Preparing my body for a pre-term natural labour

[Athravil]

Header may sound strange, but due to pregnancy cholestasis I expect to be induced in week 37. This happened in my last pregnancy as well and I had a very hard and difficult labour, although a short one. I had a big baby - 4kg (ca. 8 pounds) and she suffered from the labour.

Due to this I am dreading my next labour and I am working closely with my midwife and a hospital midwife on how to best cope with all that happened. We have talked a lot and I have received a lot of support and recognition of my feelings about my last labour and the part the hospital played in it.

I am dreading a new induction and I am not too eager about c-section, though it does sound safer at the moment. And, I am not risking my baby's life with waiting for labour to start on its own after week 38 - due to size and especially with high risk of death due to the cholestasis problem.

So far we have agreed that I will not go longer than week 38 and if labour has not started naturally by then I will have a planned c-section. We also agreed that we would do as much as possible to make my body start labour on its own before this. Preparing it with acupuncture and midwife will try to "trigger" the uterus manually. I have also read about raspberry leaves, so that is also something I would like to try.

Do you ladies have further ideas that I can investigate and suggest to my midwife?

I would so dearly like to experience a labour the way it is supposed to be and not the nightmare I had last. I also believe that my body is "ripe" to have an early labour as I had a 2 finger opening when they induced me last


Thank you for all suggestions that you may have!

[mamaonthefarm]

Hi-
Just wanted to offer support. I had mild cholestasis with my first baby (and did not have cholestasis with babies 2, 3, or this one, 4 - I'm 35 wks along) Are you itching like crazy?
I also wanted everything as natural as possible with my cholestasis baby. You could try to old-fashioned induction methods like evening primrose, sex, lots of walking, lots of red rasp. leaf tea, ... I had an induction at 38 wks with my cholestasis baby but it turned out that all I needed was my water to be broken and not all that pitocin crap. I ended up having an otherwise natural labor (despite the induction) and it was fast and seamless.
Out of curiosity, did they diagnose you via bile acids / liver panel or solely by your degree of itchiness?
Good luck to you!!

[sanguine_speed]

I do not know how you can induce labour naturally--many women try, but if your baby isn't ready I'm not sure there is any magic bullet.

However, I do want to offer my support. I had an induction that went very badly with my first labour. I have heard from other women though that subsequent inductions can be very different from first ones, which is a very similar scenario to spontaneous labours. Could you perhaps allow yourself to try a medically-induced induction at 38 weeks with the knowledge that you could choose a c-section if things didn't progress well again? I'm not really sure what your cut-off would be or what your care provider would allow, but if they're willing to allow you to have a c-section without a labout trial to start with, I imagine they'd be willing to allow you a c-section after a trail of labour?

[Athravil]

Thanks for your support!

I am itching, but not like crazy yet, thankfully, as I am only 27 weeks. They found high bile acids before Christmas and I was put on medication immediately. Later blood-work has been normal and I am off medication at the moment, but the bile acids are monitored roughly twice a month.

My hospital induce at week 37 if/when high bile acids are detected and have a very low tolerance policy of "wait and see". And I do appreciate that as I am afraid for my baby's life.

My midwife suspects that my body/uterus is ready for an early delivery as I am small and I am having big babies since I was pretty much ready to go when I was induced two years ago. So the theory we're trying for is to do as much as we/I can to prepare my body/uterus for labour as early as possible and that leading me to react to acupuncture and other "natural" induction options. If this will work... well, time will show.

I am more "keen" on a planned c-section as the risks are lower than after labour actually has started leading the body and baby to be in a more stressed situation. I also would be able to be awake and the father be present during a planned c-section. After labour has started it is considered a high risk surgery with general anesthesia and the father waiting dead scared outside.

Basically, I would like this to be as good an experience as possible, as the last one was not, either it is a fully natural labour or a planned c-section. Things may not go as planned, but at least I can look forward to this birth and prepare my self better than being scared witless...

[at_the_hip]

what about trying to get labor going with a foley catheter?

[Cetan Luta]

Blue and black cohosh can really help get things started sometimes, especially if you have prepped your cervix with evening primrose for a couple of weeks before hand. It's been awhile since I've used it, so I don't remember the exact dosages. Your midwives may know, or you could look online. Sometimes you can find a good labor tincture with it at your local health food store. HTH

[kalamos23]

I highly recommend evening primrose oil capsules up near the cervix - it helps efface you which will then help you dilate.

[GuavaGirl]

What dosage do you recommend?

[Athravil]

Thank you all!

Some I have heard mentioned before, but a lot is new. It is good to have them all in one thread and I have a lot of research to do.

[freistms]

If you haven't considered it yet, perhaps consider hypnosis. Hypnobabies has a Baby Come Out script.

[horsecrazy100]

I second the Hypnobirthing to remain calm. I am currently taking a class with my husband on it, and we've really learned a lot! You can buy the book and CDs yourself, but the key is to practice!