And the experts I spoke with werenвЂ™t hopeful. But from this data, itвЂ™s impossible to know whether eating spicy food will also induce labor in women at term. They found that women who said they had recently eaten spicy food had seven times higher odds of going into preterm labor or having their water break early than those who didnвЂ™t. The researchers then compared those answers to answers they got from similar pregnant women who hadnвЂ™t gone into preterm labor. In it, researchers asked women who had been admitted to the hospital for preterm labor, or whose water had broken early, what they had been doing in the 24 hours prior. The rationale goes something like this: Spicy food irritates the gut and causes it to move its contents more quickly than it would normally, so it might also initiate uterine contractions.Д«ut only one study, published in 2015, has evaluated this claim, and itвЂ™s difficult to interpret. In addition to my heavy Tabasco use, I also recall eating many Thai curries late in my pregnancies, hoping they might speed labor along. вЂњBut there is really no data that walking before labor does anything.вЂќ Spicy food Anna Burgansky, director of obstetrics and gynecology at NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, who added that walking can help with labor progression and pain. вЂњThere is definitely a benefit to having patients be able to move around when theyвЂ™re in labor,вЂќ said Dr. But itвЂ™s impossible to know whether walking truly had an effect or whether these women just happened to be walking before they went into labor.

About 30 percent of them said that they thought that walking had done the trick. In a study published in The Journal of Perinatal Education in 2014, researchers interviewed 663 women after they had gone into labor without a medical induction and given birth. That said, many mothers believe that walking incited their labor. Researchers have never conducted a trial, for example, in which some at-term pregnant women walk and others donвЂ™t, and compare what happens to whom and when. Yet no research suggests that walking actually does this - because no such studies have been done. This, he said, might ultimately вЂњshake the baby out of its nest.вЂќ Jonathan Schaffir, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and a co-author on the study. The idea is that walking might вЂњencourage gravity to bring the baby lower into the pelvis,вЂќ explained Dr. Walking is the most popular approach women take to self-induce labor - at least thatвЂ™s according to one of the most recent studies on the topic, published in 2011 in the journal Birth. Unfortunately, most of the popular legends are more myth than fact, but there are a couple of interesting exceptions. (A note of caution: Doctors do not recommend trying to self-induce labor before 39 weeks, because the fetusвЂ™s brain is still developing.)ДЄlthough nothing I tried worked, I have since wondered: Do any of these old wivesвЂ™ tales have merit? To find out, I spoke with three obstetricians, including one who has studied the issue, and dug into the scientific literature.

TheyвЂ™re tired of being pregnant or want to avoid medical inductions or C-sections, for example or perhaps they simply want to deliver on a particular day. And their reasons for doing so, my reporting suggested, are various. She didnвЂ™t, but at least my back felt better - for about 20 minutes.ДЄccording to a 2013 survey of 2,400 mothers in the United States who gave birth between 20, nearly 30 percent tried to induce labor on their own. I even saw a chiropractor, who said she could put me into labor with a few minor adjustments. I walked - OK, waddled - in circles around my basement watching вЂњLaw & OrderвЂќ reruns. I got acupuncture for the first time in my life. I was huge and everything ached, and I was desperate to meet my babies. I donвЂ™t remember much about my two pregnancies, but I do recall that the last few weeks felt like years. This story was originally published on in NYT Parenting.

Kickstart labor