As we at Healthy Mother are waiting for many of our babies to be born, I seem to be repeating the similar encouragements during each mother’s antenatal visit “it is okay to wait”; “your baby knows when she is ready”…… most mommies are tired of waiting; their “due date” has come and gone; and even if they are reasonably confident that their body (and their baby) knows what is best for them, well-meaning family and friends keep them on their mental toes by calling often to ask them “have you not had your baby yet?” Or even better, “Why are you not getting admitted to the hospital … they can put a drip in and start your labor?”
So, why is it okay to wait past your due date? For one, EDD is “expected due date” for a reason. It is not DDD .. “Definite due date”! The 40 weeks/280 days from LMP is based on Naegele’s Rule, which is turn was based on a lunar calendar, and if calculated correctly, the average pregnancy is 295 days! It is explained wonderfully in this link posted by Carla Hartley.
Now, obviously if you “get admitted” to get you labor started, your body – and your baby – are not ready. For your baby, those last few days/weeks are when he/she gains weight, their brain and their reflexes are honed, so that they are ready to thrive better in the outside world.
For your body, someone can chemically start labor, but in many, many cases they cannot force the baby out. So, what starts as an innocuous induction – “drip” or “vaginal tablet” or “gel”- can actually lead to more and more interventions, which ultimately might end with a surgeon’s knife for “failure of labor to progress”! Here is a chart which shows how you might land up with a Cascade of Interventions – things that you might never have bargained for! Not to mention that the pain that you face is much more stronger, longer and usually without much gap, so that your labor seems unbearable. I have had second time moms (who have had previous inductions) tell me “how different the labor contractions are this time” or “the contracti0ns this time are not so violent”. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Labor contractions are not meant to be a violent process – painful, yes .. violent, NO. And the hormonal dance that is created to perfection in the mother’s body allows her to rest and “be in another world” when she needs it most. This does not happen when she is “induced”.
Finally, like Gail Hart says in her recent article “Induction and Circular Logic”, the current epidemic of induction and augmentation has not seemed to improve the health of our mothers or babies. On the other hand, she points out that in some studies the risk of Cesarean goes up by 800% with induced labor! Here is the link to the excerpted article from Midwifery Today E-News. If the statistics are so poor, why are we inducing then? Good question to ponder on, and definitely ask your care provider should they suggest inducing or augmenting labor, if you and your baby are otherwise healthy. Your baby will know when she is ready, and your body will go into labor soon … Go ahead and enjoy the end of this pregnancy!
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Pregnancy week by week
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kavin bill