Pitocin vs. AROM for Natural Childbirth

cje63017

With my first natural childbirth (no epi), they had to break my water (AROM) which caused hard and fast contractions. For my second it looks like I will need to be induced and I was wondering if anyone has had experience laboring naturally when being induced by pitocin? I am worried that I'm screwed and won't be able to do it naturally again. However, I have spoken to some moms who have said that laboring with their waters broken was WORSE than laboring with pitocin. Any help/advice appreciated. Thank you!

Marettie

Interventions always come with risks. Maybe reevaluate using the BRAIN acronym and that can give you some more guidance.

crsanchez87

When giving birth to DS in March, My water broke at home so I called and went in to see the doctor since It was about a month and half before he was supposed to be here. I went to the OBGYN and he examined me and saw that not only was my water broken but I was also 4 cm dilated! We went over the birthing center which was across the street around 4:30. I labored and around 6:30 he gave me a low dose of pitocin. My original birth plan stated that I did not want any medical intervention but he said that because my water had broken at home, he did not want me to labor for very long due to risk of infection. The labor pains I was experiencing prior to the pitocin hurt but were pretty bearable. After the pitocin was when the "wow, that REALLY hurts" pain started. This was my first birth so I really don't know if the Pitocin made it worse or the increase in pain was just the natural progression of birth. Besides the pitocin, I did not receive any additional medical interventions and gave birth to my healthy baby boy at 9:45pm

nosoup4u

My water broke w no contractions at 40 weeks, so I ended up being induced (I waited a good 24 hrs before going to the hospital). I never had pitocin w my previous two labors. The Pitocin contractions w this labor ended up being hard but managble. They had multiple peaks during one contraction, tho, which took serious concentration not to panic about (and there were some seriously insane ones right before I started pushing). I do yoga breathing and serious focused relaxation during labor, so whatever works. I ended up having hard labor for about 5 hrs w the pit, it took a long time for my body to start responding and having strong contractions.

cje63017

Good to know, thank you!

MDmomma1217

I was induced with pitocin when my daughter was born (10 days past due date) and didn't use pain meds. Honestly the entire process was quick! I was hooked up to the IV around 11:30am and until my water broke at 5pm my contractions weren't really that bad. After my water broke (on its own) my contractions got a lot worse and I mostly used a birthing ball or stood up and kind of leaned against the bed. DD was born at 8:20pm (45 minutes of pushing) so about 3.5 hours of painful contractions. 

atcwag

I was induced. I had no breaks between contractions and had an epi despite lots and lots of attempts at other coping mechanisms.

iamcaro

My water broke at 40w1d and DH and I waited all night for contractions to begin. They finally started more than 24 hours later, but they weren't accomplishing anything. When we went into the hospital I was only 1 cm and the doctor wanted to get the baby out because of the risk of infection (which, by the way, I did end up getting even though I followed all the advice about keeping things sanitary down there after PROM).
Anyway, they gave me pitocin which I had really, really, really not wanted but since you asked, YES, I did stick to my plan and get through it med-free! It was my first so I don't know how it compares to a labor without pitocin. The contractions were VERY intense. Having my doula there really helped me manage it — DH had no clue what to do.
The biggest drawback I think to the pit was the hospital will have protocols for other aspects of the labor — you will have to have the constant electronic monitoring and likely an IV of fluids too, to name a few. So if you were hoping to move around it won't be so easy and comfortable. This was a disappointment for me but I didn't have much choice!
On the plus side, I went from 1 to 10 cm in just 6 hours and only had to push a few times, so the stuff works!