Your Body Works

Myself, 41 weeks pregnant with the daughter I would carry - and birth naturally at home - at 42 weeks + 3 days.

There's a myth, or rather a mindset, being perpetuated heavily in our birth culture, that you have to "do" things to make labor happen. That it won't just happen on its own. 

Women say things like, "I never went into labor on my own, so at 41 weeks I was induced."

"Baby's head wasn't engaged by 39 weeks, so doctor induced me."

"I have ZERO signs of labor! What can I do to make my body do what it's supposed to?" (said at 38 weeks). 

The mindset is a belief that if we don't DO something, or if our bodies aren't matching the expectation and experience of ourselves, our doctors, our mother-in-laws or other family, or that one blog we read, then it's "broken", "not working", and "needs to be fixed". 

Here's the truth. 

Your body is WORKING PERFECTLY if you're dilated to one centimeter at 41 weeks pregnant.

This happened with my firstborn. I was dilated to one centimeter until FOUR HOURS BEFORE HE WAS BORN. FOUR HOURS - that's how fast my body changed!

Your body is WORKING PERFECTLY if you are dilated to a four or five towards full term and still aren't in labor. 

A woman I know was dilated to a SIX with her third baby for SEVERAL WEEKS before labor started.

Your body is WORKING PERFECTLY if you have contractions on again, off again, painful and regular, every day or every other day for a couple weeks with very little change in dilation or outward progression. 

Often times this is called "prodromal labor" or "false labor". Baby's position, your body's alignment and readiness, the hormone receptors in your body, your stress levels, your nutrition, etc. can ALL play a part in the incredible dance of labor. 

I get it. You're exhausted. You're excited. You've waited nearly nine months for this baby to come, and you are READY, dang it. As someone who has personally waited as long as 42 weeks + 3 days for one of her babies to choose her birthday, I GET IT. 

But so does your midwife when they say WAIT. And often accompanied with that WAIT is the much-needed, rarely-honored advice to REST. 

Why is it so important to rest? Why SHOULDN'T we bounce on the ball, drink castor oil, try that herbal remedy and this farmwives' tale, eat pineapple and spicy food until our tongues and tummies burn?

Well, mostly because all of those suggestions done together will exhaust your body and give you bad digestion or even diarrhea. So if you are successful in starting labor, you'll be so worn out you may not be able to run the final marathon! ​

Read More