Pitocin makes it hurt worse?

[SeekingJoy]

Really? Why?

[tayndrewsmama]

I believe it makes the contractions more intense and it does so when the body isn't really ready to.

[*MamaJen*]

I've heard it's insanely more painful. The contraction are harder, faster, more intense, and interfere with your body's natural pain coping techniques. It can also cause fetal distress and I've seen data suggesting it leads to higher C-section rates (the slippery slope of intervention).
Pitocin is horribly overused in the hospital setting. It has some valid uses but it's become standard with little medical indication.

[Chloe'sMama]

I have heard it is like 'transition' the entire time (depending on dose). I unfortunately was scared into being induced and found it very intense from about 20 minutes after they began the pitocin. I was already 4 cm when I checked into the hospital (had not felt any contractions up to that point). I would like to think the next time will not be quite so intense.

[ctdoula]

If you have to ask, you've never been on it. Think strapping yourself to the front of a freight train.

[SeekingJoy]

Have there been studies about it? Does it increase the risk of certain complications? Why -- physiologically -- does it hurt worse?

[ASusan]

Part of the reason is that you are getting a continuous dose of the hormone that causes you to contract. When you don't have pitocin, the hormone comes in waves, and you get a break between contractions.

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

I've heard it's insanely more painful. The contraction are harder, faster, more intense, and interfere with your body's natural pain coping techniques. It can also cause fetal distress and I've seen data suggesting it leads to higher C-section rates (the slippery slope of intervention).
Pitocin is horribly overused in the hospital setting. It has some valid uses but it's become standard with little medical indication.

yes to all this. I found pitocin induced contractions much much more painful than 'natural' contractions and they had me begging for pain relief even after I had gone over 24 hrs in active labor without even considering drugs.

Pretty sure pitocin is the main reason for my DD's "distress" and thus the resulting c-section. The c-section that I wish more than anything could have been avoided because I've had a total of 4 now, at least 3 of which were likely not truly necessary.

eta: and yeah, it's artificial oxytocin and contractions can be unbearable because they are literally on top of each other, with no time to relax a single muscle in your body.

[snowmom5]

I only had a little pit to augment one of my labors and I had an epidural, so I can't speak to the pain of pit. But I did have more intense contractions in my most recent labor, without the epi, and it was like one giant contraction (5 cm to delivery in under 90 minutes). It is well known that pit makes the contractions faster, more intense, etc., which is the whole purpose of giving it. More intense contractions hurt more. It really is that simple.

Think of a charlie horse or other cramp. Now imagine a more intense one. More intense = more painful. Just like active labor contractions usually hurt a whole lot more than contractions earlier in the pregnancy.

[Full Heart]

Originally Posted by SeekingJoy

Have there been studies about it? Does it increase the risk of certain complications? Why -- physiologically -- does it hurt worse?

It increases the risk of uterine rupture, over stimulated uterus, fetal distress, hemorrhage, etc. No drug is without side effects. Yes, there have been studies done and the package insert lists those complications.

It hurts worse because it creates stronger contractions. Mine were off the chart on the TOCO. Which just before they were registering in the 40s. It increased it 3xs what they were.

[syd'smom]

And when oxytocin is naturally created, it crosses your blood brain barrier, releasing the good endorphins in your brain (again naturally). Pitocin is artificial and doesn't release the endorphins. And as mentioned, your body is no longer in control of the contraction, breaks, or effects on baby. I'm having a homebirth in late August, so I'll be able to give my own anecdote - but my experience with and subsequent research into pitocin is one of my main reasons for a homebirth.

[ani'smommy]

Yes yes yes times 10.

I was induced with DD -- I wasn't dilated at all. It was hellish.
I had DS at home and it was a breeze in comparison. Transition at home was totally like the whole time on pit. I won't even go into what transition on pit was like. shudder.

[Ahappymel]

Pit made me feel out of my mind. I couldn't bear...it came too hard, too fast without the benefit of any natural hormones to help me bear it.
Natural birth is intense too...but it's different.
I described it this way to a friend right after my 2nd birth (natural, at home)....
Being on Pit felt like being in the teeth of a dragon....natural birth was like being on the back of a dragon : ) It was intense but I was still in control.

[txgal]

One of the most riduculous things I have ever heard was "We just broke her water, and hooked up the Pitocin now we just wait for nature to takes it's course" (guess which TLC show that was). There is a huge difference in Pit. contraction and the natural ones. Part of the problem I see as a doula is that mom's induced with pit have alot less mobility since they are hooked up to monitor continously. In the end there is nothing that mimics the body perfectly.

[LokiPuck]

ITA with what PP have said. My contractions felt like they were overlaping when I was induced. There was no "rest period" between them. I went from almost nothing to transition in just under three hours. Way too fast for my body and very intense.

[barefootpoetry]

I've had a Pitocin-augmented labor and an all-natural one. I will take ten more all-natural labors before I would ever have Pitocin again! It was horrible! Like one big contraction that I couldn't escape from.

Another bad side effect of Pitocin is that it can cement a poorly aligned baby into the wrong position so it can't shift out of it for birth. It makes the uterus clamp down so tightly that there is no room for the baby to maneuver. I bet there have been a lot of C-sections done because baby was in a bad position and couldn't get out of it due to Pit.

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by barefootpoetry

Another bad side effect of Pitocin is that it can cement a poorly aligned baby into the wrong position so it can't shift out of it for birth. It makes the uterus clamp down so tightly that there is no room for the baby to maneuver. I bet there have been a lot of C-sections done because baby was in a bad position and couldn't get out of it due to Pit.

yes to this, too. I also think this contributed to my "failure to progress", definitely. To me, Pitocin = awful, awful, awful.

[MegBoz]

Originally Posted by syd'smom

And when oxytocin is naturally created, it crosses your blood brain barrier, releasing the good endorphins in your brain (again naturally). Pitocin is artificial and doesn't release the endorphins.

:
Exactly! Endorphins are a natural opiate - they both help relieve pain and elevate your mood. (Exercise releases them too - think "runner's high") But since pit doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, it doesn't help release endorphins.

So it makes ctrx more powerful & painful simultaneously depriving you of your natural pain relief.

I don't think anyone yet mentioned that it makes the uterus contract in a different way. Pretty sure I read this in "Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth." It normally contracts in a wave from the top down, whereas pit makes it just squeeze in all at once - so the ctrx are more powerful & squeeze the fetus more - contributing to the fetal distress. That, in addition to the fact that the ctrx are often longer & closer together.

One analogy I read is that the squeezing can deprive the fetus of oxygen. So the pit contractions - being longer, stronger & closer together, contributes to fetal distress because it is like holding a baby underwater and just bringing him up out of the water briefly for a gasp of air before dunking him under again. : I know, a horrible thought!

[amandaleigh37]

I was given pitocin to induce my labor, even though I was already 5cm upon arrival (hadn't felt anything though). About 20 minutes after they started the pitocin, the contractions came out of nowhere and were INTENSE. I didn't have any drugs, but like others described above - it was like transition the whole time. Luckily my whole labor was 2 hours - 45 min. of that was pushing, but the whole time was one horrible contraction on top of another. I'd never have pitocin again, it was not fun at all! I wish I had just waited & let my body continue what it was doing.

[Amila]

I had one pit birth, one drug-free. The pain was the SAME surprisingly. However, with my homebirth, I had more breaks, and my body actually stopped contractions for a while and they were 4 min apart allowing me to rest, whereas the pit ones just come one on top of the other. Thats what made it unbearable.