Pregnancy Health: When Doctors Should Know Better!

Just this morning I read something in my pregnancy fitness community that got me so fired up I just had to write this blogpost today to make sure that all my pregnant readers are fully aware of the dangers of this practice which is becoming ever more common in modern pregnancy medicine.

This is an exciting time for me as the first two of my 9 Month Club Coaching mums are due to give birth in the next 7 – 10 days, so when I saw Julena’s post this morning I was shocked.

Julena has had the dream pregnancy from start to finish and I feel very lucky that I got to share her journey with her from the very beginning of her pregnancy. So when I saw that her doctor had offered her a premature induction to “get things moving” when there was absolutely no conceivable reason other than convenience I almost fell off my seat!

Why is it that (some) doctors/midwives/obstetricians feel it is necessary to ineterfere with the natural process of childbirth even though there is no emergency present? It’s like they have become so indoctrinated with all the drugs and tools they have to play with that they have lost all faith in the female body to perform the most intrinsic function of them all – to give birth naturally!

Now I am not opposed to all intervention. There is a time and a place when it is necessary – in an emergency where either the health of the baby or the mother is at risk, but intervention in a perfectly healthy and normal pregnancy before the woman has even reached her due date is absolutely beyond me!

Even with an overdue baby, induction should not be handed out quite so readily. After all the EDD is essentially just an educated guess. Most EDD’s are out by 7-10 days and even the first ultrasound can be inaccurate by 5 days either side. Babies are designed to come out. That’s just the way mother nature intended it, so when they are ready, come they will. Full term is anywhere from 37 – 42 weeks and the due date is just a guess somewhere in the midlle of that.

Induction can be offered in different ways:

Stretch and Sweep – This is a sweeping of the cervical membrane and sometimes stretching is used as well.

ARM – artificial ruptre of membranes: Can be offered if your cervix is favourable and the baby is in your pelvis. But you are not given much time for contractions to start and artificial oxytocin is given within an hour or so of ARM. Often followed by Syntocinon drip, pain relief and instrumental delivery (called a cascade of intervention).

Artificial Oxytocin – ok here’s where it gets ugly. Artificial oxytocin is not the same as naturally produced oxytocin.

In a natural birth labour starts only when the hormones from baby and mother are realesed in complete harmony. Natural oxytocin levels rise and labour begins. Oxytocin repectors are switched on and oxytocin stimulates the smooth muscle of the uterus to contract.

In artificially induced labour the body is simply not ready for labour to begin. The receptors are switched off and as a result a huge amount of artificial oxytocin is needed to stimulate labour. Oxtyocin cannot cross the blood/brain barrier so you do not get the same effects as naturally produced oxytocin which creates feelings of bonding, maternal behaviour and most importantly prepares fetal nuerons for delivery preventing hypoxic delivery.

Artificial oxytocin can also damage your pelvic floor and leave you with urinary incontinence after birth.

Dr Marsden Wagner writes:

“What are these aggressive, invasive obstetric interventions that have been proven scientifically to cause permanent damage to the pelvic floor and urinary tract and also lead to more otherwise unnecessary caesarean section? One example is the use of powerful and dangerous drugs to start or accelerate labour, a practice that has doubled during the past 10 years. These drugs make labour abnormal with violent contractions that can damage the uterus and pelvic floor. The only reason women agree to such induction is because they are not told the truth about the drugs, for example that Pitocin (artificial oxytocin, known as Syntocinon in Australia), a drug used for decades to induce labour, doubles the chance the woman will have urinary incontinence in the future. By withholding such facts doctors seduce to induce.”

And you know the reason I find this very close to home was that I was given Syntocinon when my contractions stopped halfway through my labour (from too much gas and air!) and yes I did suffer from surprising urinary incontinence for a short period after the birth which took me by surprise as I was religious about doing my kegels every day both during pregnancy and after.

Other side effects of artificial oxytocin include:

Overstimulation of the uterus which can deprive the baby of supplies of blood and oxygen

Increased risk of major bleeding after birth due to the fact that synthetic oxytocin decreases the number of receptors in the uterus and so creates desensitivity to the post-partum oxytocin peak that prevents bleeding

There is a huge amount that I could write on this subject and I may even do a report on it when I get some time but for now, this covers the most important things I think you should know so that you can make informed choices when it comes to your birth.

One last thing I would say to you, is this – if it is not an emergency (ie. you are haing a relaxed conversation about induction with your care professional) then go away and do your homework before you decide what to do. There is a lot of information that is not mentioned when inductions are offered and without knowledge you have no choice.

For more information about preparing your body and baby for labour naturally please visit http://www.the9monthclub.com

7 Responses to “Pregnancy Health: When Doctors Should Know Better!”

emma on January 14th, 2010

Hi Nisha – Have just picked up the link to this in my inbox. I think there is a place for intervention – we live in a very priviledged age, in my opinion, where women and their unborn babies receive amazing care and thanks to the medical advances we are able to ensure that nearly all of these babies and mummy’s get to go home and, ultimately live! we are also the only animal to give birth not only in the presence of others but with their help – and this is because we need each other. I agree the pendulum has swung probably too far towards the medical intervention side of things, but it is swinging back and I hope that there can be a happy medium. From what i can gather, J was offered an internal to spark things off, not as an induction with chemicals, which is something very different indeed! I believe quite strongly that a womens body and her instincts are incredibly strong and are not trusted anywhere near enough by most women, being one who has very nearly lost a baby pre-term I do value the intervention – but not unnecessary interference – I hope there is a way we can find a balance.
Nisha on January 14th, 2010

Hey Emma, – I was hoping you would comment!

I agree intervention has its place and I am certainly not opposed to it. If we hadn’t made the huge advances in medical science that we have women would still be dying in childbirth every day.

But I would like to see intervention used when neccesary and not as a routine procedure just because we can.

And yes you are right, Julena was offered a stretch and sweep – very different from Oxytocin induction – but still, seeing as there was no viable reason for it other than convenience,it is messing with the delicate hormone balance of the pregnant body for no real reason.

I think some doctors are just too quick off the mark when offering these things and there should be some kind of protocol in place to prevent unnecessary interference with the natural birthing process
Leah on January 15th, 2010

I agree – why induce a perfectly healthy woman who isn’t even late? I had to have pitocin with my first birth, because my water broke & labor never started, so after MANY hours the doctors were worried about the risk of infection. In my case, a valid reason to induce – but I wouldn’t wish it on anyone! I’m hoping for a more natural birth the second time around.
Nisha on January 15th, 2010

Ladies I posted my concerns on a professional network that I manage for pregnancy and baby care professionals and this is what I got back from Pauline who is a Clinical Nursing Professor, Childbirth Educator and Lactation Consultant:

Nisha, This is not needed. Statistically speaking 50% of first time moms go into labor 10 days past their 40 wk “due date.” This procedure increases her risk of infection and if it released the amniotic sac, she would then be induced and possibly sectioned. My advise to her…hands-off, let mother nature do her job…as she does it the best, with the least risk to mother and child!
Pauline RN, MPA
Clinical Nursing Professor
Certified Childbirth Educator
Board Certified Lactation Consultant
Jessica (Jesann21) on January 16th, 2010

Have you ever watched The Business Of Being Born – it’s free on Netflix instant downloads. Very informative!
N adia Bannister on January 18th, 2010

hey Nisha as medical doctor i know for sure that oxytocin is used to help progress laboour, and in our institution it is given when the pregnancy has past it due dates, or as I said earlier in regular labour. This has now become the standard of care. To my knowledge it is not offered as an alternative but just given, and i do agree that it is unfortunate that those in obstretrics and gynecology department have taken this approach.
Nisha on January 19th, 2010

Thanks Nadia – that’s good to know and as I said everything has its place – its just when drugs/procedures are used out of place that it concerns me.