anyone have the ingredients in pitocin?

[neveryoumindthere]

i hope that's not a stupid question...obviously it has oxytocin (that's obvious right?), but what about any other nonactive ingredients etc..

i'm asking because someone mentioned b4 that it could have pig semen in it?? or am i getting it confused with prostaglandins (which i know semen has)...

can anyone help out

[its_our_family]

I think it has large amounts of LIQUID HELL!!!!!

[stafl]

You can always get the patient info sheet, but you'd have to know the manufacturer. Even if it does have pig semen in it, or more likely something derived from pig semen, they'd probably call that ingredient something else - KWIM?

[frogertgrl]

I believe, saffiiyya, you are confusing prostaglandin gel (used to 'ripen' the cervix) with pitocin.

P-gel is derived from pig/bull semen. Just like people say, 'have sex!' when the mama wants baby here and is impatient, the p-gel softens the cervix. The problem is, pig/bull semen is a helluva lot stronger than your DH's semen. But isn't that the way with all medical inductions (like pitocin)? Inferior, risky imitations. Bleh.

I posted in your 'low amniotic fluid?' thread and gave two Mothering articles which describe Pitocin, how it is not FDA approved for labor augmentation...how the pitocin contractions are so radically different from those your body would make, that your baby isn't given the breaks in between to breathe as he/she needs to (and would in natural labor). That's why Pit inductions are notorious for producing the fetal heart decelerations. And the woman is told, 'your baby isn't tolerating labor well. Time to think about a c-sec'.

That's BS, of course. The baby would have tolerated natural labor just fine. It is hell, like Megan says, in the Pit drip.

Inductions are often the fastest way to a c-sec. By definition, the baby is not ready to be born. And those Pit contrax are so awful for you, that an epidural is pratically mandatory to get through them, then that has the risk to stall labor....la de da, your labor hasn't progressed, time's up, got to do the c-sec. Same old tale...

There is also an association in some studies between autism and Pit induction. Because the natural labor process is so complex, so very important to the baby's hormonal system (specifically, oxytocin).

I'd encourage you to read the history on Pitocin...especially why the FDA pulled it off the market for some time. It is sick stuff.

You can probably google on Pitocin or synthetic oxytocin and find a manufacturer label. If not, ask your OB BEFORE they induce you for the ingredients and risks, warnings.

[its_our_family]

Yup, I agree with frogertgrl......

Pitocin sucks and do everything you can to avoid it. I had the pit drip and became supersatrurated with the pitocin. I had been having early labor contrax for 9 days before I got the drip...baby was face up so he wouldn't apply pressure to my cervix. He actually did very well with the pit, no decels at all....but I was a different story...bordering on uterine rupture and subsequent c/s.....

Do whatever you can to avoid that stuff!!!

[bec]

I have to agree, pitocin should be avoided at all costs!

I labored for 6 hours on pit with dd. While she tolerated it fine, the contractions were the most painful thing I have ever experienced. I did manage to do it without any pain medication, using relaxation and breathing techniques, but it wasn't easy.

Also, hospital policy was such that, because I had the pit, I had to be continuously monitored (not that they could keep track of her heartbeat. She was so high in my abdomen that she kept moving out of the way of the monitor, the little stinker!), and that meant that I was strapped down and wasn't allowed out of bed.

Because of that, she never decended (the only thing that was helping with that was walking around), I stopped dialating, and, before you know it, I was labeled "Failure to Progress" and had a c-section. I didn't dialate even 1cm on the pit. It was totally useless. It just put me in agony for 6 hours.

Needless to say, I'm having a homebirth this time around. In large part to avoid the pitocin.


Bec

[frogertgrl]

Bec, so sorry about your experience. You know by now how your experience mirrors millions of women. Way to go in a homebirth next time!!

http://www.*********/drugs/syntocinon.html

http://www.mercola.com/2001/mar/3/pitocin.htm

And especially read this, saffiyya for a great FAQ on Pit:

http://www.childbirth.org/articles/pit.html

I wholeheartedly encourage you to drink at least 80 oz of water a day. Your amniotic fluid isn't some mystery substance that just appears, it is mostly your baby's pee. Maternal hydration is critical and can reverse pre term labor and prevent it from happening in the first place.

Info on induction in general:

http://www.childbirth.org/articles/labor/induction.html

I would really encourage you, too, to wait for your baby to signal that he/she is ready to be born. Babies only have one chance to launch the incredibly complex symphony of birth and there are very important medical benefits to your baby if he/she is allowed to do what he/she is designed to do. If this critical process is interrupted according to your doctor's opinion, your baby never gets their birthright to start labor and be born the way babies need to. I cannot imagine your baby doesn't know how to birth - everything in babies is almost guaranteed to be fully capable to birth!

Take care, as always.

[its_our_family]

bec--you sound like me except it was 14 hours of pit. I was 3cm and 95% when I went in and only got to 3 cm and 100%. ftp and c/s.....I want a homebirth but dh is saying no....

Frogertgrl....shows you how dumb I am...I didn't know that amniotic fluid was a lot of baby's pee...even though it is only common sense!

[Viola]

So if your husband thinks he's a bull in bed, will that give better results with starting labor? :LOL

OK, sorry, couldn't resist. All I could think of when I read about the bull and pig semen (which I have heard before) is that I'm not going to have sex with a bull, I don't want his stuff up inside of me either.

Thanks for all the good information. I had pitocin augmentation last time, and I'm going to avoid that this time around. Everything I've read makes me want to avoid the hospital completely, but I've got that whole husband naysayer thing going on too, and now the truth is we just don't have the money for a homebirth. Maybe I'll just go unassisted.

[Electra375]

Stay away from all the artifical "help labor along" drugs that you can.
Pitocin is bad stuff... I will never be on it again, of course, I'm now committed to have c-sections for all my deliveries after the first.
My advice would be to talk to a midwife about how to maintain labor on your own.

[frogertgrl]

Fun point, Amywillow about the bedroom.

I never want to know how ejaculate from a pig is obtained to be smeared on the yonis of women. Good thing we aren't attempting cross species fertilizations.

[momatheart23]

Ok this question is sort of in line with this thread, I agree that pitocin is awful, horrible stuff. I feel it contributed to my son needing to be in the NICU for 12 days, no proof but I have my suspicions. Well anyways for me my water broke and then they said I had to be on Pitocin, because of the risk of infection if labor didn't progress fast enough since my water had already broken. My question is there any way to prevent your water from breaking before your body is ready to go into labor, because mine broke but absolutely no contractions were coming. Also how critical is it to have your baby in a certain period of time after your water breaks. I am pregnant again and want to avoid Pitocin at all costs possible.

[bec]

Frogertgrl - It was a horrible experience, and I am aware of how over-used it is. It's just one more reason for my almost pathological distrust of the medical community in general. Avoiding the pit, and avoiding the bs they put my daughter through in the NICU. Standard hospital policy for c-section babies, regardless of how they are thriving . She had 9's on both her apgars due, I think, to not having been drugged up for very long (she was born about 5 minutes after they gave me the spinal).

But they were concerned about her blood sugar levels. Duh, I hadn't had anything to eat for over 8 hours (my mom snuck a grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread and some cookies to me a couple hours before going on the pit. Yum!), had been through an exhausting labor, only to be cut open! And she hadn't had a chance to nurse yet. Of course her blood sugar was low (on the low end of Normal I might add!). But they stuck her in the NICU, pumped her full of antibiotics (just in case), fed her formula (they had to get something in her ), and pricked her poor little heels so often she came home with huge bruises on them!

We had a very rough time starting nursing. Only sheer persitence, lots of familial support, and eventually a very expensive, not insurance covered lactation consultant made it possible. I am proud to say that, over two years later, we're still nursing.

All of these things, I trace back to the pitocin. That and stupid hospital policy.

its_our_family - I found it was pretty easy to bring DH on board when I gave him article after article, website after website, and tons of research. It also helped that I have found a practice that has OB's that come out to the home. I don't know if they are the only practice like this, but you might look into that. It helped to reassure both of us. My doctor has been practicing medicine for 40 years, has attended over 4000 births! and most of them have been completely natural, normal homebirths. He has been with this practice since 1982!

I think DH's concern this time around is the same as mine, which is, that, if I am in a hospital, I will be put on pit again. And if I am, I will end up having another c-section. He has also said that seeing my first c-section was the scariest moment of his life. He wants to do everything possible to avoid another section.

Finally, in addition to having a doctor attend me, there is a hospital that is 5 minutes away by ambulance in bad traffic. There is paramedic service within 90 seconds. They're about 1/4 mile down the road. The way we figure it, if something goes catastrophically wrong, we are closer to actually seeing a doctor, than if we were in the actual hospital! When the nurse couldn't find dd's heartbeat for over 10 minutes (cause dd had moved), and she went to get the doctor, we didn't see her for another 10 minutes. This time around, we'd already be in the emergency room for over 3 minutes!

Sorry to rant, everyone! Planning this birth has brought up everything from the last one, and I'm realizing that I'm very angry about it and how I was treated, and how typical it is for women to go through what I did and worse. I'm still apalled that I thanked these people when I left! I'm working through it, bit by bit.


Bec

[Viola]

Originally posted by momatheart23
Also how critical is it to have your baby in a certain period of time after your water breaks. I am pregnant again and want to avoid Pitocin at all costs possible.

I'm sure that there are different ideas on this, but my understanding is that the 24 hour rule is bogus. I think if you avoid doing things that get germs up in there, like vaginal exams and such, you can go for much longer. I don't know for sure what the thinking is, so hopefully one of the birth experts can answer.

[Viola]

Originally posted by bec

I think DH's concern this time around is the same as mine, which is, that, if I am in a hospital, I will be put on pit again. And if I am, I will end up having another c-section. He has also said that seeing my first c-section was the scariest moment of his life. He wants to do everything possible to avoid another section.

That's great! I'm glad he realizes the importance of not having these interventions. I feel like I am very negative about my husband sometimes, and it isn't fair of me, but I feel like he would be fine if I had a c-section. He just seems to trust the doctors implicitly because they are the "experts" on certain matters. Now if he had to actually watch the surgery, no, he would not be in favor of that. But I can guarantee that if I had had a c-section, he would not have looked at all. He didn't even watch our daughter being born, just looked at my face, because he is very squeamish and tends to faint at the sight of blood (or even the discussion of it). I can't really even talk about these things with him because of that.

[its_our_family]

Originally posted by Amywillo
Now if he had to actually watch the surgery, no, he would not be in favor of that. But I can guarantee that if I had had a c-section, he would not have looked at all.

My dh watched my entire c/s. He said it was awesome to watch. Now, he is NOT in favor of them at all....he said he was making sure they did it right : He is a silly man! I actually wish I could have watched. I didn't know they had a mirror in there that I could have used. I waish I could have seen Tracy come out...I feel like I was robbed if that.

Anyway, i'm going vbac this time...I would love a Bradley Waterbirth. But I don't think with our financial situation it'll be an option.

[KFH]

Momatheart23--

To answer your question about waters breaking--I don't think there's anything you can do to avoid it, but refusing internal exams toward the end could increase you chances of that NOT happening.

As far as how long is ok--my midwife (CNM, and director at a freestanding birth center) says there they give you 72 hours. That is, of course, if the water is clear, and you don't have a fever, etc. etc.. Apparently they'll have you come in for a check at 24 hours if nothing is happening. They trust you to moniter your own temps at home. She says the current literature supports the 72 hour time frame if there are no other issues. Most women WILL START labor within 24 hours of this happening, but not all. Then, she says they always suggest nipple stimulation, maybe an enema. If you're with an OB in a hospital setting, they MOST likely want the baby OUT of you WITHIN 24 hours--so that's a likely scenario of wanting your labor augmented with pitocin within 6 hours of your waters breaking. In our area, those are the "liberal" ones. Many are even more conservative, and want you in the hospital right away. HTH

[neveryoumindthere]

u guys answered my next question

i was goin to ask about the water breaking on another thread...

i know mostly everyone that posted is saying 'STAY AWAY From pit' etc... and i would LOVE to...

i also have my husband to convince, but he's being very supportive in helping me find info so we can grill the dr. tomorrow...

my question is though...isnt there EVER a necessity? i would think so...but each case is individual i guess...

[frogertgrl]

OMG, saffiyya, please, do not grill your OB on the Pitocin issue. If you are trying to convince him/her that a non-augmented labor and an unmanaged birth are safe, it is impossible. He/she went to school, residency, internship for what, 17 years? There is no study or anecdotal evidence that can persuade someone who does augmented birth day in, day out, that it isn't a good idea. Seriously, you decide whether to do Pit (and the rest of it) or not. Your doctor can disagree with your choice and act menacing about the 'risks' (what a farse) but YOU DECIDE. Not your husband, not your doctor. The only thing that your doc can do is say what the risks are for not breaking your waters, not giving you harder contrax, not making your baby struggle to breathe, not risking that you will die in a c-sec (c-sec have six times greater maternal mortality than natural birth). No, your doc probably won't tell you those risks, but he/she should.

I'd get real clear, real quick about your safety and health and those of your precious baby. You are in the System now, and it will take much strength and courage to stand alone to the System and all its disbelief in the power of your body and the wisdom of your baby. You see, obstetrics in general, doesn't belief you can birth without 'help', 'management'. They do not believe your body can do it. Nor do they believe in the inherent perfection and wisdom of your baby to be born without their 'assistance'. If you aren't offended by that, you should be. As should your husband.

IMHO, you are heading for a c-sec if you allow (because it is YOUR CHOICE) induction on any level, and get on the clock for birthing within 12 hours of hospital admittance. If you want to avoid what could be the worst experience you've had, and tremendous suffering for your baby, then you must take control and not ask for permission to birth the way you want.

Btw, are you drinking lots of water? That is so critical right now. If you get too dehydrated and your amniotic fluid decreases, you could have pre term labor and then the System will try to get your baby to come out using Pit and surgery. Drink water, please!

Bec, your story of birthing made me cry. Oh, how hard for you and DD!! I always cry when I read stories as yours...you've learned so much, that is obvious and I commend your strength and vowing next time will be different.

KFH: ITA with everything you wrote about the time limit for ROM. Thank you for posting this info.

[Leddie]

wow - I'm so glad that I have read this thread -

I was on pit. for 17hours with my dd. My water broke and they had me come in to the hospital right away - they left me alone for 10hours - but then told me that it was my choice but that I needed to start pitocin because of the risk of infection. I'm positve that with more research, next time I would tell them no thank you and leave. The pitocin caused horredous contractions which I was able to manage ok for about 8 hours but then broke down and got the epidural. (I was 3cm at this point..ARGH) Two failed epidurals but luckily I had a midwife who really helped me a lot and kept me from having that c-section -

I HATE Pitocin and never want to have it again - hopefully my water won't break before labor starts this time. urgh.