I noticed around the 36 week mark mommies start looking for ways to speed up labor. Aside from the…

37 weeks is actually when it's okay to start to naturally induce yourself. And I wouldn't recommend it because that's what I did and my baby came out with jaundice. I would have rather had him in my belly for at least a week longer because struggling with knowing when he really needed sleep rather than just sleeping because of jaundice it was stressful for me with the doctors drawing blood and pricking his heels. It was just sad :( I would have rather him grow a little more in me. But I got impatient

He's healthy now but it was a very stressful 4 days at the hospital

@itscatt, good to know. I know it's super exciting to be expecting and be so close that it's so hard not to be impatient. I agree best to keep the baby cooking as long as they're willing to stay in. Self inducing sounds somewhat dangerous.

37 weeks I started to try to self induce. Didn't matter because she came when she wanted to regardless at 38 weeks. lol

I think cuz after week 37-38 the baby is fully developed and most moms dont want their labor go over due date. I personally dont want my labor to go overdue, I really hope I get into labor before. The idea of giving birth to a big baby scares my like hell. Thats my reason but I cant speak for why other want to induce themselves eariler. But I wouldnt go as far as taking castor oil etc. Just doing different exercises

did you or the father have jaundice at birth? from what i understand, you could have gone 40 weeks and jaundice still could have been an issue if it occurred on the maternal and paternal side. it happens quite frequently too with natural births because the pressure of the vagina on babus way out can cause mild, moderate, or severe cephalohematomas that as they heal break down into jaundice. breast fed babies are also more suceptable to jaundice in general. @itscatt,

Agree

agree..

self inducing doesn't work unless baby is ready to come anyways.

Because some mommies don't want over due babies. You are at a greater chance for a C section and some women don't want that, they want to have a natural birth

@natsmommy can I have the link to the website that says that because I've never heard of that before.

The reason doctors tell women not to go past 42 weeks is because past research has shown that babies have a higher chance of SIDS BUT I have done the research and those tests are WAY outdated and unreliable to name one reason its unreliable is because the tests were done so long ago back when maturity care and medicine was way worse and so more than likely the babies from those tests that has SIDS died from unsafe medications, and/or bad medical care but since no one has done more recent tests on it doctors stick to telling women that.

As for your overall question, most pregnant women are just tired of being pregnant. They're tired of the symptoms, they're excited to meet their baby, and they're impatient, as well as most being uneducated on birth and induction and the side affects, or maybe some just don't care.

Speaking for myself, I haven't tried to induce but I have hoped she would come and be ready by now. I'm 39.3 weeks and I'm just excited to meet her and I'm an impatient person. Although I'm having a unmedicated natural pregnancy/birth so if she's not ready I'm not rushing her. Even if she's 45 weeks! *knock on wood*

@kay80 I can understand that! I too am afraid of having a big baby. I would be happy with a 6lber. My first was 7lbs 14oz and I tore a little from it. I could imagine having a bigger one!

@parkers_mommy I agree. Self inducing is risky. I can understand going walking or doing certain noninvasive exercises to speed things up around your delivery date but just not earlier than your full term week.

@jstrong12712 I'm with you girl. I get the excitement and impatient side. All babies are different. Some are ready to come into the world early and healthy and some need a little extra time. Nothing wrong with that. Always better to be safe than sorry! Even if the baby is bigger! If I ever went way overdue, I'll leave it to my doctor at that rate. That's why they get paid the big bucks. I couldn't live w myself knowing I did something that put my baby's life in danger.

yes but doctors don't know everything either, your body will know what to do as for doctors they get the big bucks by delivering babies quicker, so a lot of then scare their patients into inductions for convenience for them. have you watched the business of being born? its on YouTube, I highly recommend it @lajo

John's Hopkins recently did a study that is finding that children who die of SIDS is actually a neurological issue involving the brain stem. So far their findings have found that over 98% of SIDS cases, tue autopsies have all conclusively has imbalances in the brain stem. Just food for thought.

@jstrong12712 I did watch it. Fortunately for me, my doc won't even think about inducing unless my baby is over 9lbs 6oz if I want to or at or around 42 wks. Same doc as my first born. She just let's the baby be so long as they're not stressed out in there. My mom delivered one of my Bros naturally and he was 10lbs! No inducing.

That's awesome! @lajo

@lajo, 37 weeks is considered full term & nothing will happen from self inducing unless the baby is ready to come anyways. so even if woman at 35 weeks tries everything under the sun it won't work unless the baby is ready to come. there are babies born at 40 weeks who have health problems, having your baby at 40 weeks doesn't necessarily mean they will be healthier or have less issues than those born early, just like being born early doesn't mean that the baby will have anything wrong with them other than being a smaller baby.

@parkers_mommy I understand doing natural inducing things full term, just don't understand the need to do it prior to that.

@lajo, when I was 34 weeks my doctor told me I could stop taking my meds that stopped my labor. 36 weeks isn't too early to start walking & having sex to try to soften your cervix, seeing a lot of woman are stuck at 1 cm for a while.