I can’t tell you how many women I’ve talked to over the years who fully intended to have a natural, medication free birth only to end up with an epidural or worse, a C-section, when their labor was late getting started.
This happens because obstetricians typically get really antsy when pregnancies go past their due date. Women prefer to induce labor naturally, but practitioners sometimes offer only drug based solutions. Since up to 10% of all pregnancies are late, this is a very common challenge women can potentially face.
Even when a pregnant woman is only a few days late, the nagging about getting labor induced usually begins along with all the fear based reasons why she should agree to pitocin right away.
“Your baby could be stillborn!”
“The placenta could fail and your baby be brain damaged!”
“The baby could get too big and you would have to have a C-section (OBs say this without ever telling the patient that accepting pitocin is itself a big risk factor for C-section!)”
Fear is a very effective strategy to get a patient to do what they want, and knowingly or not, many doctors use this to their advantage.
The problem is, once a woman accepts one intervention, in this case, pitocin, she has perhaps unwittingly boarded the freight train to a completely medicated, interventionist birth.
Do OBs know this when they are pushing for pitocin?
Of course they do.
It is well known that pitocin induced labor contractions are much more painful than natural contractions and very few women are able to withstand the pain without medication such as an epidural.
Pitocin = Epidural = C-Section
This is a common progression of events once a woman makes the first mistake and accepts just a little pitocin “to nudge things along”.
It is imperative for women seeking a natural birth to avoid induction at all costs as pitocin is a dangerous drug which has the very real chance of putting your baby in distress greatly increasing the risk of a C-section. Making the decision whether or not to induce is in no way insignificant.
This from the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA):
Pitocin can cause a tumultuous, difficult labor and tetanic contractions, rupture of the uterus and dehiscence of a uterine scar, lacerations of the cervix, retained placenta, or postpartum hemorrhage. Postpartum perineal and pelvic floor pain is increased as a result of augmented uterine contractions. Fetal complications might include fetal asphyxia and neonatal hypoxia, physical injury, and neonatal jaundice. The use of Pitocin also might be a factor in cerebral palsy, due to oxygen deprivation, and autism in the child.
Avoiding Pitocin with Acupuncture
My first pregnancy went past the 42 week mark so I know firsthand the stress that an overdue pregnancy can cause.
I was very much concerned that I would have to be induced and I was well aware of the dangers of pitocin.
Even though I was receiving prenatal care from midwives at a birthcenter who in no way pressured me to induce, they did tell me that the law in my state would require me to be seen by an OB and possibly admitted to the hospital for induction, labor and delivery if I went much past the 42 week mark.
Using the typical, natural methods to get labor started such as herbs, evening primrose oil, lots of walking etc was not working quickly enough and using castor oil as a last ditch effort was not very appealing to me.
Fortunately, my family doctor at the time was an MD as well as a doctor of Chinese medicine and she suggested I use acupuncture to induce.
Acupuncture to induce labor? What a great idea!
This is apparently a pretty common thing in China.
I immediately knew that this was absolutely the right way to go, so I made an appointment with the acupuncturist my doctor recommended who made house calls to come over that evening.
If I recall correctly, the acupuncturist used only 4 needles. I don’t remember exactly where he put the needles but of course it didn’t hurt at all and I was completely relaxed during the entire procedure.
He told me that the treatment would stimulate oxytocin to be produced, which is the natural hormone that initiates labor.
He also told me that labor should begin within 48 hours.
Shortly after the treatment I noticed that the spot at the top of the bridge of my nose between my eyebrows was quite tender if I pressed it. This is the spot also known as the third eye where Indian women frequently wear an identifying mark.
I found it very curious that this spot was tender as it had never been tender ever before. I pressed it lightly with my fingers and noticed that when I did so, I had a painless Braxton-Hicks contraction.
Figuring that this spot must be an important acupressure point of some kind that would faciliate labor, I continued to lightly press this tender spot periodically over the next 24 hours and continued to notice contractions occurring shortly after.
The next afternoon I went in to be checked by my midwife to see how things were progressing if at all.
She discovered that I was a full 4cm dilated!
She told me that labor would be starting shortly and to go home and make sure everything was ready to go.
Sure enough, that night labor started and my first child was born 9 hours later with no medication or intervention required. What’s really interesting is that the third eye acupressure spot was no longer tender immediately after my son was born.
What’s even more interesting is that with my subsequent 2 pregnancies, that third eye spot always got tender right before and during labor and delivery even though my second and third children were born pretty much on their due dates and I never needed to use acupuncture again.
Despite the effectiveness of using acupuncture to induce labor, it seems that this method is not typically considered or even well known at least in the United States.
Why not?
My hope is that more women will come to know about the use of acupuncture as a safe, natural, and effective method to induce labor and forgo dangerous intervention with pitocin.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: The Truth About Pitocin
Oh this is such good advice!
I was induced for my first child and as a result got a swollen Bartholin’s gland which was extremely painful after the birth. It must have been a reaction to my body having been taken over by a medical team with my wellbeing low on their list of priorities.
For my second child I persuaded my OB to add on a week (late ovulation, you know my cycle is long etc. and it can’t have been then etc. ) I think he knew I was playing for time, but he went along with it and sure enough according to last period dates baby was born at 42 weeks and 3 days (UNHEARD of here in France, where they are extremely interventionist!). I did acupuncture twice and the second time it worked, or I was about to go into labour anyhow… Who knows?!
For my 3rd child we moved to the UK but on arrival I gave my French due date which I had also “negotiated” and which is at 41 weeks, whereas the UK one is at 40 weeks so I gained a week, phew! TWO weeks breathing space for baby to decide to come on his OWN. Contrary to the other two labours he arrived at 40 weeks and 2 days, but on paper it was 38 weeks and 2 days. Who cares? I breastfed my toddler to kick a slow labour off and boy did that work, baby number 3 was born 15 mins after I arrived at hospital. NO intervention, no monitor system, no stirrups. I marched in, pacing like a madwoman, gave birth standing up, no sign of a rip or tear and was out the next morning! A DREAM!
I would like to add that I was healthy, under 30 and had NO complications (and unlike Sarah I had ultrasounds so doctors weren’t concerned in any way about how my babies were coming on). I don’t advise dishonesty but some professionals can be talked into allowing us the space and freedom we need to go into labour on our own. It’s a basic right that needs defending.
Well done Sarah, once again!
My second child was 1 wk past due and I was receiving the threat of induction by my Dr. My husband and I went home from the Drs. and used Moxa Sticks over the pressure points that typically induce labor and sure enough, 2 hrs. later I was in labor and 4 hrs. later my son was born! Acupuncture and acupressure definitely deserve more recognition! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thank you for this Sarah–my first baby was a very long labor, I went through about 20 hours of painful contractions only to reach 4 cm. I was committed to a drug free birth, but my ob (who had disagreed with my birth plan of no drugs from the start) told me point blank “if you don’t get an epidural, you’re going to be too tired when the time comes to push and we’ll have to do a c-section”. Had I known more about natural birthing and how it works, I might have argued. But I agreed. Epidural administered, and another 12 hours of labor ensued. She came to check me at that point and I was at 9cm, but “we’re going to administer Pitocin anyway to make sure you get the rest of the way there.” Again, had I been more savvy (and less exhausted) I might have argued. But I didn’t. After 2 1/2 hours of pushing my baby girl finally came out–completely blue and not breathing. The trauma team was called in and they gave her oxygen for a full 2 minutes before she breathed on her own.
I had always wondered why she came out like that–she had been fine, no distress measured in even the minute or two before. Reading your post is the first time I heard that Pitocin can cause that kind of reaction in a baby. It makes me FURIOUS to think my ob caused that distress to my daughter and I was too stupid to stop her from administering a drug that was completely useless to me and gave the hospital a chance to charge more for my labor and delivery. Thankfully she is fine now, a beautiful and brilliant 9 year old, but only by the grace of God. I certainly wish your blog had been around during my pregnancy.
Jessica: could just be that your baby wasn’t ready to come out. My mother was born perfectly healthy and with no interventions at 43.5 weeks because grandma didn’t believe in inductions and apparently, my mother didn’t know she was over-staying her welcome =)
I thought for sure I was going to have to fight not to be induced with my first, but instead had a fast natural birth on my due date and almost didn’t make it to the hospital, lol.
Every person I know who has had a baby after me has been induced, and most have had c-sections, despite me trying to kindly warn them 🙁
I had acupuncture around my due date, but only asked them to help me prepare for labour instead of the spots to induce labour. I could feel lots of changes going on for the rest of the day, and when I had my daughter 5 days later, I felt that it was so smooth (wouldn’t say it was even painful at all… just very intense) because the acupuncture had helped me prepare so fully for the birth.
I tried this, acupressure, massage, chiro…and was still 42 weeks…with a 10 pound four ounce baby. Fully effaced for a whole month…never went into labor…too big maybe.?
Question: Would this work on early induction if medically needed? Talking about risk to baby and need to induce early, not because of desire to have baby out.
I’ve never been able to induce anyone early.
Grea artcl. Thanks!
Alternative medicine has many solutions for life’s happenings. 3 of my 4 babies were breech. I didn’t know until my 4th that a chiropractor can adjust you and the baby’s head can move into the right position. Believe me, this is much better than going into the hospital for drugs and a manual inversion by a doctor. Nature works better than force!