Should Labor Be Induced If There Is A Risk Of Shoulder Dystopia?

Posted on Sun, 7 Jan 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 7 Jan 2018 Answered on

Sat, 9 Jun 2018 Last reviewed on

Question : My wife is 39 week pregnant (58kg now, 42kg before pregnancy) and till now contractions have not started.Baby weight as per last ultrasound is 3.4 kgs. Doctor has adviced to induce labor to avoid risks of shoulder dystocia. Apart from this everything is going normal. Should we wait for another few days or try some home methods like milk + desi ghee or castor oil or anything else to induce labour?

Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (-4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
As below

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thanks for trusting us with your health concern.
It is normal for labour pains to start right until 42 weeks sometimes.
There is no need to induce labor right away in my opinion if everything else is normal.
Everything else includes - NST ( non stress test which should be reactive ), Ultrasound scan with Colour doppler, and maternal perception of fetal movements.
If all these are normal, you can wait for atleast 15 days more with following protocol -
Biweekly NST
Weekly scan with Doppler
Daily tab on fetal movements by mother.
Yes, there is harm in following home remedies to try and induce labour naturally -
1. Sexual intercourse.
2. Using XXXXXXX style toilet
3. Doing ' pocha ' or swabbing the floor in squatting position.
4. Daily squatting and pelvic floor exercises.
5. Milk with ghee.
Avoid castor oil as it can cause certain side effects, which are not desirable.
In which city do you reside ?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Take care.

Brief Answer:
As below

Detailed Answer:
Yes, you can relax and wait if all above parameters are normal.
What is your wife's height ?

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar