Which castor oil is used to induce labor

There does seem to be some effect of castor oil that creates uterine contractions, or encourages uterine contractions, in addition to encouraging stimulation of the bowels.

I also want to point out that the systematic review by [inaudible ] et al. Rebecca Dekker: So besides potential nausea, are there any other side effects? Well, a non-randomized study published by Nary et al. They were looking backwards in time at results from using castor oils. This is what we call retrospective study. They found a shorter time to birth with people who used castor oil, but also more nausea, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, meconium-stained amniotic fluid, and low first-minute Apgar scores.

This study was not included in the meta analysis because it was rated as very low quality. The treatment and control groups were not comparable and confounders were not adjusted for. For example, many people who took castor oil were post-dates or post-term, and they did not take this into account when they did the analysis.

This result was not statistically significant. They actually did not see an increase in bowel movements between castor oil and the placebo group. Another retrospective study from published by de Maria et al. Also, the rate of labors with meconium-stained fluid was very low, at 1.

Rebecca Dekker: In looking for research on side effects, we also looked to see if there was any research on case reports. Case reports can be helpful for documenting rare, severe side effects that may be seen. We found two case reports documenting rare, severe adverse effects from castor oil, one from and one from the year The case report from reported an amniotic fluid embolism in someone who had ingested castor oil during pregnancy.

An amniotic fluid embolism is a rare obstetric emergency, a life threatening condition, in which amnionic fluid enters the bloodstream of a mother and triggers a serious reaction.

In this case report, they could not establish a cause-effect relationship between the castor oil and the amniotic fluid embolism.

The researchers noted that it was a full-term normal pregnancy, and the mother did not have any risk factors for amniotic fluid embolism. They observed a time association between the ingestion of castor oil and the start of cardiopulmonary arrest in the patient. That was published in Rebecca Dekker: In , researchers published a case report of a woman who was 39 weeks pregnant and had a prior Caesarean birth.

With her subsequent pregnancy, she ingested a very small amount of castor oil, only five-milliliters, and shortly after, began having severe abdominal pains and ruptured membranes. During the surgery, part of the umbilical cord was coming out of a rupture of a lower transfer scar from her prior Caesarean. So in that case report, the person had had a very small dose of castor oil, but castor oil dosages used throughout the US for labor induction range from as little as five milliliters to as high as milliliters.

This person ingested only that five milliliters, but the authors of the report think that the short time interval between ingestion of the castor oil and onset of uterine contractions suggested an association between the two events. However, they say that even if the uterine rupture was merely coincidental, which is possible, castor oil has not been sufficiently studied in obstetric practice for its use to be recommended to people with a prior Caesarean or prior uterine surgery.

Now, some care providers are more familiar and comfortable with induction routines with castor oil than others. We were fortunate to be contacted by a retired certified nurse midwife, Louise Aucott.

She wrote to us in with her castor oil protocol that she had developed after attending births in the community setting. She wrote that she offered castor oil to anyone beyond 41 weeks, anyone with prom or premature rupture of membrane at term for more than 12 hours, or anyone facing a possible medical induction in the hospital for a variety of reasons.

She said that she did not offer castor oil to anyone with borderline blood pressure readings, because she says the increase in the contractility of smooth muscle can extend to all smooth muscle, including the circular muscle fibers in the intimal sheet of arteries and arterials. Rebecca Dekker: She recommended to her clients, that the first dose be ingested first thing in the morning after making sure your midwife or care provider is available.

She always had her clients repeat the dose in four hours if there was still no regular pattern of contractions. She said the time to call the midwife for a home birth, or head to the hospital, or birth center, was usually about one and a half to four hours later. In her experience, typically, the babies were born 8 to 15 hours after the first dose. Louise also noted that she only uses USP grade, which is US pharmaceutical grade castor oil, because it does not contain impurities.

Rebecca Dekker: Also, to keep a note that we still have a lack of safety information for people with prior Caesarean births. There is no research on the safety, and we do have that one case report with a negative outcome. I can say that personally, with my third baby, I considered castor oil, and I even went to the pharmacy and bought it.

But when I unscrewed the top and poured some out, I could not bring myself to take it. So I found it interesting that midwives have some really unique protocols for making the castor oil more palatable. So typically, the recipes that people send me today have some kind of fat agent in it.

For example, one midwife recommended four to six ounces of orange juice with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to make a pleasant creamsicle taste. Or, another recipe that was sent to me included one cup of champagne, one cup apricot nectar, and four tablespoons almond butter. Regardless of the recipe, most midwives recommend a milliliter dose, which is two ounces, or 60ccs, blended and served cold with a straw.

The purpose of the straw is so that it goes straight to the back of your throat. Now, lets talk about eating date fruit to start labor. Date fruit is also called date palm or the Phoenix dactylifera plant. There are reports of having the baby within hours of a castor oil induction or the induction taking days if it works at all. Of course, there are many of the same reports labor happening suddenly and quickly as well as delayed or prolonged labors from women who do not take castor oil.

However, a five-year retrospective study found that low-risk pregnant women over 40 weeks gestation who were given castor oil were significantly more likely to go into labor within 24 hours than the control group. When labor has yet to start and there is no medical reason to induce, the reasonable alternative recommendation to castor oil or using any interventions is to do nothing and simply wait for labor to begin on its own.

If there is a medical need for induction of labor, there are many options available, including:. The decision to use one of these methods or a combination of them should be between you and your practitioner. In the end, the medical literature on castor oil induction is unclear, and much of the evidence is anecdotal. If you are interested in trying this induction method, talk to your healthcare provider to ensure that there is no known reason for you to avoid it.

That said, chances are they may have a more efficacious induction method to offer if needed. Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy.

Women Birth. Methods of Induction of Labour: a Systematic Review. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Castor oil for induction of labour: a retrospective study. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Induction of Labour. Non-hormonal Methods for Induction of Labour.

Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. This can be problematic after birth. According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , a pregnancy is considered full-term between 39 weeks and 40 weeks, 6 days. In most cases, inducing labor is a medical decision made for the safety of you and your baby. Before you decide to try to induce labor with castor oil, you should consult your doctor. Every pregnancy is different.

Castor oil might be dangerous if you have other complications. Typically, women are advised to take castor oil in the morning. Here are some natural ways to start contractions. Castor oil has long been used to relieve constipation. A new study finds that epidurals do not affect child development in their later years. A fetal arrhythmia is an irregular heart rate — too fast, too slow, or otherwise outside the norm. It's often benign. Postpartum diarrhea after a C-section is normal.

Sharing our experiences of pregnancy and infant loss can help us heal. Conclusions: The use of castor oil is related to a higher probability of labour initiation within 24 hours. Castor oil can be considered a safe non-pharmacological method for labour induction.