Autism and inductions linked?

carriec1111

Did anyone see this new study? Like I need another thing to worry about. I was induced because of preeclampsia. They used cervadil for me. But I hate when these studies come out because it just stresses moms out!

JCWhitey

There are a lot of things that have been linked to autism and nothing has been proven to cause autism.  I could do a study and link autism to women who eat steak during their pregnancy.  Doesn't mean you should not eat steak during pregnancy.  Well... hormone treated steak probably isn't good for you while pregnant but that's another debate altogether. 

Seriously, though, don't stress it.  They have never found a single cause for autism.  And I know many, many women who were induced who have children without autism and have worked with several children with autism who's mothers claim they were not induced.

trudibell

Does your baby cry when he/she needs to be fed, or changed, or when they are tired?  If so, you probably don't need to worry about autism.  It's a poorly understood spectrum of conditions linked to communication and sociability.  If your baby has the building blocks of communication - ie crying when they need something - then there is nothing to worry about.  Autism has also been linked to how many times it's mentioned in the newspaper - the more times it's mentioned in media the more times autism diagnosis increases.  

jayro10

This was recently discussed on the May 13 board as well. Don't stress it. Autism is neurologically based and widely misunderstood, despite how often it is diagnosed and talked about. I was also induced with cervadil (didnt need pitocin) and of course, a headline such as "labor induction causes autism" is sure to grab my attention, but when I consider all the factors, it seems so insignificant. Like PP said, my baby cries when she's hungry, tired, or wants to be changed or held. She's meeting all milestones as expected. Unless that changes, I'm not concerned.

shakes

trudibell said:

Does your baby cry when he/she needs to be fed, or changed, or when they are tired?  If so, you probably don't need to worry about autism.  It's a poorly understood spectrum of conditions linked to communication and sociability.  If your baby has the building blocks of communication - ie crying when they need something - then there is nothing to worry about.  Autism has also been linked to how many times it's mentioned in the newspaper - the more times it's mentioned in media the more times autism diagnosis increases.

  

I think this is a irresponsible to say. Autism is a spectrum which means there are many levels. Plenty of high functioning levels of Autism such as PPD-NOS have very few warning signs and often develop well beyond babyhood. A baby who cries does not rule out Autism nor does a laid back baby who doesn't cry have a likelihood for Autism. Please don't be so flippant about it.

trudibell

shakes said:

trudibell said:

Does your baby cry when he/she needs to be fed, or changed, or when they are tired?  If so, you probably don't need to worry about autism.  It's a poorly understood spectrum of conditions linked to communication and sociability.  If your baby has the building blocks of communication - ie crying when they need something - then there is nothing to worry about.  Autism has also been linked to how many times it's mentioned in the newspaper - the more times it's mentioned in media the more times autism diagnosis increases.

  

I think this is a irresponsible to say. Autism is a spectrum which means there are many levels. Plenty of high functioning levels of Autism such as PPD-NOS have very few warning signs and often develop well beyond babyhood. A baby who cries does not rule out Autism nor does a laid back baby who doesn't cry have a likelihood for Autism. Please don't be so flippant about it.

Yes because creating unnecessary hysteria for the OP is the "responsible" way to go.  If the OP has no family history of it it's really not worth worrying about especially when the people who conducted this study said:

 "Women should not conclude that if they need induction or augmentation their child will have or be at high risk for autism. Nor should they seek to avoid induction (or) augmentation,"

https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57598203/induced-labor-may-increase-risk-of-autism-in-offspring/

SusanTeach

I read the study and also saw it discussed between Sanjay Gupta, MD and Anderson Cooper on CNN. It is not being discredited. In fact, many doctors agree that this should be further studied. 

There's nothing I can do about it now, but it did/does worry me. I am a 40 year old, 1st time mom. I conceived naturally. I tried to eat healthily during my pregnancy and take care of myself. Even though I had NO complications, the doctors at my OB/GYN practice pushed and pushed for an induction when I went over 40 weeks, just 4 days past my due date. At my last appointment, one said, "If he doesn't come soon, we'll need to discuss plans." The next thing I knew, a nurse was calling me to inform me of my "scheduled hospital induction." What?! How about that discussion?! When I questioned this, they said that because of my age, I had an increased risk of a stillbirth. The thing is that my "due date" was just a guesstimation anyway, as my pregnancy was a surprise after 14 years of marriage and I hadn't been keeping track of my periods. Plus, in most other industrial countries, 41-42 weeks is still okay.

I had Cervadil at night, when I checked in--it did nothing. The next morning, I was given Pitocin. By 5:40 pm, baby boy arrived, vaginally. I was told induction and Pitocin were safe. Now, my husband and I are indeed concerned. We are 40, have a boy, and were induced. 3 risk factors. As a teacher, I know the signs. I would have appreciated having doctors who didn't push the induction and maybe mentioned the study to me so that we could have made an informed decision.

watermellens

This is not really true - my son would cry when he was hungry or needed something and he has autism.
But OP, try not to stress! No one knows what really causes autism even though there are a million theories and contributing factors. You can't control them all.

watermellens

watermellens said:

This is not really true - my son would cry when he was hungry or needed something and he has autism.
But OP, try not to stress! No one knows what really causes autism even though there are a million theories and contributing factors. You can't control them all.

ugh sorry, that was supposed to quote the trudibell.

trudibell

It's not that the study is "being discredited" it's that an observational study can't tell you x definitely causes y.  That's not how science or statistics actually work.  CNN or whatever is sensationalizing the facts as usual.  As quoted above, the people who performed the study themselves said that there is no cause for alarm if you have been or are going to have an induction to get worried about autism.  There might be a link, but further information is needed.  Of course, correlation does not equal causation and a positive association is not necessarily indicative of either.  Garbage "science" like this leads people down a rabbit hole that results in the resurgence of diseases like polio and the measles for no legitimate reason.  

However, it is dangerous to let a pregnancy go too long past full-term.  I was induced and I'm glad I was, because my son had already started to pass his meconium.  Had I waited much longer, perhaps out of fear of a potential autism diagnosis, he could have inhaled it and had ended up in a NICU and had breathing problems the rest of his life.  

When you look at the facts about autism, the biggest indicator is genetics and they don't know exactly what causes it.  It's best for you and for your baby to not stress about things that are out of your control or invent problems where there aren't any if otherwise you have a normal, healthy baby.   

Haley.Beth

More research is needed. Until that happens, everyone needs to calm down and remember that correlation does not always equal causation.