Pitocin and Jaundice

[homemademom]

Just curious about your experience was with pit induction and subsequent jaundice in the baby. I've only had one induced baby and she was also the only one who also had severe jaundice (bili blanket for 8 days). I read a study once that linked the two and wondered what your experience was.

I'm mostly curious about levels of jaundice that were worrisome, not the normal stuff that requires no intervention. If you don't mind posting, I'd also be curious about how long you were hooked up to pitocin. I'll post a poll. . .

ETA: I had pit for 8 hours.

[Juvysen]

uh, I didn't answer the poll... I had one baby with pitocin (from the start - induced from scratch) and yep, she had jaundice. Two babies without, and they also had jaundice. The third baby had jaundice for a really long time, but it was mild enough that no one bothered us about it.

ETA... none of it required intervention beyond nursing a whole lot...

[kitkat5505]

I went off my first one, because he was *this close* to needing the lights. I haven't had pitocin with any of mine and the first 2 had jaundice and the 3rd didn't.

[StephandOwen]

I had pitocin with ds (about 8 or 9 hours of it). DS had jaundice and ended up with a biliblanket for a few days.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I can only answer once, but had two different experiences.... Baby 1, Pitocin induction, significant jaundice. Baby 2, no Pitocin, no jaundice.

[34me]

I had pitocin for 12 hours x 2 (first induction didn't work, we tried again two weeks later) and she did not have jaundice. I had it again with #2 for 8ish hours and he was also without Jaundice

[AllyRae]

Baby 1, pitocin, mild jaundice. Baby 3, no pitocin, jaundice that was in the 20's (she didn't get a biliblanket because her ped believed it was far better to just strip her down and put her near a sunny window, and then nurse nurse nurse. She had jaundice for over a month though.)

[MyFullHouse]

I've had pitocin 3 times (12 hours, 7 or 8 hours, and 5 hours or so) and no pitocin once.
I'll also add that one baby was FF and three were EBF.

Every time, I've been told that each baby looked a little yellow a few days later, and to keep an eye on it. None have actually needed any sort of intervention like bili lights.

[Evergreen]

I didn't' answer either because there were not multiple options allowed.

I had one pitocin induced baby. No jaundice.

I had two babies without pit. No jaundice either.

[BugMacGee]

One pit augmentation and one pit induction. No jaundice with either.

[Mamatoabunch]

I have never had pit and all my babies had jaundice.

[homemademom]

So, this jaundice/pit connection seems pretty inconclusive

[caned & able]

Doctors have known for decades there is a connection between pitocin and jaundice.

Prematurity and Vitamin K are known for causing neonatal jaundice also.

[thepeach80]

I think you tend to see jaundice in pitocin babies simply b/c those babies are more likely to have birth trauma and other interventions. AJ was my only jaundiced baby, but he also had a failed forceps delivery followed by a c/s. He was extremely bruised from the forceps b/c he was asynclitic. Evan had no pitocin but was emergency forceps delivery b/c of placental abruption but had no jaundice probems. pitocin w/ the next 2 and no jaundice there either.

I had it the longest w/ AJ though. 10 hrs maybe vs 3 and 2 hrs w/ the others. ABO incomatibility is robably the most common reason for jaundice in a full term baby I would think. We don't have the issue here.

[caned & able]

You had a placental abruption and no pitocin?

[thepeach80]

Yes. Abruption risks rise in moms w/ previous cesareans, I guess I got lucky.

[caned & able]

I am sure you got some kind of vascular constrictor after the baby was born...that would be standard protocol.

Abruptions rise with previous caesareans in addition to placenta previa and accreta. Those conditions are rising with all of the surgeries done these days.

[thepeach80]

I understand that, what are you trying to get at?

[homemademom]

I've wondered about ABO incompatibility with her, too.  Hmmm . . .

[XanaduMama]

ds was pit-augmented, after 18-odd hours of ROM with no contractions. Pit ran for about 3.5 hours before he was born; I had a pretty bad PPH which (I believe) delayed my milk coming in (didn't come in for about 5 days after birth). ds had some jaundice but his levels were ok and once my milk came in it disappeared.

dd was an all-natural homebirth (no pit, obviously!). My milk came in the following day, but she had pretty bad jaundice. Didn't get her checked, just BF'd through it and did sunshine, but she was really yellow for a couple days there. We did delayed cord clamping with her, so perhaps that had something to do with it.