Completely hypothethical Anonymous poll for midwives

[Carolinamidwife]

All midwives.

Do you carry pitocin?

[pamamidwife]

I do. And I have to say that I would feel uncomfortable attending births without it, but that's just me. I also carry methergine and have considered getting cytotec for those rare instances of a torrential bleed.

[mwherbs]

I started in the 80's and I use to not carry drugs at all. I have a preference for hands, herbs and other natural methods still but there are limitations. It takes time for pit to work, and hand skills are still needed.

[Carolinamidwife]

Thank you to everyone who answered, and please keep commenting.

mwherbs, this is kind of what I was thinking about when I posted this. Like, have I become to reliant on the idea of pitocin as a wonder cure? The mws I worked with in Texas carried everything from pit to cytotec to methergine but here in NC where DEMs are illegal it's a bit different.

I dunno, just idle wanderings of my mind while I waste away in nursing school, I guess, lol.

[courtenay_e]

I work with a midwife who has been practicing for 30 years. Between homeopathy and herbs, and her hands, and her non-interventive nature, she say that she has just never had the need for pitocin. I was at a birth with her last summer with a 14 hour placenta. Even with pit (we called in another midwife), it still took four or five more hours for the placenta to come. Thing is? SHe was never in danger...her vitals were always perfect, there was not any bleeding...she was fine.

[MsBlack]

courtney--

THANKS for saying this. I am pretty devoted to being natural and NON medical. I might carry pit if it were legal (and I was req'd to) but I much prefer to first do all possible to prevent hemorrhage and second to rely on natural measures to stop them. Yes, herbs, hands...and voice. Twice recently I have told women to stop bleeding, and they did pretty fast! Not quite that simple but I firmly believe that these moms, hearing me, got it that they had to participate, apply their own will at some level, and they did. Hell, neither of them wanted death, transport or to have a long pp recovery....

Anyway, I need reminders now and then that ppl can practice a long time w/out pit and still be successful in avoiding catastrophic bleeds.

And I definitely think too many mws jump too fast to pit--and oxygen for that matter. Both seem 'harmless enough'--but to me they should be reserved for very rare cases. There is a whole philosophy behind this statement...it's really NOT just about being 'non medical' but about positive elements of my philosophy of birth and midwifery care....but I'll write that essay some other time. Anyway, I know a mw who says that most often, her pit expires before she ever uses it. She feels she should carry it, but just very rarely uses it. That sounds right to me.

[MsBlack]

Ooops! I meant

courtenay e

sorry!

[courtenay_e]

Thanks for the correction! Not many people notice the difference. I appreciate the attention to detail.

You know, it's funny, but I have seen her look a woman in the eye, while the blood is running from her like a faucet on high, and tell her quite calmly, "Jane, STOP BLEEDING. TURN IT OFF. STOP BLEEDING NOW." And it has worked. Of course, I'm standing by with the herbs all loaded up...but there have been times when it wasn't necessary, she has just...STOPPED.

This midwife is perhaps the most hands off in our area, and I have to say that I have learned an incredible amount from her. I fell into working with her because of a good friend's pregnancy, and I am very lucky to have done so. There are some things that I might do differently someday...but I am really lucky that I have had the opportunity to see that she gets things DONE, safely, with an extremely low occurance of issues and an even lower transport rate. And I strongly believe that this is because she allows the mother and her body to do their job!