Not a question! Information from my Midwife...

[szw2008]

I thought I would share some information my midwife gave me on helping your body prepare for labor.

Evening Primrose Oil:
At 36 weeks you may begin taking Evening Primrose Oil 500 mg twice daily or 1000 mg orally once daily. You can also use EPO topically for perineal massage 2-3 times weekly- and even as a lubricant for intercourse. If you should go past your due date, insert 3-4 EPO gels caps vaginally at night when you go to bed. Wear a pantiliner the next day for obvious reasons.

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea or Capsules
At 36 weeks you can drink a cup of Red Raspberry Leaf tea daily or take one capsule daily until 37 weeks. At 37 weeks you can increase to 2 glasses or capsules, then at 38 weeks three glasses or capsules and continue until two weeks postpartum.

The EPO promotes the breakdown of collagen, encouraging stretching of the perineum for birth and cervical softening as well. The tea will cause an increase in braxton's hicks contractions helping the uterus to strengthen and tone for labor.

NOTE: Neither will cause you to go into labor if your baby isn't ready to come out. They just prepare your body for the actual process. I am not a doctor, I am just passing on some information my midwife gave me- this information has been approved by the head OB at the birth center. You may want to ask your doctor before starting any herbal supplements!

NOTE after the Note: I prefer organic herbal tea... I don't know if the stuff you find at your local grocery store is the same as organic herbal Red Raspberry Tea or not so you'd have to look into that yourself!

[szw2008]

Evening Primrose comes in a capsule... if you want to massage with it you just cut them open I suppose. I haven't decided whether I really want to rub oil down there haha. Maybe if I go overdue I guess I could try some of that.

Heather- haha toothpaste... you just ruined my birth plan. Now I'll be trying not to focus on toothpaste when I'm "oozing" and now pushing.

Alaysha- you must be one of them lucky ones like my sister where things just go super fast. She tore on her first then got a "paper cut" on her second and both labors were about 5 hours. BUT both were inductions as well.

[Tasha505]

Thanks that's some really cool information, I'll definitely look into getting some of the EPO oil, hopefully I can find some! You know where to get it?? As for the tea, I have been wanting to get some anyway... so I'm gonna start drinking that very soon!

As for the massage, I'm not sure about that... I think I might feel kinda weird or something... my doctor actually did that for me the day I was in labor... he massaged the perineum to prevent tearing... I still tore a little big but just a very small tear.

[alaysha]

Lol as much as I would try to "ooze" my baby out to prevent stitches last time everything moved so fast and pushing felt so good that when they told me to push I had no other thought than that. In fact I think I actually told the nurse at one point that I would "like to push now".

[Heatherm4]

LOL that just made me think of it as squeezing toothpaste out of a tube!

[szw2008]

I haven't done any massaging yet, but I plan to eventually. Most women tear because they make you push so fast in the hospital. Midwives will tell you not to try to push your baby out, but to "ooze" your baby out. Another good tip to keep in mind!

[sameerab]

I did this massage before I hAd my daughter it didn't not ease anything for me lol I will try the tea

[cocacolapanda]

You know, the massage I was total going to mention as well!  My midwife just gave me a hand out on how to do it, I was also wondering if anyone had done that before.  I'm going to try it as I tore a bit last pregnancy.

[Heatherm4]

Thanks!! That's great info! Has anyone done the messaging? I wanted to start doing that because it sounds really important.