From Giving Birth with Confidence.
- Pitocin (an IV medication used to stimulate labor) increases stress on your baby and your uterus and makes contractions more difficult to manage.
- Pitocin use requires an IV and continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM), which restricts your mobility and raises your risk of an epidural and cesarean delivery.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that administration of Pitocin to stimulate labor is often used inappropriately.
- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) notes the risks of Pitocin use and recommends cautious decision making.
You’ll Need Pitocin If...
- Your labor is slow as determined by your care provider and doesn’t respond to movement, position change, and hydration.
- You don’t go into labor spontaneously by 42 weeks of pregnancy.
- You have a uterine infection.
- You have severe pregnancy-induced hypertension.
How to Avoid Unnecessary Use of Pitocin
- Be patient waiting for labor to begin and to progress.
- Remember that your body knows how to give birth.
- Surround yourself with helpers who trust birth.
- Stay confident.
- Use all the comfort measures you’ve learned.
- Don’t agree to have labor induced because your caregiver says your baby is getting too big.
- If your water breaks before contractions start, or if you go past your due date, discuss with your caregiver natural ways to stimulate contractions, such as drinking a bit of castor oil in juice, stimulating your nipples and being active.
- Ask, “What if I wait?” if your caregiver is insistent about inducing labor.
Keep Labor as Safe and Healthy as Possible if Your Labor is Induced with Pitocin
- Make sure your helpers give you continuous emotional and physical support.
- Actively seek comfort in response to the pain of contractions.
- Remember that your body knows how to give birth.
- Visualize your baby rotating and descending through your birth canal.
- Keep moving and changing positions as much as possible.