Feeling overwhelmed trying to make a decision. My doctor wants to induce me Wednesday. It is my second baby and I will be 40+1. My first baby came 2 weeks early and my water broke on its own at home so this is all uncharted territory.
Doctor is wanting to use Cytotec to jumpstart labor. I am already dilated to a little over a 4 and 60% effaced. Head is engaged and my amniotic sac is "tight and ready to pop".
What would you do? I have had prodromal labor since 34 weeks. I'm exhausted of waiting but also want to do what is best for the baby.
Any advice is welcome.
Re: Need advice, Mommas!
I labored for 3ish hours before my water started leaking. My midwife broke my waters the rest of the way and I delivered my son about an hour and a half later. I was able to be up and on the birthing ball so that helped with pain and probably the speedy labor. Good luck.
Some of the comments were like, "Well WE use it in our L&D ward and have no problems..." or moms who had used it and said it worked like a charm... I'm a researcher, so I find this sort of info to be generally unhelpful. One labor and delivery nurse's anecdotes of safety is not enough to convince me in the face of all the stats from published journals. If you start googling you will see some scary stuff, and we definitely get enough of that as preggies, so be warned.
But for you to be as close as you are, Cytotec seems like an absolutely drastic measure, even without the aforementioned risks. I am sure some of the others will disagree with me but for my part it just seems so extreme, especially since you are not that far overdue and there are other, safer, evidence-based interventions that will likely get things going. Hopefully if nothing else this empowers you to have a productive conversation with your care provider.
Mama to Rowan Sebastian and baby boy coming in April!
My experience was extremely positive with it. It actually amuses me that people cite uterine rupture like it's explicitly the cytotec that raises your risk. Anything that causes contractions has uterine rupture risk. You absolutely cannot be aces about pitocin, then turn around and make another contraction drug sound scarier.
For my experience, Cytotec gently dilated me to 6cm, then my doc started pitocin. Because of it, they did not have to dial my pitocin above an 8 ever (most pitocin inductions go up to 14). It turned a scary induction into a positive experience for me, because my body had time to ramp up, instead of being slammed straight into hard contractions by pit.
(that's just me and i have crunchier opinions on child birth than most of the posters here.)
If I had listened to all the scare-tactics instead of researching and talking to my doctor, I would have skipped a drug that gave me a birth that I was comfortable and happy with. It took me from a state where I was crying over the loss of my ideal birth to a birth that was amazing and that I have no regrets over.
Again, the statement that it causes abruption is a common tactic people like to use to make this drug sound scary, when the absolute truth is ANY drug that causes contractions carries the exact same risk. Induction comes with this risk, period. But sometimes you have no choice (for me I was past due and my baby was more than 10lbs). I wish more people had posted online about how positive thier induction was without fear of being shot down like this. Maybe then I wouldn't have had a panic attack and been in tears the night before the induction. My experience is valid. Period.
We did Pitocin with an epi and I was able to sleep and regain my strength. I don't have experience with cytotec but hopefully OP can ask what her options are, share any concerns, and then make a decision based off of the information presented. In the end, it's all any of us can do.
Good luck OP- keep us updated!
To be given a recommendation by your care provider (who, ostensibly, one has now established a relationship of trust with) and not receive the information that this specific intervention is not recommended by the FDA, by the manufacturer, and by the WHO.... that's not a "tactic" to set up a drug as the "bogey monster". It's sharing info that may not have been made available by the care provider, in a safe forum that doesn't lead to a bunch of terrifying google search results. The OP made statements like, "I feel overwhelmed... what would you do?" I would never presume to tell someone what to do in this situation, others have, and that's their prerogative. My responsibility as someone who does have to read through all of the articles, peer-reviewed and sensationalizing, in my line of work, mandates that I speak up and say, "FYI, it's not without risk". A forum should indeed be a safe place to ask questions, and to give and hear the opinions of all who are participating. I just wanted to clarify that I intended no disrespect to your experience.
To the OP, I commend you for asking questions -- it's your right. May you get exactly the birth you are hoping for!
:-bd