Nature provides us with so many natural and wonderful ways to help our bodies! While there are a few ways to help encourage your body to begin preparing for labor one of our favorites is so simple and easy! Just eat dates!
I know that it sounds crazy that something so simple as eating dates in your last month of pregnancy could give you a shorter and smoother labor, but for many women it is true!
So what do dates do?
- Shorten the early stage of labor
- Increase cervical ripening
- Lower the risk of hemorrhage
Women who had been eating dates regularly during the last month of pregnancy were found to be admitted into labor with a greater cervical dilation than women who had not. This study also found that the dates group of women had a lower chance of needing labor augmentation or induction. In general 79% of women will start labor on their own while the others are induced. In women who were eating dates 96% of them started labor on their own with no induction. Another study found that 47% of women had pitocin to speed up their labor at some point. This crazy number is compared to 28% of women who were on a date regiment. While these numbers are encouraging in the the use of dates for a smoother labor these studies were not true randomized control trials. That being said more research needs to be done but the odds look good!
How to do it:
First of all talk to your provider before starting this regiment. While it is very safe there a few groups of women that I would recommend to not do this. Talk to your midwife!
The typical daily dose to follow is 4-6 dates a day starting at 36 weeks till delivery. Again talk to your midwife to help decide how many you should be taking a day.
Now head to the store buy yourself some dates and start getting creative with all the different ways you can eat them!