Back in the day, I took a class with the wonderful late Carla Hartley entitled “Birth is Safe, Interference is Risky”. She had us research all of the common birth interventions- the reasoning for them, the benefits and the risks. Of course she knew that the conclusion we would all arrive at would be that the proposed benefits rarely, if ever, outweigh the risks, and that the reasoning for the interventions are usually not as sound as we are lead to believe. I ended up with a large induction folder on my computer after that class. Indeed, an induction is often the first in a series of interventions, the starting point of “the cascade of interventions”.
It is misguided to think that an induction is more physiologically sound just because it is labeled “natural“. Common sense dictates that if the body doesn’t naturally go into labor, attempting to force it to do so is not “natural”. Yet we overlook this sensible reasoning because inductions are so normalized in our culture.
Think about it from the baby’s and your body’s perspective for a minute. Something like a membrane sweep is really a form of “breaking and entering”. It is not natural to have someone reach in trough your cervix and strip your amniotic membranes off of the uterine wall! So when this happens, because your body is designed to protect your baby, it signals “there has been an intrusion, it is no longer safe in here”, which then brings on labor.
Another popular “natural” induction method, castor oil, is a strong laxative which causes intestinal cramping and diarrhea. In large doses, it is poisonous. So in the best case scenario it stresses the body, by bringing on intense intestinal distress- this causes the body to go “what the heck is going on here? I better get this baby out” And in worst case scenario it causes a poisoning, which signals to the baby “We have been poisoned, it is no longer safe in here, get out.” Either way it is an emergency exit scenario, which goes against the body’s natural inclination- to start labor when it is well rested and well nourished.
(Castor oil also stresses the baby’s intestinal system, by the way, which is why we often see meconium with a castor oil induction.)
Other natural induction methods, such as acupuncture induction points, oxytocic herbs etc, attempt to trick the body into thinking it is initiating labor when it really isn’t. (And I can’t say that I haven’t done it!)
Sometimes these induction methods can be effective, but they can also make labor harder, longer and more complicated than it would’ve been if your baby and body initiated it on their own when they were ready. In the worst case scenario, even a “natural” induction can pave the way for a dangerous complication.
As with anything birth related- it is your baby, your body and your choice. Of course there are times when a “natural induction” may be preferable to waiting. (In my case, the time I used acupuncture to induce labor, it was because my husband was due to leave the country the following week. Life happens!) But the purpose of this post is to shed light on the fact that; just because something is common or widely accepted as “natural”, doesn’t mean it is supportive of physiology.
Free To Birth 
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