How to speed up birth

This is upon abang's request. He asked me to share my experiences regarding birth and things related to it. Saham akhirat katanya. What we had underwent and how scanty our preparation to enter this new stage of parenthood. But learning is an ongoing process. It's ok. Throughout the journey, we both learnt and still learning, anticipating better outcomes in the future insyaAllah.

Sarah stayed in my womb until her 42 weeks of gestation. Obviously overdue. I've told you in previous post that we tried so much to hasten the birth, as to avoid to be induced synthetically. I googled and asked people here and there, so these are some tips.

1. Walk, as frequent as you can
Brisk walk is the best. I tried this but maybe the way i did it was too extreme. I walked but forgot to stop for a while until the feet got swollen. Especially when it came to walk at the shopping mall. Hihi.  Never forget to pause to avoid constant pressure to the feet.

2. Squat
At first i was so scared to use the squat toilet because as i feel the pressure i thought my baby's head will come out before the right time. Haha. But i was wrong. A friend told me to squat frequently to hasten and ease the the birth. I guess it will help to create the pathway for birth

3. Air selusuh
This one i really dont know about the efficiency. I drank LOTS of air selusuh plus minyak selusuh, but it's all is about your rizq. I can still remember i kept on asking abang after drinking the air selusuh, "kenapa sayang tak sakit pun abang?" "kenapa tak keluar tanda pun abang?". Then abang would answer, "bukan air tu yang buat sayang bersalin, tapi Allah. Kena betulkan niat masa minum tu. Semua ni usaha saja, tapi Allah yang tentukan"  The water will just be one of our efforts but it is Allah who is the ultimate organizer behind all these. so, betulkan niat, ok?

4. Nipple stimulation, cuddling, kissing and having sex
As you are reaching 38th week and above you may try all these. Cik normah who works at the labour room told us about this. More frequent cuddlings, intercourse, and nipple stimulation are better to stimulate birth. It is said that nipple stimulation, kissing, cuddling and even just relaxing will induce the production of oxytocin hormone which will help to stimulate birth. Besides, when you cuddle your husband, it is the warmth and support that you really need to bear with the pain. Meanwhile during the intercourse, the semen that contains prostaglandin will help to ripen up the cervix and later will stimulate birth. 

5. The zikr
Ya Awwal - as to hasten the birth
Ya Haafiz - so that you will be guarded to keep your modesty throughout the process
Ya Fatah - so that Allah will open up the pathway for birthing.

Abang also asked me to repeatedly read surah Maryam, Yaasin, arRahman, and never missed to recite ayat kursi. In short, baca sajalah the whole al-Quran kan, kalau sempat? Hihi

So, again i would like to stress here. Bersalin ni memang persoalan rezeki dan taqdir Allah swt. All these are just our efforts. It is Him that controls everything. If people tend to blame you for not doing so and so that cause the birth to delay (familiar with this? Tu la, siapa suruh tak buat tu, tak buat ni.. Bla bla), just chill and relax. Agak-agak tak boleh sabar, just tell them, "siapa kamu nak lawan taqdir Allah?" 

tolonglah faham. sudah la orang tu risau baby masih belum mahu keluar, lagi nak tambah keserabutan. i've been through all that, so i know how it feels. the least you can do is pray for the mother. be careful, even a simple question like, "bila baby nak keluar?" can be so irritating to the mother. hihi. let me teach you how to answer that. "tak tahulah. cuba tanya Allah bila baby ni nak keluar" ^_~