How is Labor Induced?

If your doctor has decided to induce labor, you might want to know how it’s done. During a natural labor, the lower end of the uterus, called the cervix, softens. This process is called ripening. Next, the cervix thins out, or effaces, and opens, or dilates. The cervix must be fully effaced and dilated for a baby’s head to come through. To induce labor, this process is speeded along in one of the following ways. Your doctor may insert a finger into your vagina and move it back and forth to separate the membrane that connects your amniotic sac to your uterine wall. Following this procedure—which is called stripping the membranes—your body releases prostaglandin hormones, which can lead to the start of your contractions. Your doctor may also choose to ripen your cervix by giving you manmade versions of prostaglandins to take by mouth or vagina. The cervix can also be ripened with a balloon-like device, which is inserted into the vagina and then filled with water. This causes the cervix to expand. If your cervix has already started to open, your doctor may move your labor along by using a plastic hook to manually break your amniotic sac, which should lead to contractions. As a final method of labor induction, your doctor may decide to give you an intravenous dose of Pitocin. This drug is an artificial form of the hormone oxytocin, which also occurs naturally in the body to trigger and strengthen contractions. With the exception of stripping the membranes, which is done in a doctor’s office, all of these procedures are done in the hospital. If you still don’t go into labor after your doctor tries one of these methods, however, you will probably need to have a C-section.