Has anyone taken castor oil to induce labour?

Question

I'm 39.5 weeks and saw my midwife today. She said my cervix was still posterior and recommended that I take 3tbsp of castor oil and have sex. Im a nurse So I know its safe and will NOT make the baby pass meconium. That usually happens when the baby is over due so none of those rude answers please! Im looking for personal experiences please. thanks!

Answer 1

Honey, since you are a nurse there's not really much I could say to you because you know more than me but if I was you I would not take it, I just don't think that drinking things while pregnant unless it comes from your doctor is safe. But I'll tell you about what happened to me, in my case doctors even got to think that I was over due, they called me to the hospital for a stress test in where after the sonogram they prove that I was 40 weeks even and they didn't understand why if the monitors showed that I was having contractions, why I wasn't feeling any pain; they send me home and that same night after midnight at 2:45 am I started having contractions and then went in to labor. So my advice for you is to relax as much as you can and have sex because it is suppose to help and "remember that they come when they want to, "it looks like 9 months of making us wait to finally meet them is not enough for them". Good luck and I just hope that everything comes out ok!

Answer 2

Castor oil. Well, you're right, it causes no harm to you or the baby. However, it can cause nasty diarrhea. Sex can cause contractions, but in my experience, it tends to cause miserable contractions that don't dilate the cervix more often than it causes natural labor.

I've never had a patient come in in labor after using castor oil. Diarrhea, for certain. and it's quite a miserable experience to be stuck in bed on the fetal monitor when you're running to the bathroom. so if you try the castor oil, don't over do it. lots of people will drink the whole bottle.

Answer 3

My sister who just had her baby on Dec. 13th took 1tbsp of castor oil on the night of the 10th when everyone was sleep and in the early parts of the morning on the 11th she started having contractions. She didn't take anymore though because she said it was nasty and she enden up delivering two days later. It does work and I would suggest the 3tbsps that your midwife suggested.

Answer 4

I took caster oil with my son (my second pregnancy). I pooped for nearly 3 days. It was awful. Just lots of poop and no baby.
I had few to no signs of being in labor. I took it because I had excess water in my uterus, and I felt like a shaken soda can!! The last few weeks of my pregnancy with him was awful and I didn't think I could wait for nature to take its course.
I do not recommend it taking caster oil, but I suppose it is different because your midwives told you to. I find that interesting as most midwives I know ( I know 3 of them) do not tell people to use caster oil as a method of induction.
My midwives were a bit upset that I did that without their suggestion. And that led to a "pit drip" a week later.


The reason it works for some and not for others is that if you are already going into labor it will speed things along as your bouls get cleaned out. If you are not close to labor you end up with lots of poop and no baby. If you are already heading towards labor you get some poop and a baby.

Answer 5

I took it with good results but my labor had already started. It was ON my due date, contractions were thready and spaced far apart so I took castor oil in OJ at 8AM and yes....serious diarrhea for a few hours and labor getting progressivly stronger and she was out at 10PM that night. I would try the primrose oil and sex FIRST. Castor oil usually does work and it usually works FAST.

Answer 6

Oh yeah, I tried it. I tried everything. DO NOT DO IT!!!! I was SICK as a dog for 24 hours and couldn't leave the bathroom, cramps, etc. It was horrible. I felt like I was going into labor, but nothing.

The sex works for some people, so go for it if you're comfortable.

You can try raspberry leaf tea (tea with real raspberry leaf in the ingredients). Also, if you can get to it or your partner can, what really helped me was massaging the cervix - sort of like widening it and softening it up.

Answer 7

I've never done it but I was always advised not to. I was told to insert primrose oil capsules you can get these at walmart and walgreens, they help the cervix to soften up and dilate. As long as you take only what you are supposed to you can try but no more. I think the scare from it is from mothers to be drinking it like it's vodka or something. I'm overdue right now as I type so I know how it feels to want to be done with it. I'm dilated to 1 and my blood pressure is rising. Sucks. But everyone keeps telling me to go swimming and have sex lol.

Answer 8

I haven't but have been in lengthy discussions with women about it over on babycenter.com. Some say it works; others say it doesn't. Still others say it gave them bad diarrhea, which is something I could live without (actually when my labor started I had it - the body's natural way of cleansing itself to prepare for labor). I would start small and try it with orange juice maybe, since most people agree it tastes like crap. (No pun intended) :D Good luck!

Answer 9

I went to 42 weeks and was not able to naturally deliver a baby! i would definately suggest AGAINST taking castor oil. I do however suggest having sex!! and try squating. My Dr recommended i do that.

Answer 10

Had 3 neices and 2 nephews born that way. My sisters did cramp and sit on the toilet but that just made them avoid the embarassment of using it on the delivery table :)