How does labour start spontaneously
An 'induction', or 'inducing the labour', involves artificially stimulating labour contractions, rather than waiting for them to begin on their own or 'spontaneously'. When a woman is 'induced', her labour has shown no signs of starting yet.
Labour can be induced by medical interventions and / or natural therapies. With medical induction, the caregiver will introduce selected artificial methods, or medications, to try and initiate uterine contractions. If the induction is 'successful', the labour will continue until the cervix is fully dilated and the baby is born. Natural therapies also use various methods to stimulate contractions, with the intention of achieving the same outcome.
Medical induction methods can be either 'mechanical' (including breaking the waters) or 'pharmacological' (medications). Sometimes the induction procedure will involve a combination of these methods, with the aim of achieving a successful induction and optimising the labour's progress. Natural induction methods may include physical stimulation (such as sex, acupuncture or nipple stimulation) or preparations (such as herbal or homoeopathic remedies). Again, a combination of these may be used to gain the best results. Both medical and natural methods will be explained later in the class.
How does labour start spontaneously?
A labour that begins naturally, or 'spontaneously', is when contractions start on their own, or the waters break of their own accord, stimulating the contractions to start. During spontaneous labour, the contractions grow and intensify at their own pace. The question of how labour starts is still not yet completely answered. There is some research supporting the theory that the baby's brain releases certain hormonal chemical messages to their mother's body, when they are ready to be born. How, or why, the baby starts to release these chemicals is still a mystery.