Husband's Ingenious Way to Keep Heavily Pregnant Wife Company on Walk

At 39 weeks a pregnancy is considered full term, and mothers might begin trying various techniques to naturally induce the baby.

TikTok user Paige Bieker posted a video to her account @paigebieker explaining how she attempted to induce her pregnancy at 39 weeks, with her husband playing an interesting role in the scenario.

In the clip, which has had over 2.2 million views on TikTok, Bieker can be seen going for a stroll in her neighborhood, with a black car following slowly behind.

"When he's still training for football and his legs are tired but he doesn't want you to walk alone at 39 weeks," explains the text, as it's revealed the man in the car behind is in fact Bieker's husband and not a stranger.

"Overprotective or thoughtful?" asks the caption.

Up until about 10 years ago, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) considered the period stretching from three weeks before a due date to two weeks after the due date, from 37 to 42 weeks as a pregnancy at "term."

"This was a bit misleading and open to interpretation though," explains The Bump. "There's a wide range of outcomes that can occur between the 37 – and 42 – week marks."

With this in mind, in 2013 the ACOG updated its definitions to:

• Preterm: Before 37 weeks (also known as premature)
• Early-term: 37 through 38 weeks, six days
• Full-term: 39 through 40 weeks, six days
• Late-term 41 through 41 weeks, six days
• Post-term: 42 weeks and beyond

Post-term pregnancies carry a higher risk of delivery complications, including an increased fetal size, which can cause injury to the baby during delivery and also an obstructed delivery that can cause distress to the mother, according to Medical News Today.

While there are medical ways to induce a pregnancy, doctors usually won't suggest these unless there is an obvious risk to the baby or mother.

As Bieker is demonstrating, exercise is thought to induce labor, but there is no proof other than anecdotal evidence that it actually works. Exercise is known to relax both the body and mind, which can perhaps help in some cases.

Homeopathy and herbs are another popular suggestion, despite the lack of evidence.

A 2018 study entitled Effectiveness and safety of herbal medicines for induction of labour: a systematic review and meta-analysis, published in BMJ Open found that herbal remedies such as castor oil and raspberry leaf are effective at inducing labor, "but there is inconclusive evidence of safety due to lack of good quality data. Thus, the use of herbal medicines for IOL should be avoided until safety issues are clarified. More studies are recommended to establish the safety of herbal medicines."

TikTok users were full of praise for Bieker's supportive husband.

"Never overprotective, only not protective enough," commented one user. "And if you get tired and need a break you can just sit in the car," suggested another.

Newsweek has reached out to Bieker via email for comment.

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