Pregnancy is an exciting journey full of unexpected feelings, changes, and expectations. The first few months tend to fly by very fast. But come the third trimester, and it feels like the days and weeks stretch to infinity and beyond.
So, if you are a pregnant woman and have already passed your due date with no sign that the baby is coming anytime soon, do not feel guilty if you start thinking about ways to induce labor. You are not alone. Doctors can choose labor medical induction for pregnant women, but many women prefer a more natural method. That is where the midwife brew recipe comes into play.
This cocktail made from natural ingredients is said to induce labor naturally within 24 hours of taking it, sometimes sooner, safely, and 80% of the time through vaginal birth. So, if you want to start labor as quickly as possible, read this article and ask your doctor about it. Let’s take a look at this alternative medicine.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this article has been gathered through research and reading about the experiences of others. We are not medical practitioners, and we encourage you to consult your medical provider before taking midwives brew or trying labor induction. Also, labor induction should not be attempted before the baby is full-term (39–41 weeks) to prevent maternal or fetal complications. Be sure you know the exact timeframe you are in, and if you have any doubts, consult your OBGYN before deciding.
What is Midwives Brew?
Midwives brew is simply a cocktail made of castor oil, lemon verbena tea, almond butter, and apricot juice. That causes your body to have uterine contractions and kick-start active labor. It is a natural induction method that has been recommended by naturalists, midwives, and even doctors as a labor induction technique.
As long as you have had a normal pregnancy, are at full term, and preferably have already surpassed your due date, you can consider midwives brew safe to take, but always under the supervision of a practitioner or a labor and delivery nurse. This popular labor-inducing drink is also known as the “German labor cocktail” or “Castor oil cocktail.” Many women swear by it. So, how do you make it, and how does it work?
It has made from all-natural ingredients whose properties have been proven to work as a way to induce labor and other added benefits for either the mother or the baby. However, consider this a fair warning. It may not be the most pleasant experience.
Midwife Brew Recipe
To make the midwives brew, you will need all these natural ingredients:
- 2 tbsp castor oil
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 1 cup lemon verbena tea
- 1 1/4 cup of apricot juice
- Hot water
How do you make it?
- Place the lemon verbena in the boiling water and let the tea bag sit for around 10 minutes. You want it to be strong.
- Add everything, including the tea, to a blender and blend it until you have a smooth consistency resembling a blended paste.
- Pour it into a glass and drink it warm, preferably on an empty stomach. But if you are having a hard time drinking it warm, you can add some ice or drink it cold.
- You should drink it all within 30 minutes to get maximum results.
How Does It Work?
The magic behind the effectiveness of midwives’ brew relies on the properties of its ingredients, especially castor oil and almond butter.
Castor oil has been used to induce labor and laxative for centuries. Castor oil causes spasms in the uterine muscles, which stimulate contractions and induce labor. There is even scientific evidence gathered through trials studying the effects of castor oil in pregnant women, showing that 58% of those pregnant women who took the oil began active labor within 24 hours.
As a comparison, the results from the control group showed that only around 4% of those given a placebo went into active labor soon after taking it. However, you should be cautious with castor oil because, as we have said before, it is also a laxative and may cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can cause dehydration and lightheadedness.
You should never take midwives’ brew by yourself and always be in the company of your birthing partner, a delivery nurse, a doctor, a doula, or a friend that can keep an eye on your state and help you if the need arises.
The second main ingredient is almond butter, which is added because of its binding properties. You see, you want castor oil to stick to your intestines instead of simply going straight through your body, and the stickiness from almond butter does that. If you do not like almond butter or do not have it at hand, any nut butter can do the same, so substitute it with peanut butter or even Nutella (it contains hazelnut butter). If you are allergic to nut butter, you should seek other inducing labor alternatives.
Lemon verbena has been used for centuries in South America as a medicinal herb and is recommended for its calming properties. There is no certainty on why it helps induce labor, but it does, and there is even a recipe for a lemon verbena cocktail to induce labor. If you cannot find the former, lemon verbena tea can be substituted with lemon verbena essential oil.
Finally, apricot juice is a vitamin and mineral-rich drink, and during this process, you will need to replenish nutrients to better prepare for delivery time. This ingredient is used as a flavor enhancer and can be substituted with natural pineapple juice, orange juice, mango nectar, grape juice, or cranberry juice.
Since the main ingredients of midwives’ brew are castor oil and almond butter, if you cannot drink it on an empty stomach, you can mix those ingredients and spread it onto toasted bread, for example, and eat it. Maybe the flavor of castor oil will be more present than with the other ingredients that mask it better, but it will also be effective.
How Long After Midwives Brew Do Contractions Start?
Reviews from women who drank midwives’ brew said they began to go into labor within the first 24 hours, most of the time, with cases where they started feeling contractions a few hours later. Most of them could give birth vaginally to a healthy baby without complications. That is one of the reasons you should not try to take the cocktail if you are alone. Always be in the company of a reliable partner.
The Not So Fun Part About Midwives Brew
As with everything, there are always pros and cons, and you need to be aware of them before choosing to take midwives brew. Consider this a fair warning before deciding to use this to induce labor.
First, drinking castor oil can cause severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These illnesses can lead to dehydration and leave you feeling weak. Some even think that dehydration causes you to go into labor.
Remember that you will need all the strength you can manage during childbirth, so not being in peak condition will make it harder. To avoid dehydration, drink lots of water to replenish the electrolytes and fluids you lose in this process. Drinking coconut water is an excellent natural way to fight dehydration, but there are also a lot of commercial drinks, like Pedialyte, to aid you with this.
Also, women have reported fast and painful contractions at the beginning of induced labor. This is something to keep in mind. A few women have said that drinking midwives’ brew did nothing to induce labor besides leaving them feeling ill and having an upset stomach. Nevertheless, most women can vouch for midwives’ brew success.
So, before deciding if midwives brew is for you, bear in mind the side effects you may experience. Make sure you are overdue or that your baby is at full term, and always, always, always get the green light from your doctor or primary healthcare provider before taking the brew to induce labor.
Are There Any Other Ways to Induce Labor Naturally?
If you are not sure the midwives brew to induce labor is for you, there are other techniques you can try.
For example, nipple stimulation, where you, either manually or using a breast pump, mimic the baby’s latch, helps release oxytocin, a hormone that plays a major role in inducing labor. Since there are no side effects from doing this, and it can also serve as a way to practice properly using the pump, you can try this as a first attempt and see how it goes.
Having sex has always been recommended for initiating labor because orgasms also release oxytocin, and semen has prostaglandin, which thins and softens the cervix. And let us be honest, it is a much more fun way of inducing labor.
Eating spicy food and dates are also among the most common alternatives. But these need to be done in advance and will not work as fast as midwives brew. A common practice for labor induction is, during a cervical examination, to get a membrane sweep where the practitioner separates the cervix amniotic sax by sweeping a finger between the membranes. This needs to be performed by a professional, so do not try this by yourself.
Exercise, squatting, or bouncing on a birthing ball are other options with no side effects and that you can try as the first alternatives. Remember that you should never try, under no circumstances, any induction method if you are not 100% sure that you are at full term or have surpassed your due date, and you need to get pre-approved by your OBGYN. And never do this alone. Always be with someone to keep you company.
Non-medical early induction can cause harm to both you and your baby. So, please beware.
Conclusion
When we get pregnant, we all want our baby with us as soon as possible. We plan everything around them and imagine what every moment will be like. However, many things can happen, and there is little control on our hands. We have to go with the flow of things and make the best out of every moment.
Deciding to drink midwives’ brew or choosing any other natural method to induce labor must be a conscious decision where you have already educated yourself about the alternatives you have and their risks if there are any. As we said before, there are always pros and cons to everything. Nothing is perfect. And what works for your friend may not work for you because every case is different, and our organisms may react differently.
Yes, there are a lot of success stories about using midwives’ brew, and yes, there are some cases where it has not worked or took too much time to do so. Undoubtedly, the midwives’ brew is effective, with stories backing it to be successful 85% of the time. Although this is mostly anecdotical and not scientifically backed, it has been a well-known practice for years. There are no warnings about this being a dangerous practice; hence, it is likely harmless for both you and your baby.
You can also just wait for your baby to be ready. Sometimes they just need the extra days of being comfy inside to prepare themselves for the outside world. If your OBGYN considers it safe for them to wait a little longer, then maybe be patient and let nature do its job.
