Midwife Talks About...

Is anyone recording this?

How far along? 29 weeks, 4 days

There is a schedule of conversations that we have with our midwife depending on what visit we are at...it is their format and various topics are covered from vitamin supplements, likelihood of gestational diabetes testing, pre-natal classes etc. This particular visit was about sex. It went something like this. "We recommend that in your last trimester you have lots of sex. Especially after week 36."...sounds rough. The midwife suggested some positions for comfort and went on to explain more about the recommendation...if we needed justification.
"Not only does sex give the uterus practice contracting, if you orgasm, but there is a hormone present in ejaculate that induces labour."
Now I had just read this in "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" (I highly recommend) or I would be looking for the camera's.
Prostaglandins are the magic ingredient and it helps "soften and ripen the cervix". Also oxytocin is released by the woman following orgasm which contracts the uterus.
Pitocin (a synthetic form of Oxytocin) and forms of Prostaglandins are often used by hospitals to induce labour...why not choose the natural way? Sounds more fun.
Anyway, here is where it got interesting. "Frequent sex during the last weeks of pregnancy can help bring on labour naturally. The hormones from ejaculate are absorbed by the cervix but are even better absorbed by the stomach lining."

And I leave you with that.