Pumping To Induce Labor? Will it work?

You’re wanting to go into labor (or prep for a planned induction) will nipple stimulation, (or pumping) put you into labor? It’s a great question. I’ll tell you what I’ve seen as a nurse, and we’ll dive into a few studies and what they show. I will say you may be surprised at how long some of these people were doing it — so keep reading!

Before we get going, you clearly don’t want to be doing any nipple stimulation to induce labor until at least 37 weeks of pregnancy. I go into that more in my post on if you can breastfeed your husband during pregnancy (yes — I saw it was a question that got asked enough I thought it needed a thoughtful answer so I wrote a post). And, as always this is going to be a jumping-off point to talk with your provider about how it applies to YOU and YOUR circumstances.

This (or any article on The Pregnancy Nurse) should be taken as medical advice, this purely educational. Please talk with your provider about your specific needs and circumstances.

Before we get going, have you created your birth plan? I think it’s a great way to go through the choices you might need to make in the hospital in a very low-stress environment. I can help you do just that right here:

I should also mention that all of these studies were only done on low-risk pregnancies. If you have something that increases your risk (diabetes, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, any placental issues, etc.) that is something you REALLY want to talk to your provider about.

Research on Nipple Simulation Inducing Labor:

First off we’re going to look at this study. It is a Cochrane meta-analysis, meaning they looked at a bunch of studies and drew broad conclusions between the data gathered overall.

Kavanagh J, Kelly AJ, Thomas J. Breast stimulation for cervical ripening and induction of labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005 Jul 20;2005(3):CD003392. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003392.pub2. PMID: 16034897; PMCID: PMC8713553.

First off, they compared Breast Stimulation vs nothing (meaning either they did the breast stimulation, or they just lived their lives per the usual).

The first thing to know is that some of these studies had these women doing breast stimulation for THREE HOURS daily (broken-up into one-our chunks). Some of them used a pump, and some used hand stimulation — but, wow — that’s a lot of time.

Most of them only talked about hand stimulation vs only one used a pump. We have to remember that methods like this could be extremely helpful in areas without medical care and they often don’t have pumps either.

Ok, what did they see?

Little difference in caesarean section rates between those who did or didn’t use nipple stimulation.

In this study there were no instances of uterine hyperstimulation among the participants — meaning your uterus contracts too much.

This one was interesting — there was no big difference in the number of women who had an unfavorable/unchanged cervix after 12 to 24 hours — meaning it didn’t really soften people’s cervix in the first 24 hours or so. Want to learn more about a favorable cervix << check out that article.

Which leads us to think it’s not going to put you into labor tonight.

Sadly, there were three perinatal deaths all of which were in the breast stimulation arm of one trial. They didn’t discuss this any more, but it should be noted that there are risks in pregnancy and that’s why you have to talk with your provider about you, and your circumstances. It also reminds us that this might be best done with some monitoring for you and baby.

Understanding the risks and benefits is SO important to anything in labor including this. I think taking a great birth class can help you mange those better — I recommend this one.

There was a small reduction in the rates of meconium staining. This usually happens if baby is stressed in the womb, or ends-up being delivered late.

I was happy to see a reduction in the rate of postpartum hemorrhage when breast stimulation was compared with no treatment. That’s great news!

And for me — my big take away is that there was a decrease in the number of women NOT in labour after 72 hours in women who had used breast stimulation when compared with no treatment. That means more people went into labor in 72 hours compared to those who did not.

They also studied nipple stimulation vs Pitocin, but there weren’t really any broad conclusions drawn between the two (meaning they’re pretty similar).

Quick reminder that these women were DUE. I saw one study that allowed it at 37 weeks, but most were 39+ weeks.

Want to know more about other things putting you into labor? Check out these posts:

• 3 Things to Know About Perineal Massage
• 40 weeks + a day and No Sign of Labor?
• Can You Push Yourself Into Labor?
• When Should I Start Drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea?
• Can Curb Walking Induce Labor?

Ok, that’s the Cochrane, but there’s a few others I checked out that had some good conclusions:

This one DID show an increase in hyperstimulation when used (which caused decreases in baby’s heart rate in one out of 10 participants) It also tested plasma levels of oxytocin and it DID show an increase for those who used nipple stimulation. This study also found oxytocin increased with nipple stimulation

Christensson K, Nilsson BA, Stock S, Matthiesen AS, Uvnäs-Moberg K. Effect of nipple stimulation on uterine activity and on plasma levels of oxytocin in full term, healthy, pregnant women. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1989;68(3):205-10. doi: 10.3109/00016348909020990. PMID: 2618602.

Schröcksnadel H, Sachsenmaier M, Reider W. Erfahrungen mit der Mamillenstimulation zur Weheninduktion [Experiences with breast stimulation for labor induction]. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd. 1990 Jul;50(7):569-71. German. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1026302. PMID: 2391024.

As someone whos talked patients through this process (read more about my experience below) — I will say that when contractions get to be too much (hyperstimulation), most people just naturally stop vs Pitocin where we can just keep it going. Just something I thought about. Just because baby’s heart rate went down once, doesn’t mean it didn’t recover and baby was fine. I promise that if we monitored all of you 24/7 we’d see heart rate decelerations among your babies. They are created to be fine with it. BUT it is something to be aware of, and a important talk to have with your provider.

I was impressed by the results in this study — it showed that those who started labor induction by performing nipple stimulation for at least 2 hours had a shorter time to delivery and later received less total IV oxytocin. That feels like a win in my book.

Nipple stimulation therapy promotes uterine contractions at lower plasma oxytocin concentration than intravenous oxytocin during labor induction McAdow, Molly E.Shabanova, VeronikaSon, Moeun et al.American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM, Volume 6, Issue 3, 101307

This study concluded that it should not be done without medical supervision, and said that the “lay press” should NOT recommend it. I sort of did a eye-roll at that — this is something people can do on their own… Sort makes you feel like doctors want control rather than good outcomes, but I digress….

Schröcksnadel H, Sachsenmaier M, Reider W. Erfahrungen mit der Mamillenstimulation zur Weheninduktion [Experiences with breast stimulation for labor induction]. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd. 1990 Jul;50(7):569-71. German. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1026302. PMID: 2391024.

I found this one pretty interesting — while it did show some progress, most of the women actually needed oxytocin to really go into labor (but it showed they were in labor 4 hours, on average — from 20 hours down to 16 hours). That study was pretty interesting – it showed that on average women needed 69 minutes of nipple stimulation to get into a contraction pattern of 3 contractions in 10 minutes averaged over 30 minutes. Most women in the study did 198 minutes of nipple stimulation (that’s over 3 hours) But patients found it acceptable in their births. I’m sure they could stop at any time and obviously many of them did, and they went to Pitocin

The thing is that a lot of people getting induced get super frustrated by the induction process. If we can add some nipple stimulation time either at home (with guidelines for hyperstimulation or any issues) or at the hospital — maybe patients would be happier with their induction process, and feel a greater sense of control?

Elisabeth L. Stark, Zoe G. Athens, Moeun Son,
Intrapartum nipple stimulation therapy for labor induction: a randomized controlled external pilot study of acceptability and feasibility,
American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2022, 100575, ISSN 2589-9333,

Want to know more about inductions — check out these posts:

• 5 Things NOT to do Before Your Induction
• Inducing Labor at 39 Weeks: Pros and Cons
• 5 Reasons to NOT Get Induced
• What to Expect at A Foley Bulb Induction
• 6 Things to Know About Your Fetal Growth Ultrasound

And while we’re here — have you packed your bag yet?

Will this affect breastfeeding?

I didn’t see any studies that showed any affect on breastfeeding after using this.

Keep in mind while you pump you may get a little colostrum, which you could save in syringes, but for most people they won’t be necessary and may just be one more thing to do.

What I’ve Seen:

We know nipple stimulation causes contractions. Since I started working L&D we’ve done contraction stress tests to see how baby reacts to contractions in the womb. In order to do this we either have to start an IV and give small amounts of Pitocin, or we ask patients to do nipple stimulation.

Most patients would prefer nipple stimulation over getting an IV and having Pitocin run in. We then watch how the baby does and then if baby is good we tell them they can stop and they go home.

Most often it only took a few minutes and patients had contractions and then they were done. Most often they didn’t come in labor a few hours later — because it would cause contractions, and then stop — similar to giving Pitocin for 30 minutes and then stopping. Labor would then stop… unlikely to keep going to birth.

Nipple stimulation at home during early labor has seemed to push things along. I’ve seen this in patients who have breastfed another child during early labor and then seemed to progress quicker than others. Most patients don’t come in and tell me they tried stimulation or pumping, so I don’t have a ton of knowledge, but I have seen this.

I mostly have seen patients who are frustrated by the length of the induction at the hospital, so if there is something we could do to try things at home prior to coming to the hospital, it might be helpful.

I have also seen a lot of postpartum hemorrhages in people who have had a long induction. If we could mitigate that by using some nipple stimulation instead of just Pitocin, maybe that would give us some big benefits?

Personally, I gleaned the most from that last study — that people were willing to give it a try, did so in the hospital without issue and then went on to have shorter labors. So, I hope we study it more.

As always, we’re going to ask for more studies on this, to look at safety and actual effectiveness — but I would hope that some birth locations are coming up with some protocols where they tell patients risks, benefits and then things they need to watch for if they try this at home — and then we check results.

Should you try pumping to induce labor?

I should say that some hand stimulation (especially if done with a partner in the right way 😉) may stimulate things differently than you sitting attached to a pump watching TV.

Personally — I’m not sure that I really see this as a way to “go into labor”. There was that study that showed after 3 days of doing it 3 hours/day — people were more likely to be in labor than those who did nothing. But, that’s NINE HOURS of nipple stim, just to find out if it will work. It’s hard to say if that would be worth it to me.

However, if I was in early labor at home, where I was getting more than 10 contractions in an hour (because I recommend to ignore it prior to that point if you’re past 37 weeks — which I talk about in here) I would probably throw a pump on. Most of you have a breast pump, so there’s no additional cost. Personally, I doubt I’d just sit there and stimulate them by hand for an hour — but that’s me. It’s an option.

You definitely want to watch out for contractions that are lasting too long, or are super painful. If you feel those you need to stop and call your provider. Maybe that means it’s time to go to the hospital.

There isn’t really a reason you couldn’t continue trying to pump or use nipple stim in the hospital. It might be against “policy”, but you can always say you know/understand that but you plan to keep doing it — and ask them to let you know if they see your contractions are too much, too long or are affecting baby. Clearly, just doing hand nipple stimulation would be pretty easy to conceal vs a pump in the hospital. HOWEVER there’s no reason to conceal this. You tell the hospital what you’re doing, and they can tell you if they see problems arise because of it. That’s OK.

FYI, you nurse can’t give you a breast pump if it’s not ordered (that is how hospitals work), but bringing your own in gives you more control over the situation.

Honestly, knowing how to handle incorporating your own ideas into labor and birth into the hospital is one of the hardest things.

I know that once you get in that bed you suddenly sort of feel like a little kid who doesn’t get to make choices on their own.

Taking a good birth class can help you navigate making these choices and communicating with your healthcare team. I recommend this one.

Want to do a vibe check before diving into the whole thing with me? — check out my free labor pro tips. It’s your first step toward getting in the driver’s seat of your birth.