When a woman is nine months pregnant and ready to pop, she'll try almost anything to get the labor party started — spicy food, sex, exercise. It doesn't matter if it's a tried-and-true method from her midwife or something totally bonkers she read on a message board online. But even natural remedies and old wives' tales can come with serious risks. And a new DIY labor-induction technique that involves using coffee to "steam your vagina" has doctors raising their eyebrows.
The "coffee potty method" can supposedly induce labor by using caffeine to start contractions -- but you don't drink it.
According to the parenting blog Family Friendly, the "hack" involves squatting naked over a bowl of boiling coffee and letting the steam waft up into your lady garden. The caffeine "stimulates the uterus to contract," while the steam is said to loosen the mucus plug. It can be carried out in just six steps:
1. Place plastic bowl in toilet.
2. Heat up water in a kettle.
3. Place 1 cup to 2 cups of ground coffee into plastic bowl.
4. Pour hot water over the coffee grounds.
5. Squat over the bowl and place a towel over you legs to keep the steam in.
6. Steam your lady parts for about 20 minutes.
Boiling water, hot steam, and a pregnant woman with a diminished ability to balance. What could possibly go wrong?
Even though it sounds completely bonkers, people are actually trying it.
The method has been floating around online since around 2013, but as recently as last year, moms were posting on message boards on popular websites like Baby Center, What to Expect, and Net Mums about their personal experiences with the "coffee potty."
One overachiever even did it twice in one day.
"If anything, maybe this helps soften and dilate our cervix," she wrote. "I'm not sure how, though! It's a funny story and kinda relaxing."
But others are, of course, a little more skeptical.
As one woman pointed out, it sounds like advice straight from one very famous vaginal-steaming advocate we all love to hate: Gwyneth Paltrow.
Unsurprisingly, the coffee potty method sends up several red flags for professionals in the medical field.
Dr. Amos Grunebaum, ob-gyn and women's health expert for Fairhaven Health, tells CafeMom he's never heard of the method, and he thinks it sounds downright dangerous.
"There is no evidence anywhere that this works," he says. "What's even more concerning is that using boiling water, especially with coffee grounds, next to your body — and for that matter, an especially sensitive part of your body — can lead to serious burns. I work in a hospital with a major burn unit, and about two million Americans are burned each year. Most burns are from hot liquids, and having seen many burns I can only tell women to be very careful when getting close to boiling and heated water."
Obviously, if a woman wants to try this method, no one can stop her. But be careful with your parts, ladies. Having a baby is enough work for your vagina.
