Giving baby a nudge

Your health care provider may suggest ways to help get labor started, such as:

• Ripening the cervix. You might be given medicine to soften and expand (ripen) your cervix. Or your health care provider might ripen your cervix by inserting into it a small tube (catheter) with an inflatable balloon on the end.
• Sweeping the membranes of the amniotic sac. With this technique, also known as stripping the membranes, the health care provider sweeps a gloved finger over the covering of the amniotic sac near the fetus. This separates the sac from the cervix and the lower uterine wall.
• Rupturing the amniotic sac. If your amniotic sac is still intact, your health care provider might release the fluid in it by creating an opening with a thin plastic hook. The opening causes the water to break.
• Using medication to start contractions. A version of oxytocin (Pitocin), a hormone that causes the uterus to contract, may be taken to trigger labor.

Typically, ripening the cervix, rupturing the amniotic sac and using Pitocin to start contractions are done at a hospital in the labor and delivery unit.