Is there a lot of meconium in babies induced with castor oil? Yes there is. Is there a lot of meconium in babies of the same gestation who were not induced? Yes. If you have a 42 week baby who is induced with castor oil and you have thick meconium, it is tempting to say that it was the castor oil that did it, but you can never know. A lot of postdates babies have mec. Most castor oil inductions are done on postdates women.
I think that castor oil causes diarrhea and intestinal expulsion for two reasons -- one because it is irritating when it comes in direct contact with the intestines, which would not happen to the baby because any castor oil metabolites that cross the placenta would not be coming in direct contact with the intestines. I have also heard another midwife opine that castor oil causes diarrhea because it prevents the absorption of water from the lower intestines -- causing watery stool. There is not a whole lot of water in meconium to begin with, so interfering with absorption is not going to produce a watery stool.
You could make the argument that any induction is stressful on the baby and therefore could contribute to meconium, but I do not believe that there is evidence that castor oil is any worse than any other induction agent in this regard. I believe that there is at least one medical study which also confirms this opinion.
I think that castor oil causes diarrhea and intestinal expulsion for two reasons -- one because it is irritating when it comes in direct contact with the intestines, which would not happen to the baby because any castor oil metabolites that cross the placenta would not be coming in direct contact with the intestines. I have also heard another midwife opine that castor oil causes diarrhea because it prevents the absorption of water from the lower intestines -- causing watery stool. There is not a whole lot of water in meconium to begin with, so interfering with absorption is not going to produce a watery stool.
You could make the argument that any induction is stressful on the baby and therefore could contribute to meconium, but I do not believe that there is evidence that castor oil is any worse than any other induction agent in this regard. I believe that there is at least one medical study which also confirms this opinion.
