I'm afraid of castor oil

[nandodianenicole]

So my due date was Wed--it's come and gone. Nothing is happening, I am just a fingertip dialated. Well, I've been out of work for 2 weeks and they are already paying me my STD and I am now due to go back in 14 weeks vs 16. I am running out of precious time with the baby. My DH's birthday is tomorrow and it would be soooo cool to have a baby on his b-day--not to mention I am hoping he is still here for the birth (may have to go to Europe to see dad who is having surgery (no date yet)-- my midwife said if I wanted to try castor oil, that it would be the surest way to bring on labor. But I am afraid. Everything I read involves Diahrea (sp?). I know I have an awful hemmoroid that flames up at diahrea..... Also read that the baby can pass meconium sometimes with the castor oil. Do I really want to do this? I am going to try pumping tonight and tomorrow morning and see if that works, but anyone have experience with castor oil? Would you try it? Any other suggestions?

[Yummymummy74]

I have never used it and personally would not.
The idea is not even remotely appealing to me no matter how desperate I get.
I would take pit before castor oil..

[Full Heart]

I am 41+1 now and I don't care how far I get I am not resorting to castor oil. Yes I have done it. 3 times. Yes it gave me diahreah all 3 times. The last time it dehydrated me, which caused my labor to be incredibly painful and I passed out twice after the birth. I don't recommend castor oil.

The meconium thing is debatable. Since 20% or so of babies pass mec at term and that number goes up post dates (which you aren't) and women are more likely to use castor oil post dates there is some debate on the cause and effect. It could also be that that induced contractions are stronger and cause fetal distress, but castor oil can't cross the placenta to cause a bowel movement.

I understand the anticipation and worry and timing thing. I really do (this is my 7th pg past my edd). But I wouldn't do the hard stuff till I was really overdue. Try some accupressure, sex, walking, eggplant, pineapple. At least then you wil know you did everything you could do.

[MrsTC]

How about prostaglandins from your dh? How about Evening Primrose Oil, taken orally and inserted vaginally? How about orgasm? How about eating something that excites your bowels otherwise naturally (ie mexican food or indian food)...something you'll at least enjoy on the way down? How about having those accupressure spots stimulated that are on your feet and ankles (ie, a pedicure and tell the tech to go at it)?

I was going to try castor oil with my first and set it out where I could see it every time I walked through the house for the days before I was going to take it and I ended up going into labor the night before the first scheduled doseage. I think my body registered the threat .

What are you more worried about, the effects of the castor oil or the potential wait time you could have if you don't use it?

[deuxceleste]

Friend of mine did the castor oil thing... she hated it.
This is my first pg, so I've got no first hand experience to speak of. But I stress... She HATED it.

[kerikadi]

I wouldn't do it either. I just can't imagine having contractions on top of intestinal cramps not to mention being dehydrated! It just sounds like an absolutely miserable way to spend labor.

Keri

[amj'smommy]

Originally Posted by kerikadi

I wouldn't do it either. I just can't imagine having contractions on top of intestinal cramps not to mention being dehydrated! It just sounds like an absolutely miserable way to spend labor.

Keri

same here... s I've been "overdue" with all 3 dc and most likely will be with this one. Technically you're not overdue until your 42 weeks. I so know it's hard but just be patient, your body know when its ready... you won't be pregnant forever... I promise

[momto l&a]

not from your birth month.

I have used castor oil and enjoyed it.

Not sure it worked though. I took 2 doses because the first didnt do anything. Second I got bh and a couple hours after they stopped the real stuff started. The baby was born an hour later.


It was the first time I didn't have problems having a bm in the days following a birth

[Mavournin]

Look, castor oil tastes gross. Really gross. But if you can get past it and drink it, it could be worth your while. I tried with my first pregnancy and I couldn't keep it down. But last time I took it, and Ds was born less than 12 hours later. It took a few hours for labor to start, but then it went really quick. He was OP, but it was still a far easier birth than my first. I had no intestional cramps, and actually few trips to the bathroom. No diarrhea. I agree with the PP, it made the first few pp bms much easier too.

I highly recommend that if you are going to do it to follow a few guidelines.
1. DO NOT mix the drink yourself. Have your Dh do it.
2. My recipe includes lots of ice (LOTS), OJ, and some fresh orange peel all blended together. The orange peel cuts the oil some and gives it a nice aroma.
3. Drink it with a straw. This bypasses most of your tastebuds.
4. Keep it really cold. At room temp, it's just greasy IMO. But when really cold I could drink it and not smell it as much either.

[Marlet]

Saw this on new posts nd wanted to chime in. I did castor oil with DD. My guidelines would be to:

1. Make it into a fruit smoothie shake. I tried doing it with eggs and orange juice and no...it is not a good thing to mix with those. I bought fresh raspberries and blackberries and threw those with some vanilla ice cream and milk into a blender and mixed it all up. THEN I added the castor oil and mixed that in. You can still feel the texture of it but it masks the taste of it pretty well (and the smell...I think castor oil smells like cranyons.) Eat a piece of bread afterwards...it helps soak up any residual oil in your mouth/throat.

2. Take it at the end of the day. I took min at about 10 pm and was able to get a full nights sleep before things started happening. I did wake up to go pee but that was normal. I DIDN'T have diarrhea. I think I am in the minority here though.

3. Be prepared for a fast labour. Mine was 9 hours. Also, know what position the baby is in. My DD was face up and I think with the quickness of the labour she didn't have time to turn. Labour with a face up babe is NOT fun.

As for the meconium...it's hard to get good statistics on it. Most women are already post dates when they decide to use meconium and that alone increases that chance. It's hard to say whether the majority of castor oil induced babes have meconium because of the castor oil or because of the post dates or due to the combination of. DD did not have any.

[Cuau]

Not from your ddc, but have something to say.

I was about to use castor oil as last option, I even went to the store to get it. We tried intercourse one night, and then next morning we tried nipple stimulation, it was too awkward so I used a pump, it worked wonders.

good luck!

[warrior mama]

caster oil :Puke
i tried it with no effect, just a bit of diarrhea.
it tastes gross as well

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

I wouldn't use it, but then i've never been overdue. I hardly ever drink water so get dehydrated a lot so it wouldn't take much in the way of bouts of diareah and sickness to make me too weak to give birth. I've heard it only works if your body is actually ready to go , which imo defeats the purpose cos if your body is ready then it will go in to labour by its self. I would also refuse induction too though, even though here they tell you if your haveing hb your only "allowed" to go over by 10 days.
soz going off there castor sounds gross :Puke

[kdlizmama]

I used castor oil with DS. I was two weeks overdue and planed to give birth at a freestanding birth center, and since anything past two weeks is considered high risk, I would have gone to a hosptal so I was really desperate too.

For me it was not a great experience. Not only was it really gross, taste and texture, it gave me horrible diarreah, and it didn't bring on labor. I ended up going past two weeks and being induced with pitocin in the hospital a few days later. However, I would have to say the pit was definitely the worse of the two for me. It may have been worth it had it worked, but for me it just made the last few days before giving birth kind of miserable.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by kerikadi

I wouldn't do it either. I just can't imagine having contractions on top of intestinal cramps not to mention being dehydrated! It just sounds like an absolutely miserable way to spend labor.

Keri

I agree. I have been overdue 4 out of 5 times now and working on #6........I would NEVER take caster oil no matter what!

[tuffykenwell]

I have taken castor oil twice once with both of my DDs (the second was born yesterday). Personally I mix 2 ounces castor oil with vanilla icecream and orange juice and blend it in a blender. It is a bit oily tasting but the castor oil doesn't actually have a flavor so once it is emulsified with the icecream and orange juice it is fine (but again a bit oily). With second DD I added some strawberries and frozen banana to the mix.

It worked for me both times and since I am a VBAC I get a lot of grief for being post dates and quite frankly I can't handle the pressure cooker so I get a bit freaked out when I go post dates every time (first DD was 7 days overdue and second DD was 6 days overdue).

This time I also did an accupuncture induction twice and my practitioner gave me some moxa sticks to apply to my hands and feet accupuncture points over the weekend. I went into real labour right after applying the first "dose" of moxa sticks which I did about 45 minutes after ingesting the castor oil.

Castor oil isn't a guarantee though. If your babe is in a bad position it may not start labour but just give you diarhea so use with caution. I didn't find it induced violent diarhea though I did use the bathroom more frequently definitely.

So anyway, it worked for me but YMMV. Personally I would choose castor oil over Pitocin any day because at least with Castor Oil I am mobile whereas with Pitocin I would be strapped to a monitor with very limited mobility (besides C/O has worked for me twice and Pitocin failed me once resulting in a c-section so I have a bit of a bias that way).

Steph

[mamafish9]

It would be the last thing I would try before hospital induction. A friend of mine ended up with her cervix swollen shut by all the diarrhea from trying castor oil, so she had to have a c-section . Works fine for some people, but I've heard way more bad stories than with most anything else you can try at home.

I hear you on not wanting to miss precious time with your baby, but maybe you can think of these last days pg as time with your baby too : .

[Yo Becca]

I was scared of CO also when I was pulling out all the stops to avoid an induction with DD (it was scheduled for the next day due to a sudden fluid drop). I had been doing EPO, RRL tea, pineapple, eggplant, homeopathic regimens of blue and black cohash, massage with accupressure, nipple stim, etc. (I was pretty laid back until the 42 week mark approached, then pulled out all the stops when they scheduled to induce me). So the thing that did it for me was sex x2, oral sex x1 (to ingest prostaglandins) and my "last resort"...an enema, all in about a 2-3 hour span. I went into labor. I would do an enema before castor oil anyday - at least it's localized - but really never want to do one again. And, in all likelyhood, my sudden drop in fluid was a precursor to labor beginning anyway, so who knows if my efforts had anything to do with it...

And I ended up receiving pitocin anyway due to a several-hours long stall...I'd do a lot to avoid it, including castor oil. Fortunately, I'm homebirthing this time, so I don't have the pressure of the ticking clock, and I feel very fortunate to not have this pressure again.

[ktmelody]

Not really in your DDC, although my April baby will be born in March.
You can try quinine water. It is in most tonic water that you can get at the store. I drank one bottle of it and was in labor in a few hours. No pooping, no gross taste (well strong taste but not gross).
Plus it helps with leg cramps too. The bottle will clearly state that it has quinine in it.
Could not help to try.....primose oil can help too.

[nandodianenicole]

Thanks for all the responses.... I am still preggo here. So far there is not mention of induction, I am seeing some pretty cool midwives, I am planning on delivering at a Birthcenter which I had DD in and I also volunteer for, so unless I go way over dates, I cant see them making me go to the hospital.
We decided to just wait and see and then if the time approaches, to start some interventions like nip stim and others. My freind did give me some eve primose capsules, maybe will take those (I know I will forget just like the prenatal vits ) will try to have lots of sex too. Think I am staying away from the castor oil at this time.