The Epidemic of Induction
The Epidemic of Induction
I’m a huge believer in birth being natural. This is not simply because I just think it’s a good idea. I used to have NO idea. My passion for natural birth was actually pioneered by hearing all the births that my friends and their friends were experiencing and picking up on too many similar bad patterns to be coincidence. For example one of my big “kicks” with birth was when OB’s would pressure their patients with this phrase, “You’ve been a (insert # dilated here) for too long & you’re showing signs of failure to progress in your labor. I think we are going to *need* to put you on Pitocin.” I would cringe when listening to birth stories & the infamous statement was spoken again & again. It would quite literally anger me becasue it was so often unnecessary & so often led to negative outcomes in their births.
Well, I have been on a new “kick” lately. The pattern that I have been hearing more lately is this Epidemic of Induction. What is the deal? Why is it that so many OB’s seem to pressure a woman to be induced instead of letting her body spontaneously go into labor? Seriously, where is the medical evidence-based proof that this has to do with ANYTHING other than habit or convenience on the OB’s part?
A few months ago a friend of mine was casually mentioning to me that her OB wanted to go ahead & schedule her delivery date (this was at her 12 week prenatal, mind you) via induction. When my friend told her OB that she hoped to NOT be induced this time around, her OB said this, “Why? OB’s just arent letting thier clients go past 39 weeks now-a-days.”
I swear to you, my jaw hit the floor! What? Not “letting” your clients go past 39 weeks? Since when did this OB become the final word on when my friends baby should enter this world? As you can imagine, I eagerly encouraged her to seek a new provider and ASAP.
I simply do not understand the need for any induction of labor unless ABSOLUTELY medically necessary. I’ll give you another example and this is one I have been hearing A LOT lately: Induction of labor because a woman is not dilating in the weeks or days BEFORE her due date. The same friend I mentioned above, towards the end of her pregnancy went in for a prenatal & was told that she wasnt showing any “signs” of labor & that discussing an induction was a good idea. Her OB even told her that in order to leave that prenatal they needed to preform an ultrasound & a non-stress test to make sure the baby was still okay. She wasn’t even to her due date yet!
Another friend of mine was sharing her birth story with me & how in her final prenatal before she went into labor, her OB told her that she wasn’t dilated at all & since she wasn’t showing sings of labor, they were going to schedule the induction for the following week (3 days past her 40-week due date). Luckily, she went into labor spontaneously a couple days later.
When did medicine decide that a woman not showing any signs of labor BEFORE actually going into LABOR was a concern? Doesn’t that just seem like poor common sense? I mean, think about it. You’re basically telling a woman that her body isnt doing it “right” because she isn’t naturally pre-dilating to a 1, 2, or 3 before labor has begun. Last time I checked LABOR is what happens when a baby is ready to be born. Since when did we decide that there was now a set “rule” to abide by in the days or weeks before labor? This really doesn’t make sense to me.
Our bodies know how to have babies!! Granted complications do arise & things do fail us- but the majority of the time if we leave it alone, birth seems to work remarkably well without us getting in the way of it. I don’t see where Doctors can stress that it is somehow better for the baby or the mother to induce labor; to pump your body full of Pitocin, Cervadil, Cytotec or any other labor inducing drug simply because her cervix hasn’t dilated BEFORE labor. These drugs come with some serious risks; risks that are far greater than the “risk” of going a few days past her due date.
Some risks of Pitocin include:
- Uterine Rupture. Especially if you are trying for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).
- Fetal distress. Babies do not like the stronger contractions synthetic oxytocin offers & this can cause babies to go into fetal distress. If this happens, the medicine will be turned off and your care provider will evaluate the situation. Because of the risk of fetal distress, you will be on a fetal monitor if synthetic oxytocin is used during labor.
- Long term consequences for your baby. Pitocin is a relatively new medication and long-term risks have not been evaluated. Some experts link the use of synthetic oxytocin with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
I know we all trust our providers. We wouldn’t be with them (ideally) if we didn’t, but seriously ladies: know what is “normal” about pregnancy and birth. Know your options & know the risks. Stand up for your birth… & trust.your.body. Let’s try & reduce the amount of non-medically necessary inductions that are being performed in this country on a regular basis.
Want to learn more about Pitocin? Check out these great sources!
~http://www.drugs.com/cons/pitocin.html
~http://www.birthwithlove.com/resources/articles/article.asp?ID=3
~http://naturalchildbirthedu.com/2009/11/27/pitocin/
~http://www.helium.com/items/505977-risks-of-using-pitocin-in-birthing
| Print article | This entry was posted by Julie Wannamaker on September 19, 2010 at 3:11 pm, and is filed under Uncategorized. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 2 years ago
I know this article is about induction, but I have a question about Pitosin. I was not administered Pitocin until after the birth of my child. There was a 30 minute window where they monitored me (I was not delivering the afterbirth). At that 30 minute mark….they administered Pitocin. Then, 30 minutes later when I still didn’t deliver the afterbirth, they went in after it…which was very painful. I would like to know your thoughts on that. I am not sure if there are real medical implications that would make it important to “induce” the delivery of the afterbirth…maybe it was more that they wanted to get it over with?? What do you think?
about 2 years ago
Hello! Thank you for reading & commenting!
It’s common to give Pitocin after the birth of a baby to help expel the placenta, but in my personal opinion is rarely needed. It can take some time for a placenta to expel on its own. Immediate contact with baby & breastfeeding SOON after birth is very helpful in expelling the placenta. Nipple stimulation also would be a way to help. The placenta will detach… eventually. There are cases when something is wrong & it wont, but our bodies know what to do, we often just get impatient to let it do it in its own timing.
In class we teach our students that a placenta can take 45 min or more to detach. Usually it happens faster than that though.
It sounds to me like you reached a mark that the hospital where you delivered considered the “cut off” for the placenta to detach. It’s a good 15 minutes earlier than what we teach our clients is within normal range.
“Going in after” the placenta (which is what happened in your case) is very painful & if done incorrectly can cause scaring on the inside of the uterus. Im sorry to hear that you had to endure that, I bet it was very uncomfortable.
Thank you for sharing & asking questions! I hope to see you visit again!
about 1 year ago
I google everything and I was always looking things up while I was pregnant. One thing I didn’t look up was induction. I was just so thrilled that I’d be meeting my baby, I was tired of waiting!
My doctor scheduled me just over a week of my due date. My husband and I waited all day and evening for the call from the hospital to come in. The call never happened. They were booked up!
The next day, we wake up and start waiting again. I start noticing a different kind of contraction, it was kind of a sharp pain but only lasted a second. We go pick up lunch and as soon as we get back home and start to eat the hospital calls to tell us to come in. I sit back down and eat because I know we will end up sitting at the hospital.
We get to the hospital and despite pre registering I essentially have to register again and sign my name on a bunch of papers. Then we wait. I continue to get the pains but they’re really not a big deal. Almost an hour later we are finally in a delivery room.
I think they started the drip around 3PM. Again, I had to read a ton of paperwork and continue filing in my information. The contractions steadily increased but were nothing in comparison to my menstrual cramps! After going to the bathroom and getting back into bed, my water broke. Then the contractions kicked up.
I got an epidural at this point and then I just relaxed. My husband went out to meet my parents and bring them back. As soon as he left a rush of nurses came in and I didn’t know what was going on. Turns out, I dialated very quickly and my baby didn’t like that. Her heart stopped for a second but then everything was ok.
I just relaxed as much as I could and I still felt everything, it was just dull from the epi. At one point, I felt an urge to push so I asked the nurse to check me. She said they didn’t like to check you often because of risk of infection. So I laid there.
Finally the doctor came in and he said it was time. He directed me to push with my contractions and after doing it twice he told me to stop so I could stretch and not tear. Well, my contractions kept on pushing the baby out. I pushed again and then her little head was out. He had to clean her nose and lungs because she had a bm.
After that, she was out, cleaned up and so so alert! I didn’t mind the labour experience I had. In fact, I’m somewhat grateful that I was induced. I’m not sure if I would have made it to the hospital on time because I expected contractions from hell and they didn’t happen until very late in the game. In fact, I had my period recently and I would have rather been in labour!
about 1 year ago
Oh, forgot to mention, she was born just after 12am! Not a very long labour either.