Do you think things actually help with dilation?

Question

I know some people drink tea, take evening primrose oil, dates, pineapple, yoga ball, etc…
Do you actually think these things help, or do you think your body is going to do it’s own thing regardless?

Answer

Some of these things have been studied. Not to increase dilation necessarily, but to shorten labor, to soften the cervix, to help baby descend etc. the misconception with a lot of these things is that it will kickstart your labor.
No one person can say whether or not any of these things helped their labor. But when you look at a controlled group, you can see the effect of using something vs not using it. 
For example, studies comparing women who ate dates from 36w+ had shorter latent stage of labor, fewer inductions and augmentations, fewer manual membrane ruptures vs women who ate no dates.

Answer

It’s more or less a labor aid. Like doing these things help you when you are in labor. Not to put you in labor.

Do you think things actually help with dilation?

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