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Folklore or Fact?

Doctors, Midwives and Moms Weigh in on Do-it-Yourself Labor Induction

By Katherine Bontrager

You've looked forward to it for nine months. You've prepared, studied, decorated and above all, waited. You're enjoying this special time, but ready for the day when the little one inside makes his or her big entrance.

Then your due date comes and goes. For centuries, women have wanted to jump-start labor, and in turn doctors, midwives and others have given advice about just what will start those contractions. But is there any truth to the claims of castor oil, exercise or spicy foods? And more importantly – are they safe?

Dr. Jonathan Schaffir, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Ohio State University, conducted a study on labor-inducing folklore. Dr. Schaffir surveyed more than 100 pregnant women at the Ohio State prenatal clinic about their knowledge of 10 common myths of expediting labor: walking, sex, heavy exercise, using a laxative such as castor oil, nipple stimulation, eating spicy foods, fright, starvation, having an enema and drinking herbal tea.

The study, published in the March 2002 edition of the journal Birth, found that two out of three pregnant women believed that walking would help induce labor, while nearly half believed that having sex would. Regardless of race, age or level of education, three-quarters of the women said they had garnered advice from friends and relatives, while another 12 percent named physicians or nurses as the information provider.

Dr. Schaffir admittedly does not put much confidence in such suggestions, though he says that recommendations of having sex or taking castor oil might have some biological basis. Still, he maintains that dosages and other safety issues have not been established to the point where folk remedies can safely be recommended. Many times, wives' tales have little scientific merit, and some are at odds with what is known to be beneficial for the fetus.

Dr. Randy Morris is a reproductive endocrinologist specializing in infertility and reproductive medicine in Chicago, Ill. He has not only heard of such wives' tales, but has also used a few when expecting his three children. Board certified in both reproductive infertility and obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Morris serves as an associate clinical professor for the division of reproductive endocrinology at the University of Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago. He says that the ability to induce labor is made easier by several factors including previous pregnancies, whether the cervix is already dilated and if contractions have already begun. There are a few common myths that may work, at least some of the time, he says.

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• Talk about it!

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