Pitocin - STM

mrsf123 · May 2013

Any STMs have a positive experience with Pitocin?
I always read negative about inductions or speeding things up with Pitocin.

After I got my epidural, the contractions got wonky so the OB gave me some Pitocin. It got things moving again and that was it. I didn't need more epidural, it didn't slow down labor or make it harder to push or make it so I needed a c-section. But I also wasn't induced...

I know that my mom had something similar with Pitocin when she was in labor with me 34 years ago.

Anyone else? Is it possible that there's a time and a place for Pitocin but it's just overused and abused these days?

Just curious others' responses.

amarissa85 · May 2013

There is a difference when you already have an epidural. Those moms that want to seek a natural birth or as natural as possible, pitocin makes contractions very unnatural. They come closer together and are quite a bit stronger than how natural labor progresses. I have done both medicated and unmedicated birth. Medicated being my pitocin induction and my natural without it. There is a big difference.

Soleil3 · May 2013

It probably just boils down to how your body reacts to it. I wasn't induced with pictocin but had a poor reaction to it. Others have had a great reaction to it. I don't think it's anything you can control.

tokenhoser · May 2013

It's really commonly given with epidurals. I've read recently that half of women with epidurals get pitocin to keep things moving. It's less detrimental than using it to induce because you're already in labour - it's less likely to be a failed induction.

Dosage and patience also matter; jumping to too high a dose can lead to fetal distress and a section. Properly administered that's less of an issue.

There has been a recent study released saying Pitocin has adverse effects on full-term newborns: https://www.acog.org/About_ACOG/News_Room/News_Releases/2013/Study_Finds_Adverse_Effects_of_Pitocin_in_Newborns

Marvel1013 · May 2013

My experience..

My water broke on a Friday night.. I was told to wait for contractions or I would have to be induced 24 hours later. I didn't feel like I was having contractions so I waited till Saturday the next day to go in. Apparently I had been having them but didn't realize it, but they still gave me pitocin to speed things up so it didn't cause infection. They had to break the rest of my water and everything went fast from there.
I went to the hospital at 8pm on Saturday and have birth at 4 am on Sunday. Not 100 what it would have been like without the pitocin or how long labor would have been, I also didn't get an epidural.. Now that's just MY experience with it and it wasn't a negative experience. Like the pp's said it could have been because of the epidural.

WheeLinTheSky3 · May 2013

The day my son was born I went to my OB for a check up. I was already in labor (back labor) and didnt know it. I was given pitocin to augment my labor and I got an epidural. Overall I had a good experience with it. The only negative was that at one point the pitocin was up a little too high and the contractions started to affect my son's heartrate. They turned it down and everything was fine from there. I had a vaginal delivery and no other issues. I am hoping for the same results this time if pitocin is used. It will likely come down to each person and each delivery but I did have a positive experience and my son is incredibly healthy at almost 2 years old.

jchytil · May 2013

I agree that its how your body responds to it. I had to have an induction with my son because of pre-e at 39 weeks. I was put on cervadil overnight to rippen my cervix that really didn't do anything. They started Pit at 7am by 2pm I still was only at 3cm. So they took me off the pit and then restarted it. (They say that most of the time this will get things going) by 9pm that night still was only at maybe a 4. My body was just not responding ended up with emergency c-section. I wish it would have worked!

adeladedyan · May 2013

I was induced with pitocin and I thought it was a nightmare. I hadn't had any contractions yet, started the pitocin at 6 am. Went into hard labor about 30 min later, labored for the next 9 hours straight with the most horrible hard of the chart contractions. Made it without the epi, by the time I was begging for it it was too late and I was ready to push. I pray so hard everyday that I go into labor naturally this time. I'm sure its totally different with an epidural but I don't plan on
getting an epi this time either. So nope I didn't have a positive experience.

Mrs.KMid · May 2013

Hi there, I had pitocin to augment my labor. I was having prodromal labor for 2 days and I was only 1 cm dilated, because my MW was scared I was wearing myself out and I would have energy for active labor, so I got the pictocin. I personally think we jumped the gun on the pictocin because the time between this conversation and actually administering the Pit 3 hours later I dilated to 5 cm. I was still determined not to use pain meds so I declined the epidural (crazy I know). I labored all the way through to pushing but ended up needing an emergency c-section due to some scary fetal distress. I don't blame the Pit alone, but added to that we had out water broken and 3 days of labor, I think added a lot of stress to DD.

BelhurstBride · May 2013

Mrs.KMid:
Hi there, I had pitocin to augment my labor. I was having prodromal labor for 2 days and I was only 1 cm dilated, because my MW was scared I was wearing myself out and I would have energy for active labor, so I got the pictocin. I personally think we jumped the gun on the pictocin because the time between this conversation and actually administering the Pit 3 hours later I dilated to 5 cm. I was still determined not to use pain meds so I declined the epidural (crazy I know). I labored all the way through to pushing but ended up needing an emergency c-section due to some scary fetal distress. I don't blame the Pit alone, but added to that we had out water broken and 3 days of labor, I think added a lot of stress to DD.

I have a girlfriend who was in prodromal labor for a month. A freaking month.

cnthrdlywt2bwZ · May 2013

They put me on it because my water started leaking earlier that day. It ended up not making me progress more than a cm over a twelve hour period and they finally just broke my water. Then it didn't matter. I got an epidural about an hour and a half later, was ready to push within four hours. No trouble pushing with the epidural. Although I had to lift my left leg with my arms into the stirup, I did retain feeling in it.

bananacupcake · May 2013

With DD my water broke grossly, but even after hanging out at the hospital for three hours I did not have a single contraction. That didn't surprise me since I rarely had BH during my 39weeks.

So when the doctor asked me what I wanted to do I opted for pitocin. Three hours later from pitocin kicking in I had DD in my arms. Labor and delivering vaginally with barely any tear. And DD scored 9 on her apgar. I would say that's a positive experience for me.

I was already 4cm and 90 since week 38, so maybe that helped? Who knows. Pitocin contractions really really really do hurt though. Like some PP said it generates intense and frequent contractions, you don't really get a moment to breathe and recover. I'd still do it again this time if circumstances are similar.

Edited to add apgar score after reading the pitocin article above haha.

Mrs.KMid · May 2013

BelhurstBride:
Mrs.KMid:
Hi there, I had pitocin to augment my labor. I was having prodromal labor for 2 days and I was only 1 cm dilated, because my MW was scared I was wearing myself out and I would have energy for active labor, so I got the pictocin. I personally think we jumped the gun on the pictocin because the time between this conversation and actually administering the Pit 3 hours later I dilated to 5 cm. I was still determined not to use pain meds so I declined the epidural (crazy I know). I labored all the way through to pushing but ended up needing an emergency c-section due to some scary fetal distress. I don't blame the Pit alone, but added to that we had out water broken and 3 days of labor, I think added a lot of stress to DD.
I have a girlfriend who was in prodromal labor for a month. A freaking month.

Wow, just wow.

Lemmon_ade12 · May 2013

I was induced with Pitocin and given my epidural much later. I didn't experience extreme or quickly onset pain and DS didn't have any adverse reaction. Overall, I had no problem with it. I'm sure it's just a matter of how different women's bodies react, at least that's my opinion.

kcox123 · May 2013

I had a Pit Induction with my third (precipitous labor history) and I was able to go without the epi and the whole induction took 4 hours from me getting into my L&D room to birth. That was actually longer than I expected but obviously still pretty good. I had no issues nor did my baby.

I am not defending its use, just saying it doesn't always necessitate an epi or a c-section when used as an induction tool.

That said, I am always at least 3 cm dilated by 36 weeks so I am in a very favorable position to begin with.

They also gave me pitocin with my first when my water broke and 4 hours later my contractions were still very weak (dont get me wrong they hurt but not like they should have) and sporadic. I did get an epi that time (I was planning to anyway) and it all went fine. 13.5 hours start to finish for a first baby. Labor did not slow,but actually progressed better after pitocin was started. Again, not defending its use. Not a medical expert. But I do not associate it with pure evil like some seem to.

MammaBear81 · May 2013

All 5 of my deliveries included pitocin. I was induced 4 times (using only pitocin), and the only child I wasn't induced with (#4) came 4 days before the planned induction, however I was given pitocin at some point to help things move along. I didn't have any pain meds/epidural etc. and I didn't find the "pitocin contractions" to be unbearable.

There are many factors that weigh in when you use pitocin:

1) moms who are over due who don't want to jump right to a csection might want to try to be induced, if they are not favorable for an induction, the pitocin isn't going to help, they will probably end up with a csection anyway.

2) moms who have to deliver early for a medical reason (pre-e, HELLP etc) but also don't want to jump to a csection, again the body might not be favorable and they might end up with a csection in the end as well.

3) moms who are favorable, but do not react well to the pitocin

I'm sure there are places that over use pitocin, but it really has a bad reputation because of all the misinformation out there. Pitocin only makes your body contract, if your cervix isn't softening/thinning/dilating you are literally just banging your babies head against your cervix over and over again.

That.Just.Happened · May 2013

I was induced and had pitocin (I was 2 weeks late) and it worked really well and pretty much text book. I was induced at 8am, contractions & dilation started almost immediately, I was 10cm by 5pm, and DD was born vaginally at 7:30pm after 2.5 hours of active pushing. She was very stubborn and didn't want to come out, but that wasn't the fault of the pit, and I couldn't have safely waited any longer to be induced.

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