Overdue? How to bring on baby

I’ve never been on time for anything in my life – I was born two weeks overdue myself – so I guess it’s no surprise that every one of my four babies arrived way later than they were supposed to. It didn’t make the last couple of weeks any less agonising though.

It took all my willpower not to scream out loud, at 41 weeks and five days with baby number one, when a chirpy midwife told me, “Oh, didn’t you know? The average first pregnancy is 41 weeks.” I wish I’d found that little statistic out, ooh, maybe three months earlier!

Let’s face it, those last weeks of pregnancy can be a real drag, especially once the magic date passes. You’re probably enormous, you really miss seeing your toes, you’re very likely going to the loo every fifteen minutes all day and night – and you’re longing to see your precious baby.

Patience is a virtue
In general, if you’re well and the baby is well and you’re within the magic 42 weeks, most doctors advocate waiting till the baby comes on his own, says Sydney obstetrician Dr Mark Beale.

“Generally after 40 weeks, we’ll play it by ear.” He says that there’s a few factors to consider – whether the baby is still growing and active, the mother’s blood pressure and general health and her overall ability to cope.

“If a patient is really fed up and tells me she can’t stand waiting, and she’s already ten days overdue, of course I will listen to her – your psychological and spiritual wellbeing are a part of your ability to deal with birth.”

The decision to try induction is not taken lightly, and Dr Beale says that in some cases, a caesarean may be the best option for an overdue baby when the baby’s head shows no sign of descent and a woman is really not coping.

“I think it’s patronising not to take this into account. Women are really better than we obstetricians are at knowing what is going on in their own bodies.”

And after 42 weeks, Dr Beale says that it’s wise to get labour moving, through induction or caesarean, because the baby’s life-giving placenta will often start to degrade.

“One problem is that we are often not sure of dates; we need to use other signals to determine whether the placenta will support the baby through the stresses of birth.”

Dr Beale adds that all placentas have their own inbuilt life expectancy. Though a placenta should last about 10 months, for some women the placenta may start to degrade after nine or even eight months.

Are you really overdue?
There’s a common belief that pregnancy is nine months, or forty weeks; but just as our menstrual cycles vary widely, so do our pregnancies.

Less than five percent of babies arrive at forty weeks precisely – the most common length of a pregnancy is 40 weeks and 3 days – statistically, you are way more likely to go overdue than to deliver your baby ‘on time’ or early.

In fact, most normal pregnancies will be completed anywhere within a five week variation - a pregnancy is considered ‘term’ when the baby arrives anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks.

On top of that, most caregivers agree that the method commonly used to work out when your baby is due is pretty sketchy. Based on a theory developed by botanist Harmanni Boerhaave in 1744, the 40 weeks or 280 days attributed to term pregnancy is a fairly arbitrary figure that doesn’t reflect average pregnancies.

Sex it up
So what can you do to speed up a tardy baby? Mother of two, Linda, reckons that sex is a great induction tool. “Two weeks overdue for both my babies, a love making session, up to three times per day certainly helped start my labours,” she says.

“If you’ve been in labour for a week on and off (which is what happened to me) a few shags surely gets the cogs moving. My tip is to do it in the morning after a good nights rest, so if you start the labour you have had a good rest. And even if it doesn’t work – at least you'll get some stress relief!”

Dr Mark Beale agrees. When he was a GP in Port Hedland, he says that indigenous women swore that sex was the solution to a late-running pregnancy – and there’s solid scientific research to support it.

He is less enthusiastic about most of the other methods to induce birth, though.

“I tried kerb-walking when I was 12 days overdue – it worked, I went into labour that night and Ruby was born next day, all 4.6kg of her with no drugs,” says Jo.

Justine says when her son was nine days overdue, she ordered “the hottest laksa you’ve ever made” from a local restaurant. “I accomplished two things that night - I completely cleaned out my digestive system (images of "Draino" come to mind) and I woke up the next day with early stage labour.”

But Dr Mark Beale warns that taking it easy might be a better strategy.

“Going into labour is like swimming in the surf – you and your baby need to be fresh and fit for it; each time there’s a wave, you have to dive under – that’s like a contraction for the baby.”


Related Links

* Natural methods to bring on labour