Pregnancy is a complicated process that involves massive physical change.  These changes are the result of different hormones preparing your body for the development, growth and delivery of your baby.

Although physically necessary, these pregnancy hormones can have unwelcomed emotional affects. You may begin to feel tired and emotional, easily irritated and quick to cry.

These mood swings are common, especially in the first ten weeks of pregnancy and again in the third trimester as your body prepares for labour and birth.

This feeling of not being yourself is also linked to the physical changes in your body.

The film What To Expect When You’re Expecting perfectly captures the emotional roller coast that is pregnancy! Credit Melissa Moseley

Meet the pregnancy hormones

Human chronic gonadotropin (hCG), the first pregnancy hormone to play a part is known to cause a sensitive bladder, which means you’ve probably been up half the night running to the loo, making you more tired than usual.

HCG is also associated with nausea or morning sickness, which could be putting you off your favourite foods and making you more miserable.

The good news is that this hormone normally tails off between weeks 8-10, so these symptoms should start to ease.

Ostrogen and Progesterone are the next hormone levels to rise in your body, bringing with them a whole set of new symptoms.

Breast soreness and sensitivity, a heightened sense of smell, fatigue, heartburn, bloating and hip and public bone pain.

With all this going on, it’s no wonder you’re feeling a bit grumpy!

These hormones also affect your levels of neurotransmitters, the brain chemicals that regulate mood. All women respond differently to this rise in chemicals  – some have mood swings, others feel mildly anxious and one in ten will experience depression.

Many mums-to-be often feel guilty about feeling down during pregnancy because they think they should be happy and excited about their pregnancy. However, if you are feeling a bit blue, you’re not alone. Mood swings during pregnancy are common and can happen to even the smiliest of people.

Don’t let your raging hormones get the better of you. There are lots of things you can do to try and stabilise how you are feeling emotionally during pregnancy.

Pregnancy Mood Boosters

• Get plenty of sleep & nap during the day if you can
• Get regular physical activity – swimming, walking and yoga are ideal
• Eat well – avoiding sugary food that give you an artificial boost
• Be sure to spend time with your partner
• Treat yourself to a massage every few weeks
• Relax with a warm bath

Antenatal depression

If your mood swings last for more than two weeks and you are feeling very down, then speak to your doctor or health visitor as you may be experiencing antenatal depression or pregnancy blues and it’s important that you get help in understanding how to deal with this.

A: FEWER THAN IT TAKES TO CHANGE A LIGHTBULB

New report reveals over half of new parents are more confident changing a light bulb than their first nappy!

New research from The Essential Parent Company highlights the lack of support, low confidence and anxiety experienced by new parents. A staggering 8 out of 10 new parents surveyed felt they didn’t have the practical skills to care for their newborn.

Professor Winston with his granddaughter

“So focused are expectant parents on the birth event, the practical abilities and responsibility of looking after a baby can come as a huge shock,” says Dr Rebecca Chicot, Child Development and Parenting PhD from Cambridge University and founder of The Essential Parent Company. “It is impossible to describe how becoming a parent changes your life.”

The new research coincides with the launch of The Essential Baby Care Guide that deals with the big issues faced by parents in raising a new child – sleep, feeding, care and development and first aid.

Developed with ‘Child of Our Time’ creator Professor Lord Robert Winston and a host of leading childcare experts, the new Guide is intended to ease the stress and anxiety of new parents through the first 12 months.

“As society has evolved, we have lost some of our instinctive ability to be parents,” said Professor Lord Winston. “Only a generation ago, new parents would have gained experience through contact and support from their family.

Now we live further from our families, working women have less contact and experience with new born children within their own families and peer networks.”

The top four areas new parents felt least prepared ranked as follows:

1. Dealing with sleep issues
2. Managing a crying baby
3. First aid and emergency intervention
4. Feeding

The research revealed:

• Over half of new parents are more confident changing a light bulb than their first nappy

• 1 in 3 new parents are unable to read signs of critical ill health in their baby

• 1 in 3 have never seen a family member or close friend breastfeeding

• 1 in 5 new parents live over 50 miles away from family

The Essential Baby Care Guide is available from John Lewis stores nationwide and online from www.essentialparent.com and Amazon priced £35 for the full guide of 4 x DVDs or £10 each when sold separately.

Smart skincare

Multi-tasking make-up

Shower power

Tints

Brows

Pick-me-up pedis

Treat time…

Temperature Control

The body works best when its temperature is close to 37ºC (98.6ºF), and in young babies and children a drastic change in temperature can be dangerous. The area of the brain that regulates body temperature is not fully developed in the early years, so if your child develops an infection, their temperature can quickly rise. It is wise to be cautious once the temperature rises above 38ºC as there is a risk of febrile convulsions. If your baby has a high temperature, remove their clothes, provide cool fresh air, cold drinks and give a mild medication like paracetemol. If the child develops a convulsion, place them on their side and call an ambulance.

Choking

Choking is probably the emergency parents fear most. If you think your baby is choking, encourage them to cough as this might dislodge the item. In the absence of sound – crying or coughing – shout for help, while laying the baby over your arm, face down, legs either side of your elbow and head below their chest. Give up to five blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. Check between blows if the obstruction has cleared. If still not clear, turn the baby over, chest uppermost and lower the head below the chest. Using two fingers on the chest, give five chest thrusts. Keep repeating while someone calls an ambulance.

Burns and scalds

Immediately try and cool the burn with cold flowing water for ten minutes, and remove any constricting clothes or jewellery as the area may swell.  Dress the burn with a sterile dressing that won’t stick. (in the absence of a dressing, Cling film can be used – wrap loosely and secure with a bandage). If the burn is larger than one square inch, if it goes all the way around a limb, it appears to be full thickness or the burn involves hands, feet, face or genitals seek further medical advice.

Head injuries

Any head injury is potentially dangerous, and can lead to unconsciousness which in turn can put the airways at risk. Head injuries can lead to concussion – where the brain is shaken causing widespread disruption; compression – caused by bleeding or swelling within the skull; and fractured skull – this is serious as the broken bone may damage the brain.
In all cases, call immediately for an ambulance if your child is unconscious or you suspect a fractured skull. Make sure their airways are clear and breathing is normal. Lie them down, keeping head, neck and body in line. Even if a child seems to recover, watch out for subsequent reduction in levels of consciousness, and make sure they are not alone for the next 24 hours.
Any injury or illness in a baby or child should be taken seriously, and if you are concerned at all, see a doctor. First aid courses are available all over the country, and it may just make the difference one day.

www.claphandies.com
www.respondertraining.com
www.redcross.ie / www.redcross.firstaid.co.uk
www.advanatraining.ie

Sidebar – First aid box essentials

General, clear first aid leaflet
20 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings of assorted size
2 sterile eye pads
4 triangular bandages
6 medium wound dressings
2 large wound dressings
Variety of low-adherent dressings
1 roll of hypo-allergenic tape
Disposable gloves
1 pair of scissors
10 ‘packs of 5’ sterile gauze swabs for cleaning wounds
1 finger bandage and applicator

Words by Alana Kirk-Gillham

• Pain in the pubic area and groin;
• Pain in the inside of the thighs;
• Lower back and hip pain;
• Pain while walking, moving or going upstairs;
• An audible ‘clicking’ sound that you can hear;
• Difficulty and pain when trying to open the legs.

What causes pelvic pain?

Well, put very simply, when you’re pregnant your body releases a hormone called relaxin, which softens the joints to allow your baby to pass through your pelvis during birth. In women with pelvic pain, it’s thought that this softening combines with changes in your body to put too much stress on the joints, ligaments and muscles of your pelvis. Put another way, the hormone tends to go into ‘overdrive’ and causes the ligaments to soften and stretch too much.

In all cases of pelvic pain, early diagnosis can help to keep the pain to a minimum and avoid long-term discomfort.

When it comes to treatment, healthcare practitioners are divided. Traditionally, gentle pressing on, or moving of the affected joint was the main technique employed.  Recently, however, manipulation of the joint seems to be kept to a minimum and the focus has switched to the strengthening of the ‘pelvic corset’ muscles. Using specific exercises (if appropriate) to strengthen the skeleton’s natural girdle muscles, pelvic floor exercises, exercise ball and specialised pilates are used.

(Yoga is not usually recommended as the joints are already too ‘loose and stretchy’ and yoga will only serve to loosen them further. Work on the core abdominals is preferred, such as Pilates or the Alexander technique.)

Pelvic support belts and briefs can provide immediate relief. Some people will wear one or the other, but many people report wearing both, especially at the end of their pregnancy or if they are on their feet a lot, for maximum comfort.

Acupuncture may help, but your practitioner must be trained and experienced in treating pregnant women.

There are also various ways in which you can help yourself.

Take light exercise to prevent you seizing up, but never walk on an uneven surface, especially the beach, as the stress of your body weight shifting on the sand will do a lot of damage to the symphatic joint.

Use a large pillow in bed between your knees. This keeps your pelvis aligned and stops you sliding over in your sleep. The long body pillows or the u-shaped breastfeeding pillows are ideal for this, as you can position them between your knees and under your bump as well!

Don’t go up and down stairs more than is absolutely necessary. If you must go up, go literally one step/two feet at a time. Keep your knees together getting in and out of your car, skip the bath entirely, and generally limit anything that will move your pelvic bones too much. Look on the bright side: it’s a great excuse not to hoover!

When you are walking, arch your back and swing your arms as though you are marching. This locks your pelvis in a stable position and activates the muscles that stiffen your joints. Doing regular pelvic floor exercises may also help to strengthen your pelvic joints.

During labour

With the right advice, it is rare for pelvic pain to cause problems in labour. If possible, avoid lying on your back to give birth, upright or kneeling positions protect your pelvic joints and are generally more comfortable. If you have to sit on the bed during labour, sitting as upright as possible makes parting your legs easier.

If your symptoms make it difficult for you to open your legs, it may be worth discussing with your midwife or doctor which positions would be best for an assisted birth, if you need one.

After birth

In a few cases, pelvic pain can linger after birth. If it does, it’s important to carry on with your treatment (Ostgaard et al 1994). A few women will have pain that persists, but this is rare. It is not unusual to have a mild recurrence of the discomfort just before your period, as hormones released at this time can have a similar effect to relaxin.

Above all, don’t ignore the pain. It is NOT a normal part of being pregnant and there is PLENTY that you can do to ease the pain.

Given that I have such a fractious relationship with the lens myself, it will come as no surprise that for some time now I have struggled, without much success, to understand what appears to be a growing trend in the delivery wards: making a video of the birth. Take a peek inside the hospital bag of a soon-to-be mum and you may well find a camcorder tucked away amongst the maternity pads, sleep-suits and nightdresses.

Which leads us to that all-important question: why?

Does everything nowadays have to be a performance? What is it about modern life that encourages us to live everything in front of the camera? Personally, I wonder about the intended audience. Call me old-fashioned, but it hardly strikes me as the kind of thing you invite the neighbours in for. I simply cannot see myself passing around bowls of popcorn while saying, ‘that was me at six centimetres dilated.’ When it comes to cringe factor, birth videos have the potential to beat wedding videos hands down. They also contain a lot more blood and mucus, and probably more shouting and foul language. If this was the cinema, your movie would have no chance of earning a ‘universal’ rating or even ‘PG,’ though there will, of course, be no sex. In fact, after watching a video of you giving birth, some people may never have sex again.

‘But,’ I hear you say, ‘we’re not going to show it to anybody. This is something for ourselves. Our record of a very precious moment.’ Well, it remains a personal decision of course and one that no couple will take lightly. Allow me, though, to play devil’s advocate for a moment. Consider this: which would you prefer? For you and your partner to experience – together and first hand – the very wonderful event that is the birth of your child? Or for your partner to spend those magical moments on the other side of the lens, psychologically separated by the camera, reduced to watching the birth of his child as a ‘spectator’ later at home? And perhaps to realise, only then, that he would have preferred to have been holding your hand instead? Not to mention the fact that it takes a very brave man to tell a woman in her twelfth hour of labour to say ‘cheese.’

And let’s face it: if you think you’re doing this for baby, a video of their birth is unlikely to be your child’s favourite viewing, even if you do decide at some stage to show it to them. Trust me, there are plenty of other ways to embarrass your children, so best stick with the cartoon channels.

It is also worth remembering that in a hospital environment there will be other people present besides mum, dad and the new baby. Spare a thought for the hard-working medical staff, who go to work to deliver babies and not to star in an endless series of other people’s home movies.

Would we expect hospital staff to work under such conditions if they were, for example, performing heart surgery, or operating to remove a gall stone?  ‘Ah’, you say, ‘steady on there.  Surely, birth is not a medical procedure. True, and one would always hope that the birth process would be as natural as possible, with the minimum of medical intervention. But in the unlikely event of an emergency situation arising, matters will not be helped by someone wandering around with a camera, looking for a good angle, perhaps not even aware of the implications of what is taking place in the ward.

At the end of the day, this is an emotive topic on which many people hold strong views.  Everyone must come to their own decision as to what is right for them. Bear in mind too that, unless you are having a home birth, you will need to check if there are any particular rules or requirements in relation to the use of camcorders in the delivery ward, as these may vary from hospital to hospital. Perhaps it comes down to how comfortable each of us is with the presence of a camera at a time like this. Personally speaking, I find the idea of being filmed unnerving at the best of times. I do not relish the thought of what I might look like, or indeed sound like, when filmed red-faced, sweating and exhausted after a long labour. I’m guessing that I’m not alone in feeling this way either.

As you have probably gathered by now, my husband and I chose not to video the birth of any of our children. We have lots of very cute baby photos and, for us at least, that is enough. I do not feel that the miraculous experiences that were the births of my children are in any way diminished by the fact that they are not on film. And it is not as if I am averse to family photos per se. After the birth, with baby snug in my arms, and in the weeks, months and years that follow, I am far more agreeable to smiling for that camera. Sometimes I even keep my eyes open.

Words by Danielle McLaughlin

Scared of morphing into one of these momzillas? Here are a few signs that you might want to take things a little easier:

• Your birth plan runs to 24 double-sided A4 pages, closely typed, and involves a set of power point slides and a projector. That dolphin will be perfectly happy in the birthing pool!
• You decide to use your stopwatch, not for timing your contractions, but to see what sort of times you can achieve on the hospital corridor during early labour. You send your partner home to fetch your new trainers: those women shuffling along in slippers aren’t even trying!
• You bring your yoga instructor with you to help get your breathing just right.
• You have already put your baby’s name on the admission lists of all the best schools (you made a few phone calls the day you did the pregnancy test) and you conduct a quick poll of the other expectant mums to find out where everybody else will be sending theirs. You don’t wish to intrude, so you confine yourself to a short questionnaire.
• You insist that the mid-wife only shouts ‘push’ in Mandarin. It is never too early to introduce your baby to the benefits of a second language.
• You force yourself to mutter ‘thanks’ to your aunt who brought the seven-pack of sleepsuits from that hideous High Street store. Your baby will only be wearing Dior, Chanel and Gucci, thank you very much.
• If you already have other children, your account of your previous experience of giving birth will be more horrific than that of any other woman in the maternity hospital and will include a thirty-hour labour and a third degree tear, all of which you endured without as much as a whiff of gas and air. You have no idea why that first-time mother, who only came over to borrow a magazine, has started to cry.

And on a serious note, if you do happen to find yourself slipping into competitive mode, just remember this: when that big day finally arrives, they won’t be handing you any medals in the delivery ward – just your very beautiful baby! Isn’t that ‘gold’ enough?

Words by Danielle McLaughlin

Toddlers and TV

The study, part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development Main Exposure, asked parents how much TV their children watched at 29 months (two years and five months) and 53 months (four years and five months). On average, the two-year-olds watched just under nine hours of TV per week, while, for four-year-olds, the average was just under fifteen hours.

More worryingly, however, the study also found that eleven per cent of the two-year-olds and 23 per cent of four-year-olds watched more than the recommended maximum of two hours of TV a day! When the children were revisited at the age of ten, teachers were asked to assess the children’s academic performance, behaviour and health. Their body mass index (BMI) was also measured rs old.

Higher levels of TV viewing at two was linked to a lower level of engagement in the classroom and poor achievement in maths.

The report from the US and Canadian universities supported another American study from a few years ago, when scientists found that, for every hour of television watched daily, toddlers faced a ten per cent increased risk of having attention problems by the age of seven. That report concluded that children under two should watch no television at all, while older children should be allowed to watch no more than two hours a day.

The findings of both studies suggested that television over stimulates a child’s mind as a result of the unrealistically fast-paced visual images. But is TV always bad for young children? With some clear guidelines and by carefully monitoring the programmes watched, your toddler can enjoy some TV without becoming a victim of attention disorders.

Watch with mother

Always try to watch TV with your child, whenever and wherever possible. Just being with your child tells them that what they do is important to you.

Develop the content

If a programme has introduced a new concept, such as a new number, talk to your child about it later and find other examples. Or read a book together, which includes number concepts.

Limit the time

If your child is under two, try to keep TV to a minimum. If you do choose to allow them to watch, then break it up into ten to fifteen minute slots. More than that and your child’s brain will go into autopilot. From age two to three the total viewing time should be an hour a day.

Parents’ guide to the most popular children’s programmes:

In the Night Garden

This features a large cast of colourful characters with unusual names, who live in an area of sparsely wooded grassland scattered with large daisies and brightly-coloured balls of flowers. Each episode starts with a child in bed (a different child appears in each episode), while the narrator introduces the episode. The episodes end with one character receiving a bedtime story, which is generated by the Magic Roundabout-style gazebo that sits at the centre of the Night Garden. This story is a summary of the plot of the episode.

Teletubbies

Set in magical Teletubbyland, Teletubbies use bright colours, engaging stories and fun games. Based on a fundamental understanding of how very young children develop, it allows young children to feel happy and secure. The programme includes live-action inserts of young children growing up around the world, broadening a child’s understanding of their world.

Balamory

Balamory stands in contrast to the puppet programmes in that it is a drama with human characters, who interact with each other and the viewer. The characters are extrovert and colourful, but they inject a sense of reality through the introduction of characters, such as Susie Sweet, who is in a wheelchair.

Fimbles

The idea of ‘finding’ is central to the Fimbles. The friendly-faced costumed characters, Fimbo, Florrie and Baby Pom have instant appeal, while their physical movements reflect those of a young child. Good use is made of appropriate questioning, which encourages children to think about what they are viewing and engage in the process.

So what do you do if your partner utters those dreaded words? The likelihood is you will not have heard them in the calm of an atmospherically-lit sitting-room, glass of wine in hand, soothing music playing in the background. It is far more likely you heard them while standing in your grubby dressing-gown, harried and bleary-eyed, a howling child on your shoulder. Or while struggling red-faced to strap a squirming baby into a car seat. The person, who spoke them, whom you once lovingly described to your friends as your ‘soul-mate’ or ‘The One’, may be standing across from you, equally red-faced and sleep deprived. Those accusations of change may even, dare I suggest it, have been prompted by a few choice utterances of your own, spoken in the heat of the moment.

There is no doubt that, as human beings, we run scared from change. ‘Change’, we think, is a bad thing, and so we toss the word out as an insult. We refuse to accept the changes time brings to our faces and bodies, spending a fortune on the latest age-defying magic potions. Is it any wonder then that we are so afraid of change in our relationships?

It is just possible of course that the words may have been offered as a compliment. You may be one of a minority of parents, who slip into parenthood as if into a comfortable new skin, revelling in your new-found sense of purpose, blossoming in your new role. If so, well, congratulations. It is more likely though that ‘you’ve changed’ means that your partner is feeling that something in the dynamic of your relationship is different since you became a parent.

A baby, of course, does change your life. Some changes are small and some are big. Babies consume an enormous amount of your energy. As every waking moment seems to be directed to one of baby’s endless demands, you will wonder what it was you ever did with your time before. There will be very few candlelit dinners, particularly in those early months.

Still, to borrow from Ovid, ‘all things change, nothing perishes.’ You and your partner are still essentially the same people. Try not to take the accusation of change personally. It is an indication of what you still mean to each other that your partner has registered these changes and wants to discuss them, even if perhaps it could have been raised in a more diplomatic way.

Every relationship is different but, for a start, acknowledge that some aspects of your life together have changed since you became parents. Two in the morning with a screaming child in your arms is not the best time to discuss your feelings for each other. Rather than allowing things to escalate into a full blown argument, arrange a time to talk. This might be a good opportunity to call in one of those offers of babysitting. And, if you never use babysitters, it’s time to ask yourself why not. Do you secretly fear that no one other than you is capable of minding your baby for a few hours? Perhaps not even your partner?

If so, it’s time for a re-think. If you monopolise the care of your baby, not only will you end up frazzled and exhausted, but your partner may very well feel excluded. Making an effort to organise time together as a couple will reassure your partner of your commitment to your relationship. True, you may find yourself planning your dates with military precision, particularly if your baby is very young and you are still breastfeeding, but less spontaneity does not have to mean less romance.

The precise impact a baby has on your lifestyle may depend to a certain extent on what your lifestyle was like before. If your social life was a constant whirlwind of pubs, clubs and parties, then your new life together as parents may very well come as something of a shock. One person in a relationship may adapt to this change more easily than the other. To soften the adjustment, try and keep in touch with your friends as much as possible, both as a couple and as individuals.

Making a baby means making changes. Change, though, need not be the bogey man of your relationship. Becoming parents is not about turning your backs on the old life you had together, but about enjoying a new, albeit busier and more demanding, life together with baby. As Darwin discovered all those years ago, it is neither the strongest nor the most intelligent who survive, but those most adaptable to change. Better therefore to embrace the changes that parenthood brings, rather than fearing them. As the saying goes, ‘if nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.’

Many moons ago, when you saw that blue line on the pregnancy test, you were given a date, a magical date, carefully conjured up in a high-tech way by an internet site calculator, or in a low-tech form by your doctor with a little plastic wheel. In went the date of your last menstrual period, (perhaps half guessed), and out came your due date. At every check up since then, the first thing you are asked for is your due date. It must be exact, precise, not a day here or there, this is your date, your EDD. It is further honed by your scans, which, based on the length of you child’s leg bones and spine on a given day, lead to further bartering on the due date, up a day or down two.

So, how many babies arrive on their due date? Well, actually, only four per cent! With 50 per cent coming within a week of the due date, and over 90 per cent within two weeks. It is, therefore, far more accurate to think of a ‘prepared period’, two weeks either side of your due date.

The EDD was established by Dr Naegele, a German obstetrician in the early 1800s. He declared that a pregnancy ‘should last ten moon months, that is, ten months of four weeks each.’ Calculated at forty weeks from the date of your last period, the due date is based on the assumption that you have a regular 28-day cycle, and that you conceived fourteen days after the first day of your period.

According to Dr Sarah Buckley, author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, ‘Menstrual dates will be most accurate for women who know the actual date of conception [usually a little more memorable!] and count 38 weeks ahead.’ Some studies have shown that calculations based on menstrual dates are likely to underestimate the due date, compared to dating scans at between twelve and 22 weeks. This then leads to inductions of babies, who are not actually overdue.

As well as the length of your cycle and the size and development of your baby, environmental factors also have an effect on when your baby arrives. Chances are that, if you’re ill, going through stress or not getting enough sleep, labour might not start until your body is strong enough to go through it. Midwives also report that there is a noticeable increase in the number of women going into labour around the time of the full moon!

A study of US mothers showed the average pregnancy length for first-time white mothers was 274 days (41 weeks and one day) from ovulation. Black women, women younger than 19 and older than 34, women with previous births and women pregnant with boy babies all tend to have shorter pregnancies.

Of course, every pregnant woman is sure she is going to go early. Most actually will it to happen (despite earlier misgivings about the act of giving birth), since they are usually big and uncomfortable and want ‘this thing out of me, like, yesterday!’

But it’s not only the woman, who wants her baby to come. Overdue friends – myself included – are bombarded with text messages and Facebook posts telling you to get a move on – as if pressure on you is going to help matters!

Pressure from the medical establishment is particularly strong, with some care givers wanting to give overdue scans only a couple of days after the due date is passed. According to Ina May Gaskin, induction of labour in the US was shown to have doubled during the 1990s from about ten per cent to about 20 per cent, in large part because of the introduction of a new range of induction drugs.

Of course pre-eclampsia is of concern, as is foetal distress and a reduction of amniotic fluid, but all of these are quite unusual, and more often than not, baby will come when it’s good and ready. But, once you’re past a week over due, you start coming under real pressure with threats, sorry, offers of membrane sweeps and induction. Most hospitals have 42 weeks as their upper limit before induction or caesarean are compulsory. Currently up to a third of pregnancies are induced, despite World Health Organisation recommendations that ‘no geographic region should have rates of induced labour over 10 per cent.’ So your due date is looming. Is there anything you can do to help things along?

Castor oil has been safely used by indigenous peoples around the world to induce labour. No one knows exactly how, or why, it is so effective, but it is thought that its laxative properties, which may well send you rushing for the toilet, also stimulate labour. A tablespoon can be taken in juice or scrambled eggs at breakfast time after the due date has passed, with another later in the day if no effects have been felt.

Sexual activity is also a great starter. The contractions of the uterus during orgasm can start labour contractions and semen contains prostaglandins which can help to ripen the cervix. Nipple stimulation produces oxytocin which is needed for labour. Sex is perfectly safe at full-term, provided your waters haven’t broken – in which case, I’m guessing, you wouldn’t be up for it any way!

Walking is another effect way to help get the uterus contracting, blood flowing and baby’s head engaged in the pelvis. Getting out of the house also acts as a distraction.

Deep sleep is very important, as the primal part of the brain, which activates labour, is interfered with by our logical, rational brains, which are used for speaking, thinking and modern daily life. It is no coincidence that a majority of labours start at night.