Pitocin?

[LRoby33]

For my first child,  I was given Pitocin to speed up labor after being in labor many hours without dilating. The contractions were so bad I couldn't stand or move at all on my own.  I ended up getting an epidural. Admittedly I knew nothing about the benefits or risks of pitocin prior to going to the hospital so I had no time to make an educated decision.

Now I'm 35 weeks with my 2nd and trying to decide my birth plan.  I've read that woman who have not had pitocin, their contractions were less painful than those who have had it.  Has anyone out there done it both ways? I'm curious about your experiences.

[LRoby33]

Charna, yes I believe they do use it.  I'm not sure if there are other drugs also used but I do know pitocin is one that has been widely used for inducing labor.

[ZynishiaJeff]

I am getting induced on 12/20 do they use pitocin for that? Goodness I have been so busy preparing for my son that I may not have asked the right questions at my last dr visit. I need to google this :)

[LynxLove]

I was in active labor for over 100 hours. There was never a point where I felt I couldn't do it because my support team was always there with me. I was never offered Pitocin because it makes the contractions worse, and not always 'more productive'. Your body can have hardered, more painful contractions, without any of the natural build up needed to dilate and prepare for pushing. This can lead to a c section and baby distress because your body is being forced into something it was not ready for yet. The first intervention leads to other more invasive interventions.  

The time line for water breaking to birth is also questionable. The American Standard is much longer then what many hospitals practice.

[lyshabob]

I haven't went through labor yet (ftm) so don't w quote me. To my ubderstanding it's different bc instead of going through the motions of labor normally, pitocin kind of just throws you right into the pits of it.

[breonte22]

After being in labor for 11 hrs I was given pitocin to speed the process up && yes I personally felt the difference in contractions . I was doing fine without it but my water had broke at 9 am nd they didn't want me to catch an infection so 2pm they administered it to me I immediately felt the difference &&  asked for my epi , I didn't start pushing until 11 that night but the nurse was wrong about how many centimeters I was dialated so I had to stop pushing finish dialating then had to start back pushing at 12ish my baby boy entered the world at 1:21am  

[dianaexoh]

I personally haven't had pitocin, but I've heard from moms that have done both that it's nightmareish in comparison to going without it. It makes you contract harder.