Midwives brew

Idk why they wont induce you. I’m being induced at 39 weeks because I asked to be. (Also first time mom) All I know is to not do anything with caster oil, it’s dangerous for baby.

@Natalee I might call and ask actually, because they brought it up themselves at my last appointment Monday

I’m 39 weeks. I tried the brew twice and nothing 😩 I’m going to try again today on an empty stomach and see if that makes a difference. It doesn’t taste to pleasant but I got it down with out throwing up. I had light contractions after for about 2 hours and then at 4 hours I had to run to the restroom. Same thing with the second round & still no baby. I’m about to try it on an empty stomach now actually.

I was high risk, but I wanted to try to induce labor as “naturally” as possible (aka avoid pitocin). Since I wanted to give birth at home. The midwives brew did not work. I got some annoying contractions for the whole night, but then they went away. (Plus castor oil is SUPER dangerous) I was taking red raspberry leaf tea since 34 weeks. I had dates everyday. I used gentle birth since 35 weeks. I had sex, I pumped everyday, and I did birthing ball exercises/circuits/stairs. NOTHING. We even did two membrane sweeps. Nothing. My cholestasis levels started rising and for baby’s safety we had to get him out at 38 weeks. I was really really trying to avoid pitocin. The pitocin contractions are in another level. Extremely painful. So we started off with four doses of (I forgot what medicine they gave me but it’s supposed to be more gentle.) Then after 12 hours of that not working, they gave me a foley bulb catheter. That dilated me to 4cm, but still did not put me into active labor.

@Suzseana oh my I’m so sorry. That sounds so stressful and painful 😭

So finally I let them give me pitocin, because after a day of laboring I was tired. The pitocin gave me strong and painful contractions, but hours were passing by and I wasn’t dilating more than 4/5 cm and was not going into active labor. So my last resort was them breaking my water. After they broke my water, it was less than an hour before baby came. All natural, no epidural. Less than 10 min of pushing. 🥲😮‍💨 Moral of my extremely long story. Your body won’t go into labor unless it’s ready. Castor oil isn’t worth the risk, and neither are the hours of early labor. 😅 However, all the things can definitely help active labor go by a lot faster! 😅 I wish you all the luck, a beautiful birth, and a happy and healthy baby. YOUVE GOT THIS. You’re almost there 🤍🤍🤍🤍

It was a super duper long labor, but he’s here and he’s healthy! So it was worth it. 🤍

@Valeria that’s how I feel at my doctors. I went to L&D for contractions and they did a check, didn’t tell me anything and sent me home. Waited till I got home to call me about a few issues like my blood pressure and sugar. I was like “you literally told me nothing was wrong when I was there and we asked to wait till all the tests came back”

I just took a shot of 2tbs castor oil with some lemon juice and chopped ginger. I did it on friday, then Saturday, and then Sunday. Everytime I ate breakfast immediately afterwards because the taste kinda lingers in your mouth…very nasty. I was going to make the midwives brew but I literally couldn’t find all the ingredients. My water broke on Sunday at 5:30pm at home then I immediately had contractions that were about 3-4 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital I was 4cm and 80% effaced. Then by 9:30pm I was 6-7cm dialated. At 10pm I was 9cm and started pushing, had him at 11:05pm. I did the 2tbs shot and stayed active, I know you are having a hard time being active. Maybe you can do the miles circuit, you can go on YouTube for a tutorial. Lots of stretching to open up your pelvis so baby can lower down and help kickstart everything. It might also help move your baby to a better position that isn’t so uncomfortable for you.

I had no problems with the castor oil, it also didn’t upset my stomach or give me diarrhea, my baby is completely healthy and I had no birth complications. But I also had a completely healthy pregnancy with no issues, I went to the gym and lifted weights a few times a week, and I walked 10k-20k steps a day.

Just came back to say the brew worked on an empty stomach, I’m currently in labor !

I wouldn’t do the midwives brew. Castor oil is notorious for causing complications and it’s just not worth it. It can cause you to have diarrhea and your baby to poop while still in your belly. Just because it works for some, doesn’t mean it’s safe! I know the last couple of weeks are so hard though.

midwives brew mainly works for mamas who are past their due dates and whose bodies are ready for labor already (like most natural induction methods). i was 41 + 4 when i drank it and it sent me into labor. there are risks to it, just like everything else - it just depends what you’re willing to do. trust your gut <3