Does walking really help induce labor?

Every woman who has already had a baby has her opinion if walking helps induce labor. But, I have to say that I have been pregnant twice and had two children and I can most certainly attest to the fact that walking does not induce labor.

When I was at the point of complete miserableness, I could not sleep any other way but standing up. Considering that I am not a horse, by the eighth month of my first pregnancy I wanted to give birth to the baby before he was ready to come out. On one of the last scheduled office visits I aksed the doctor if the birth was happening soon. She said a statement, that eased me through those final two weeks of imminent torture. The doctor said, “When the baby is ready to come, the baby will come.” And she also said, “There is nothing we can do about it, but let the baby come when he is ready.”

We already knew we were having a baby boy, and two weeks later he must have been ready, because he decided he wanted to be born two weeks early, much to my husband’s protests of, “No, you’re not in labor, he’s two weeks too early.”

A baby can be brought out into the world early by cesearan section, but many doctors only want to do so when there are complications, such as a Mom who has very high blood pressure or when the baby is in trouble.

My doctor told me that bit of advice when I really wanted to hear her say, “Oh yes, jump up and down ten times, and sing the National Anthem and the baby will be born very soon.”

Babies come out when they are ready. And sometimes that means they are ready after nine months and sometimes they are ready when seven months arrives.

Walking however, while pregnant does give you a great way to exercise without harming yourself or the baby. It is a wonderful way to keep your weight down so that you can stay fit and deliver a healthy baby.

Besides keeping a Mom fit during pregancy walking actually rocks a baby to sleep while you are pregnant. When I was pregnant with both children I has this feeling like I had to keep moving. During my first pregancy my job entailed that I had to walk quite a bit, and guess who loved all the walking. My unborn son was inside of me sleeping and hardly ever kicked or caused any ruckus, just as long as I kept moving.

Every night when I would lie down to go to sleep my unborn son would strike up the band, approximately thirty minutes later. It was like he had a stop watch invitro and was just waiting until he heard my breathing slow down. Then when the swishing action that lulled him to sleep, would have stopped, therefore the alarm bells or the little stop watch he was looking at would go off. He would kick like crazy until the next morning when once the motion started he could sleep again.

Although, walking while you are having contractions can make you feel better. While in labor ask to walk around and have Dad help you, because sometimes it makes the contractions feel a little better. At least that’s what some of my friends said after they gave birth. Who knows maybe they were just trying to be nice and give me some comfort before the actual birth took place.

Walking does not induce labor, it can make you feel better and work off some of the pain and anxiety. But, ultimately the baby is the one calling the shots. When he or she is ready to come out into the world, the baby will let you know. Besides, it is better to let nature decide when the baby should be born, because the baby may need more time to develop further.

Besides you may have a baby that doesn’t want to come out at all. Like my brother who kept my Mom waddling until almost ten months when doctors still believed in letting the baby stay iniside the Mom until he was really ready to come out.