Pitocin induction and non-medicated birth

[allborntogrow]

It's looking more and more likely

I just can't believe it. Without getting into all the reasons why and all the reasons why not, can anyone give pointers/advice/wisdom on how to have a non-medicated pitocin induced birth?

[veryerin]

I had a pitocin induced birth with no other medications. I was fine - but I think I responded much better to the pitocin than most people do. It followed the "normal" course of labor as far as stages go. Transition was bad, but having pain medication never even crossed my mind.

I was induced by my, ehem, medwife because I was two weeks over due. My biggest regret is going in for the induction. Unless your induction is truly medically necessary, I would just not show up. UC or hospital were my only two options, but I really regret going in for that induction! I would fight it tooth and nail were I in the same situation again.

Best of luck!

[Xiaguan]

It is hard but it can be done

Pointers:

1. Good support for you!

2. The Birth Ball is your friend (at least it really helped me)

3. Despite what the nurses say you can get up to go potty(& turn off the machine like I did!)

4. Talk with your provider in advance about turning off the machine onde your body kicks in! (really wish I had pushed for this with my last!)


Great big s to you!

Warmly,
Melissa

[FREEmom1120]

I was induced with pitocin and luckily went really fast (active labor for only 3 hours, then ready to push), otherwise I would have given in.

I am not going to lie to you. It is really difficult. My best advice is to find a position you are comfortable in and stay there. I can see how movement would be great with non-induced labor, but pit contractions come on fast and HARD and every time I was up and moving it was just worse.

Ask them to take you off the pit when you are ready to push. You'll get to feel a more normal contraction and realize how ridiculously different they are.

Good luck!!!! You can do it!!!!!!

[MoonWillow]

Make sure its started at a low, low dose and turned up very slowly.
Just remember *LOW* and *SLOW*
GL!

[kalirush]

And have your birth attendant guard that machine, and not let anyone near it without talking to you first.

They kept upping my dose without me noticing or giving consent, completely contrary to what we discussed ahead of time. It was not low or slow, it was god awful.

[lurable]

I had the pit with no other meds for my 2nd dd and it was fast and awful but as pp's said having a good support team- I had dp and my midwife--was key. It was very hard but thankfully fast. One of the worst side effects was the bleeding afterwards-my Dr. told me that I could never try to have another homebirth because I have a "lazy uterus" --luckily my midwife was there to tell me it was a common side effect of the pit.

[SallyN]

My water broke with no contractions and I ended up on pitocin. Have you ever had an iv before? That was actually the worst part for me... the hep lock hurt to the point that my entire left arm was virtually useless, which eliminated pretty much every position I could think of to work through the labor pain. This time around, I'm definitely going to have a doula, to help me with ideas that I may not be able to remember/know.

Anyway... you ABSOLUTELY can disconnect to go to the bathroom. AND you do NOT have to be laying down (well, not just because you're on pit, though depending on what your other factors are.) I tried to lay on my side a couple of times, just to rest my legs and holy *&%$& cow the contractions hurt so.much.worse.

I did end up with an epidural, but mainly 'cause of the iv pain. Definitely have a birth ball. And in addition to starting "low and slow", turn the pit down, or off altogether, once your body gets going.

But before all that, look into natural induction techniques. (I'd list them, but that's also on my list of things to do before April.)

[MoonWillow]

Originally Posted by kalirush

And have your birth attendant guard that machine, and not let anyone near it without talking to you first.

They kept upping my dose without me noticing or giving consent, completely contrary to what we discussed ahead of time. It was not low or slow, it was god awful.

BTDT

[_betsy_]

I had a 2 hours L&D, pitocin induced.

I wish now I had never gone into the hospital and consented to it, but I did. And I did it pain med free.

Pit drip was started at 9:30, baby was in my arms at 11:28 a.m. Less than two hours. I went from 100% effaced and 4 cms (without ever feeling a single contraction, not even so much as a twinge) to 10 cms and coached pushing in an hour.

I was in LaborLand. My mind went somewhere else. I was staring at the ceiling, knowing I had to rely on myself to get through it. The contractions were intense, immediate, and no break in between. After 45 minutes on the "test dose," the nurse came in to see if I wanted something for the pain. I cried and said "If it's going to be like this for hours and hours, I'm going to have to have something." She went to get my OB, who checked me and was shocked to find me 10 cms.

I caved to the idea of pain meds while in transition, apparently.

Too late for that, and no need! Ready to push!

Only problem was, *I* wasn't ready to push. I had no urge. I made them wait a bit, hoping my body would catch up and I'd start getting signals to push with each contraction, but nope. So coached it was.


What I did that helped with the contractions - I imagined each one as a powerful ocean wave, each one ebbing and flowing, opening me up and bringing baby down/out. Each one brought me closer to baby/the end.

I thought peaceful words to myself - relax, open, breathe, etc.

DH was little help, he had no idea what to expect either. OB was little help, she was sick with a cold and just wanted to sleep, and well, she's an OB, what does she know about a normal vaginal birth? (Not that Pit-induction is "normal.") The nurse was awesome, but she wasn't with me through all of it.

A supportive midwife and doula team would have been amazing.

[Girlprof]

I was induced with pitocin. I DID have a supportive midwife and doula (and hospital-provided massage therapist and DH, of course) and made it through without pain meds. Is this your first baby? It helped me a lot that my doula had been there for my first birth and told me that she thought I could handle the pit contractions w/o an epi. Really helped to have her believe in me that way.

The nurses always told me when they were upping the pit and I think they increased it every 20-30 minutes a little bit. Near the end the nurse came to turn it up again and I said NOOOOO! Turns out I was at 10 cm.

I couldn't get up because of BP issues so I mostly labored on my side. But as the previous person said, the contractions were pretty fast and furious so I'm not sure I would have done well getting up anyway. I had back labor so what I needed was a LOT of counter pressure on my back. I also had my DH telling me every single contraction not to be afraid, that I could do it, that I WAS doing it, etc.

It wasn't "fun" but it wasn't much worse than my first birth w/o anything. The contractions weren't more intense, but they were MUCH closer together. I had to work hard to stay on top of them, but I never thought of asking for pain meds. Even when things got hard during transition, I was going to ask to get in the tub, to have sterile water injections, anything....well, not meds, but anything else.

This is totally do-able, but get yourself a great team of people to support you while you do it. Good luck!

[Girlprof]

Oh, one more thing. I was SO freaking mad about being induced. It helped to come to terms with that. We had a big celebration dinner the night before because we knew the baby was coming the next day. We also decorated the IV pole. These things helped psychologically to own the process.

The other thing that I think helped a lot was that I ask for a later time for the induction. I was able to sleep until 7am and then have a nice breakfast. I also ate during labor. I think it would have been harder to get up at 4am and head in to the induction tired and hungry.

[zinemama]

I had an unmedicated pitocin-induced birth.

I would not do it again.

Repeat: I would not do it again.

The contractions with pitocin were agonizing and unrelenting. I had no idea that pit contractions were any different from the natural kind. I told myself that women had been going through this for eons and I could, too.

Well, I did it. But by the end I was so wrung out and exhausted and demoralized that I had barely any interest in my baby. I honestly didn't care.

I would say, if you want to do it unmedicated, go for it. You are getting good advice here. Do the best you can.

But remember: a pitocin-induced labor is not a natural labor. And epidurals are made for unnatural labor situations. Don't feel the slightest bit guilty if you choose to get one. I wish I had.

[rosie29]

Originally Posted by Girlprof

I was induced with pitocin. I DID have a supportive midwife and doula (and hospital-provided massage therapist and DH, of course) and made it through without pain meds.

OT, but seriously? The hospital provided a massage therapist? How awesome! Sounds like a great team.

I agree with those who suggested a doula. A doula can suggest pain management techniques that you and others in the room might not think of.

[Girlprof]

Originally Posted by rosie29

OT, but seriously? The hospital provided a massage therapist? How awesome! Sounds like a great team.

I agree with those who suggested a doula. A doula can suggest pain management techniques that you and others in the room might not think of.

Yes, it was pretty amazing. She gives every woman who gives birth a complementary post-birth massage, but she's also available for massage during labor. We did have an incredible team.

[kalirush]

Originally Posted by zinemama

I had an unmedicated pitocin-induced birth.

I would not do it again.

Repeat: I would not do it again.

The contractions with pitocin were agonizing and unrelenting. I had no idea that pit contractions were any different from the natural kind. I told myself that women had been going through this for eons and I could, too.

Well, I did it. But by the end I was so wrung out and exhausted and demoralized that I had barely any interest in my baby. I honestly didn't care.

I would say, if you want to do it unmedicated, go for it. You are getting good advice here. Do the best you can.

But remember: a pitocin-induced labor is not a natural labor. And epidurals are made for unnatural labor situations. Don't feel the slightest bit guilty if you choose to get one. I wish I had.

The only reason I didn't get the epidural is because I was completely petrified of giving them any reason to cut on me, and I wasn't progressing as fast as they wanted as it was.

But I hear you... I was literally too exhausted to lift my baby for about three or four days afterward. It was horrible.

[felix23]

Originally Posted by rosie29

OT, but seriously? The hospital provided a massage therapist? How awesome! Sounds like a great team.

I agree with those who suggested a doula. A doula can suggest pain management techniques that you and others in the room might not think of.

The hospital where my sister gave birth at had a massage therapist too. She loved it and said it was so relaxing.

[Kidzaplenty]

In my experience, if you HAVE to be induced, go low and slow (as has been mentioned already).

Have them start out on a 2, and turning it off after a while if your own contractions have kicked in. They will also want to do the IV fluids (I agreed to this on a VERY LOW dose (for the about eight hours I was there I did not even finish one bag of fluid).

They turned the pit off after it reached 8 because of "overstimulated uterus". However, I realized quickly that it was not overstimulated at all. It was just that the pit was causing contractions and my own contractions had kicked in so I was having one on top of the other (though they were not unbearable at all). Once the pit was stopped, they evened out and progressed as normal without assistance.

Be carefull, because they did try and turn the pit back on a couple of times, but I just told them that the contractions were progressing normally and I did not want or need the pit.

The biggest thing in an induction (or any hospital birth, I guess) is to just keep your head about you. Know what is going on at all times. Have your DH or support keep you informed, make sure they keep their eyes open and watching everything that is going on. You CAN have a good birth as long as you know what is going on and are able to maintain your input into the process.

And just rememeber. It is YOUR birth. Their "procedures" and "routines" can be refused. You don't HAVE to listen to them (like when they tell you to lay down in bed). You CAN choose to do things your own way. But you have to stand up for your rights, respectfully of course.

[sophiesgrandma]

I had pitocin with all 3 of the births. My water would break and then no labor and in those days there was not much support for waiting till labor started on its own.
With my first I eventually had an epidural. With the 2 subsequent births-no pain meds whatsoever-just Lamaze and it worked for me.
I had studied Lamaze with my first also but somehow the doc. talked me into an unneccessary epidural. With my last 2 babies I was stronger and said no to the epidural. All this occured over 25 years ago.

[allborntogrow]

What great advice! Thanks everyone.

Low and slow . . . I like it. Are there specific numbers/levels I should be aware of? I saw one PP mention starting at a 2 . . . is this the consensus? I want to be informed and really know what to say - "low" can mean a lot of different things to different people!

Also, would a pitocin induction necessarily mean constant fetal monitoring? The IV I could actually handle (as long as it rolled) but being essentially strapped to the bed was probably the worst part of my last labor. This entire pregnancy I've been making sure I would NOT need constant fetal monitoring, so to have to accept that would be quite upsetting.