a big difference if baby is in a good position.
• The Abdominal Lift and Tuck can be really helpful when you are already contracting irregularly at night, it can help bring the baby in line with your pelvis and make the contractions more effective at bringing your cervix forward/thinning.

Hope these help! I have had two well-cooked babies as well and remember the desperation!

[Juniperberry]

yup to everything blissful maia said ^^

Evening primrose oil is fantastic for ripening the cervix. You can put one 500mg twice vaginally/day...make sure you lie down for a while - messy otherwise.

I did a lot of cervical massage myself too and im sure it helped. Took me a while to actually find and reach it tho!

good luck and hang in there!!!

[mamatolevi]

don't forget nipple stim.

[spruce]

All my babies but one were over the 40-week mark...two were at 43weeks+!

Nipple stimulation (for at least 45 minutes, even if it irritates you), sex, walking, and what worked for me...

...is controversial...

I had a very posterior cervix days before the birth of my last (and only "on time") baby. (She was also my smallest, at 6lbs, 7oz). but it worked for that birth and for one other...

One shot glass vodka mixed with two shot glasses orange juiice and about 6oz castor oil. Not everyone goes for the vodka...or for the castor oil, but it helped me twice (I was in labor 5 hours later, had the babies within 5 hours after that). With the last baby, I had no signs of labor except that I *knew* she wanted to be born. I was right, her head was malpositioned, and I ended up spending half my labor with one foot higher than the other, doing different excercises recommended by my MW (homebirth). I also knew she had a problem when I did my own cervical check and found a cervical lip bigger than I knew they coiuld get. Luckily, I had read up, told my MW what I suspected, and she was able to push the lip (it was hugely swollen!) back, and I pushed my baby out in two pushes, with my dh and I catching together.

Good luck, and do what your intuition tells you to, not what mainstream healthcare tells you is okay.

Love, p

[sdejje]

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I've tried the castor oil, EPO, spicy foods - basically anything that can be ingested! I also walk a ton every day, just for the sake of staying in shape if nothing else. I tested strep +, so I'm trying to keep things out of there as much as possible.

I'm feeling fine, and the baby is still quite active, my only concern is risking out of homebirth due to dates. As I said before, the baby seems to be in a good position (this is #6 for me, and everything certainly feels right to me and my midwife), I think (s)he may just be a little to comfy in there!

I have a midwife appointment first thing tomorrow morning, hopefully she'll be okay with letting me go a little while longer (as long as the baby looks good).