by Ashley Motzenbecker, CD (CBI), PED

As our society has slowly placed more and more emphasis on the "due date", we have forgotten that babies don't keep a calendar with them in your womb. Each baby is unique. It grows at it's own pace. And frankly, it should be allowed to pick its OWN birthday. Why? Because it is safer. Safer for your baby, and safer for you.

Babies that are induced before they are ready can have trouble breathing, staying warm and breastfeeding, and they often need special hospital care after birth. In fact, we are beginning to see a large increase in pre-term births, mostly due to the fact that we are inducing and sectioning babies way before they are ready.

Induction isn't devoid of risk for mothers either. Research shows that first-time moms who are induced are twice as likely to have a cesarean as one whose labor starts on its own.

Actually, I've only scratched the surface here. The other risks involved are restriction of your movements, IV fluids, continuous fetal monitoring and denial of food and drink. These often lead to epidurals, because induced labors are significantly more painful. Epidurals lead to catheters, internal monitors and confine you to a bed. They can even lead to an assisted delivery with a vacuum or forceps. AND as mentioned above, inductions often lead to a cesarean, usually for fetal distress or stalled labors. Oh, and did I mention that sometimes an induction just doesn't work at all?

Some advice for pregnant women... skip the elective induction. No matter how miserable you think you are, no matter how many times your well meaning friends call and ask if you've had the baby yet, no matter how tempting it is to schedule when you'll meet your baby... be strong, for yourself, for your baby and for your birth.