How to Induce Labor with Herbs

If you are trying to have a natural childbirth but are worried about delayed labor, herbal treatments can help ensure a reduced-pain and smooth childbirth. Herbs such as black cohosh and blue cohosh are well-known by midwives to be effective in many cases of delayed labor.

Things You'll Need

• Raspberry leaf tea
• Black cohosh tincture
• Black cohosh tablets
• Castor oil
• Warm compress
• Blue cohosh tincture or capsule
• Mugwort tincture

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Instructions

Inducing Labor Herbally

• 1

  Drink raspberry leaf tea throughout your pregnancy to prevent miscarriage and relax the uterus. Keeping this supplement in your routine will make labor easier to induce and may prevent morning sickness, as well.

• 2

  Around week 37 of pregnancy, start taking the black cohosh tincture to begin to promote cevical ripening. Add five drops to a cup of tea or water once or twice a day throughout the rest of pregnancy. Stop using the herb if you experience nausea, headaches or dizziness. If by week 38 there have been no changes in your cervix, increase the dosage to 10 drops per cup of water or tea.

• 3

  Also during week 38, start taking three black cohosh capsules (500 milligrams each capsule) a day to further ripen the cervix. Divide the dosage to three times a day.

• 4

  In and around your due date, you can take two tablespoons of castor oil (mixed in juice or water) to cause intestinal contractions. These contractions will stimulate uterine contractions. Keep in mind that castor oil can cause diarrhea, so it is best to take it when you know that these potential symptoms won't cause too much inconvenience.

• 5

  Add nipple stimulation, warm compresses or a massage on your due date. Oxytocin is produced by such stimulation. It is similar to pitocin, the drug used by hospitals to chemically induce labor.

• 6

  If you have not given birth on your due date, take the blue cohosh as a capsule or in tincture form the next day. Consult your doctor for proper dosage, depending on body size and tolerance to herbal medicine. This herb has been known to induce contraction and strengthen their efficiency.

• 7

  If labor is still delayed, use the mugwort tincture. Take 20 drops of the tincture twice a day for at least three days. You may up the dose to 40 drops twice a day if you have yet to go into labor.