How to make childbirth quick and on time

I swear if men had to give birth, all labours would last only a couple of hours by now. At some point, with all the developments in modern medicine, someone would have developed a magic pill that gets a baby out within the hour. Instead, I went through an overdue, lengthy 22 hour labour with my first child, which only ended with the ominous clink of forceps. For my second, I vowed I would do things differently and used every trick in the book to get my labour time down – which I did, to a more manageable four and a half hours the day before my due date. Here are my tips to make childbirth quick and on time. 

Yoga ball

For my second labour, I was on the yoga ball every night from 32 weeks, building up to 30-40 minutes (by the end) of figures of eights, pelvic tilts and rotations while watching TV sitcoms. There’s also some great pregnancy fitness workouts on Youtube designed for preparing for and even inducing labour. In the end, I actually found the yoga ball more comfortable than the sofa and used it to roll around my living room when looking for the TV remote.

Colostrum harvesting

For anyone who’s not in the know, this is hand expressing baby milk during the last month of pregnancy. Opinions differ on whether expressing colostrum is likely to induce labour but the NHS advise you not to do it until 36 weeks in case it actually brings on labour – however small the chance. You can store the milk in the little syringes your midwife supplies, or if you’re doing this every night like I was, in the colostrum storage you can bulk buy on Amazon.

Raspberry leaf capsules

From what I gather, the capsules seem to be a lot more effective than the tea, or maybe that’s what everyone says because the tea’s so revolting – even though it’s been used as a pregnancy drink for at least two centuries. The leaves of the raspberry plant are thought to increase blood flow to the uterus and make the womb muscles stronger. As they work quite the shift during childbirth, plenty of women are keen to try this in the run up. Some also believe it reduces labour pains.

Clary sage

I pretty much doused my house in clary sage during the last two weeks of my second pregnancy. In my bedroom it smelt like some kind of Renaissance apothecary and I would wander round the house sniffing a flannel of the stuff. Clary sage is a natural utero tonic, meaning it can stimulate the uterus to contract. For its standard day job, it is also a natural stress reliever, likely linked to the dopamine hormone. This means it also plays a vital part in keeping the good vibes coming – which are vital for a straightforward labour.

Tidying the house

Yes, it turns out there might be something in that old wives’ tale of getting on your hands and knees to scrub the floor and get labour going – although it’s more likely that any kind of bending, squatting and physical work in general can nudge childbirth in the right direction. Nesting might also be linked to prolactin, also known as the mothering hormone, which starts to increase during pregnancy and peaks at birth. Your baby produces prolactin in the womb too.

Happy hormone activities

Speaking of good vibes, even though you can think of nothing else other than giving birth from 38 weeks and beyond, it is so important to do something you enjoy and keep the happy hormones coming. My friend went to a petting zoo the day her contractions began and no doubt the gooey feeling of baby animals helped bring labour on. I would go through all the baby clothes I had bought in advance to feel all warm and fuzzy. Oxytocin, the happy hormone released during labour, can also be produced in response to petting dogs, hugs, sex or spending time with friends. It also makes childbirth quick and on time.

Walking

According to a 2021 study, walking for 30 minutes three times a week starting from week 38 of pregnancy can help induce labour and may also reduce interventions during delivery. From my experience, 30 minutes was all I could muster in those last couple of weeks in between lightning crotch and needing the toilet constantly. But at least it’s an opportunity to get the dogs out. 

Knowing everyone is OK

This is an odd one and comes from my own experience of my second child’s birth being delayed because my eldest needed looking after. We have a natural cavewoman instinct to look after those around us so if there’s lots going on, your body wants to keep baby in a little longer. Not only that, a peaceful, stress-free mind will keep that oxytocin flowing in childbirth so make sure to ask for lots of pictures of your precious ones during labour.