Castor Oil

Hi,
I was just curious if there was anyone in here that has taken castor oil
to start labor. I did with all 3 of my kids and it worked. Although,
with my 3rd one, I had to take it twice but it did work. :-) My sister
is pg and she is due on the 24th of this month. She is gonna take come
castor oil on the 21st and I was really surprised her midwife told her
it would be ok to do that. My doctor told me not to do it and that I
would get sick. He is an ob/gyn but I took it anyway cause my Mom told
me it was ok. lol I did fine too taking it. I was just curious if anyone
else has ever done it or is thinking about it. Christi :-)

~ Those privileged to touch the lives of children and youth should
constantly be aware that their impact on a single child may affect a
multitude of others a thousand years from now......anonymous ~

"Christi :-)" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I was just curious if there was anyone in here that has taken castor oil
to start labor. I did with all 3 of my kids and it worked. Although,
with my 3rd one, I had to take it twice but it did work. :-) My sister
is pg and she is due on the 24th of this month. She is gonna take come
castor oil on the 21st and I was really surprised her midwife told her
it would be ok to do that. My doctor told me not to do it and that I
would get sick. He is an ob/gyn but I took it anyway cause my Mom told
me it was ok. lol I did fine too taking it. I was just curious if anyone
else has ever done it or is thinking about it.

I consider castor oil induction to be, like all induction methods, a source
of risk. If there is a known problem in the pregnancy where therisks of
continuing the pregnancy outweigh the risk of induction, then well and
good - do it (or some other induction method) with the knowledge and
oversight of your care provider. But I think it foolish and ill-considered
to treat castor oil induction as light and without risks.

--angela

"Christi :-)" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I was just curious if there was anyone in here that has taken castor oil
to start labor. I did with all 3 of my kids and it worked. Although,
with my 3rd one, I had to take it twice but it did work. :-) My sister
is pg and she is due on the 24th of this month. She is gonna take come
castor oil on the 21st and I was really surprised her midwife told her
it would be ok to do that. My doctor told me not to do it and that I
would get sick. He is an ob/gyn but I took it anyway cause my Mom told
me it was ok. lol I did fine too taking it. I was just curious if anyone
else has ever done it or is thinking about it. Christi :-)

I did the castor oil trick when I was pregnant with #3 (he was 2 weeks over)
I was in labour within a few hours.

I actually got the recipe from my midwife who said that it will only work if
your bodyb is ready to go into labour. She was right, it worked for me.

I think the biggest mistake people make with castor oil is thinking they
need to drink a whole bottle full when in truth you only need a max of 20
mls. (About a tablespoon). I have no problems and I only took half the
doseage mixed with eno and OJ to mask the taste.

I think it's it's used properly and there are no risk factors it can't hurt.

Melissa

Joshua July 93 @ 8 pounds 10
Shakyra March 95 @ 8 pounds 7
Angus Sept 97 @11 pounds 1



~ Those privileged to touch the lives of children and youth should
constantly be aware that their impact on a single child may affect a
multitude of others a thousand years from now......anonymous ~

I did take it with both my dds. In both cases I had high blood
pressure and was scheduled for induction because of it, so I took
caster oil to hopefully avoid the hospital induction. It didn't work
the first time, and did work the second time.

KC

"Christi :-)" wrote in message
Hi,
I was just curious if there was anyone in here that has taken castor oil
to start labor.

I wouldn't do it if you paid me. I wouldn't want the cramps and the
unnatural way of bringing on diarrhea, sorry. I also like to wait as
patiently as I can for the baby to come when they are ready. It's not easy,
but that is just the way I am.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

Not the smartest idea on the planet, if you ask me, particularly for a
woman who is not even at her due date. Not only can it cause violent
cramps and diarrhea, but that creates some issues during childbirth -
i.e. leaking liquid that is hard to clean up - in other words, you are
contaminating the entire perianal and vaginal area with yuck, just at a
time when you have a baby coming out and may have breaks in the skin.
Castor oil can also cause baby to pass meconium prior to birth, which
is also not a great plan, since it can be inhaled with amniotic fluid.
Mary G.

"Elfanie" wrote in message
...
On 6 Dec 2004 05:55:42 -0800, wrote:


Castor oil can also cause baby to pass meconium prior to birth,

this is an old midwive's tale that isn't true....it's still being said
by a lot of people, but it's inaccurate.



My thoughts on this are -- I am concerned about putting a mom/baby into
labor with an outside substance because it seems like the process of the mom
building up natural prostaglandins slowly allows the baby to shut down
practice breathing, etc ahead of time (that's related to PGE2 levels IIRC).
You may end up with a baby who is still taking some practice breaths during
labor -- and you may end up with meconium in the lungs. Of course a healthy
term baby seems to be able to clear lung meconium without incident ... but
why mess with the process.

Ramble.



-- Dagny

Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for your comments. I enjoyed them. They are going to
induce my sister if she does'nt have the baby by the 24th because he is
growing to fast and they want to avoid a c section. She hears from
everyone that being induced at the hospital is harder and longer labor.
I was never induced. I did take castor oil with all of mine and they say
if your baby is not ready to come, it won't work. She just wanted to
avoid the whole hospital induction. I never thought about the diahrea
being harmful. I always got it and then it would stop after awhile once
my contractions kicked in. I never laid there in the hospital having it.
They always put iodine on me down there once things got to going. That
keeps infection away. Back in the day, castor oil also made you avoid
enemas, which so many hate. lol Thanks for the replys!! Hope you all
have a good day!

~ Those privileged to touch the lives of children and youth should
constantly be aware that their impact on a single child may affect a
multitude of others a thousand years from now......anonymous ~

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 07:54:51 -0800, (Christi
:-\)) scribbled:

Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for your comments. I enjoyed them. They are going to
induce my sister if she does'nt have the baby by the 24th because he is
growing to fast and they want to avoid a c section. She hears from
everyone that being induced at the hospital is harder and longer labor.
I was never induced. I did take castor oil with all of mine and they say
if your baby is not ready to come, it won't work. She just wanted to
avoid the whole hospital induction. I never thought about the diahrea
being harmful. I always got it and then it would stop after awhile once
my contractions kicked in. I never laid there in the hospital having it.
They always put iodine on me down there once things got to going. That
keeps infection away. Back in the day, castor oil also made you avoid
enemas, which so many hate. lol Thanks for the replys!! Hope you all
have a good day!

I'm suspicious of any doctor recommending an induction on due dates
because they want to avoid a c-section! Inductions raise the risk of
needing a c-section!
Your sister can avoid the hospital induction, simply by refusing to go
along with it, and beginning labor at home. There are other, less
risky ways to encourage labor, but I'm not the one to recommend them,
as I've gone early with all 3 of mine so I didn't need to try ;-)

Perhaps someone else with knowledge can chime in.

Nan

Christi :-) wrote:

Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for your comments. I enjoyed them. They are going to
induce my sister if she does'nt have the baby by the 24th because he is
growing to fast and they want to avoid a c section.

She should realize that induction for suspected large
baby is not something that is supported by medical evidence.
She might wish to very quickly get copies of Henci Goer's
_Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth_ and/or _Obstetric
Myths versus Research Realities_ which cover this issue and
include references to the medical literature for futher
investigation. The Cochrane Group is one of the leading
institutions for evidence based medicine. Their meta research
on induction for suspected fetal macrosomia is reported in
abstract he

http://www.update-software.com/abstracts/AB000938.htm
"Reviewers' conclusions: Induction of labour for suspected fetal
macrosomia in non-diabetic women has not been shown to alter the risk of
maternal or neonatal morbidity, but the power of the included studies to
show a difference in rare events is limited. Large trials are ongoing to
address this question."

She hears from
everyone that being induced at the hospital is harder and longer labor.

It may not be longer, but it is often reported to be more
difficult. But unless there are additional issues, she doesn't
have to consent to the induction.

Best wishes,
Ericka