Oct. 04--MUNICH -- The mother-to-be's belly seems huge and she is afflicted by heartburn, fluid retention and other discomforts. Anxiously, the expectant parents await their baby's calculated due date.
"After 281 days of pregnancy, most women are impatient for labour to start," said Iris Edenhofer, a member of the Bavarian Midwives' Association.
Usually, however, nothing happens on the calculated due date (DD).
"About 97 per cent of all babies aren't born on the DD," Edenhofer noted, pointing out that plus or minus 10 days is normal.
Difficult though it may be, women should try to enjoy the final days of pregnancy.
"Don't let the waiting get you all worked up," said Birgit Brukow, a German midwife who works at Hamburg's Geburtshaus (House of Birth).
"Distract yourself with nice things" such as going to the cinema, getting together with friends or strolling through the town's pedestrian zone, she advised.
"Constantly brooding and waiting for the baby will only paralyse you and make you tense," she noted.
Although internet forums are teeming with "birth acceleration" tips, women who reach full term should exercise caution.
"The baby decides when it's born," Brulow said.
Gentle attempts to induce labour should not begin until a week after the due date.
"Before that, the cervix is generally still 'unripe,' so the attempts will come to nothing and only stress mother and child," she warned.
To soften the cervix, midwives recommend insertion of a clove oil tampon.
"You mix sunflower oil with five or six drops of clove oil and drip it onto the tampon," Brulow explained.
Sexual intercourse with one's partner can have a similar effect.
"Semen contains natural prostaglandins," Brulow said. "They're hormones that soften the cervix and make it dilate more easily during labour."
Washing windows, scrubbing floors and climbing stairs can help as well.
"For women who already have children, physical activity can speed up birth," noted Achim Woeckel, a physician at the University of Ulm Medical School's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
To avoid toiling for nought, however, the woman's physician or midwife should first examine her cervix.
"If it's not ripe, climbing stairs for hours won't do any good," Woeckel said.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, consuming hot foods and beverages that have a fortifying effect -- homemade chicken soup, for example -- can get things rolling. A spicy tea brewed with cardamom, ginger, cloves, cinnamon or vervain warms from within and stimulates the uterus.
"Drink three to five cups daily for two or three days, than wait and see what happens," Edenhofer advised.
If all gentle attempts fail, it is time to induce labour artificially.
"We recommend induction in a clinic no later than 10 to 14 days after the due date," Woeckel said.
Before that happens, though, many maternity wards now try the infamous "midwife cocktail." A mixture of alcohol, juice and castor oil, it not only stimulates the bowels to empty, but the uterus as well.
This can unnecessarily stress the child and lead to complications if the cervix is not ripe for labour. So a "midwife cocktail" should be a last resort and be drunk only in the presence of a physician or midwife.
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