A labor doula can reduce your chances for induction by 25%. So what does that mean? Why is that important to you?
The main reason is that when labor is allowed to start on its own, it is much softer and more manageable for mom and baby as it progresses at its own pace.
The onset of labor causes the pituitary, located within the brain, to secretesoxytocin both into the
bloodstream, where it causes uterine contractions, and into the brain,
where it has the effects just mentioned. Intravenous oxytocin cannot
cross the blood-brain barrier. It produces more painful contractions
without compensating psychological effects.
Drs. Klaus and Kennell explain that doulas reduce stress and anxiety, factors that can inhibit labor, and that a doula's close contact and massage stimulates oxytocin production. Unlike intravenous oxytocin (aka Pitocin or Pit), in addition to stregnthening contractions, naturally secreted oxytocin produces drowsiness, feelings of well-being and a raised pain threshold. All of these things help the mother relax, which also fosters progress in labor.
it is made in your body when you are in a calm state of mind.
Wikipedia
Preparing fetal neurons for delivery. Crossing the placenta,maternal oxytocin reaches the fetal brain and induces a switch in the action of neurotransmitter GABAfrom excitatory to inhibitory on fetal cortical neurons. This silences the fetl brain for the period of delivery and reduces its vulnerability to hypoxic damage.
Maternal behavior Oxytocin is involved in the initiation of maternal behavior.
In other words, natural oxytocin is produced by the brin and affects the brain before becoming systemic. Pitocin is never seen by the brain, and therefore the brain doesn't relsease the complex cocktail of labor/birth hormones that it does during a naturally occuring labor. It has recently been suggested that due to the blood-brain barrier and teh hormonal dance that happens during labor-and due to the recent discoveries of the affects of oxytocin in autistic children-Pitocin may be a contributinf fctor for the epidemic autistic rates we are seeing lately.
Although preservatives in shots and other intravenious medications may not be a concern for some...it is still soemthing to be informed about.
chlorobutanol is an additive to Pitocin which is derived from chloroform and acts as a preservative. It stays in your system for about 10 days. The result is that chlorobutanol builds up in your system for as long as you are being given the substance, and remains in your body for weeks.
According to the article "Inactive Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Implications for Pregnancy," published in The Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, "Chlorobutanol crosses the placenta in animals and produces human embryotoxicity. Based on these limited data, systemic preparations containing chlorobutanol should be used with caution during pregnancy.
Chlorobutanol is known to affect both maternal blood pressure and heart muscle. According to the study "Effects of Chlorobutnol and Bradykinin on Myocardial Exitation," "...chlorobutanol does have direct effects on myocardial cells, acting on the cell membrane and decreasing isometric tension produced by the heart."
Another paper, "The Effects of Oxytocin on the Contractile Force of Human Atrial Trabeculae," states, "Chlorobutanol decreases the ability of the heart to contract, while as pure oxytocin had no effect. This explains why maternal blood pressure may decrease and provides impetus to produce oxytocin with another, safer preservative."
And finally, from the article "prescribing Methadone, a Unique Analgesic" in the journal Supportive Oncology, "Chlorobutanol or chlorobutanol plus methadone, rather than methadone alone, may be the cause of cardiac toxicit in patients treated with IV methadone. Chlorobutanol has a very long half-life, extending beyond 10 days, and one report showed a serum concentration of 85mg/mL (0.480 mM) of chlorobutanol in patient receiving IV morphine preserved with 0.5% chlorobutanol. Furthermore, in a controlled clinical trial that led to the discontinuation of chlorobutanol from heparin, chlorobutanol was found to decrease blood pressure in patients. Chlorobutanol also causes significant negative inotropic effects on human atrial tissue, and this was the postulated cause of the hypotension seen in patients receiving oxytocin preserved with chlorobutanol."
PIT of Despair
By Stephanie Soderblom
Pitocin
has been described as a very useful drug that improved obstetrics and
gave us options to induce labor and help women in ways we weren't able
to before. Pitocin has also been described as a seductive drug that
changed obstetrics, increasing risks to mothers and babies in ways that
are often not even taken into consideration.
Both of these descriptions are accurate. How can that be?
There
are risks and benefits associated with the decision to induce, which
will not be covered in this article. It's a decision not to be taken
lightly, but for now, let's talk about what goes on after that decision
is made.
Pitocin is a drug used to induce or augment
labors. It is generally administered by IV, although when used
immediately post partum, it's often and intramuscular injection. It was
created in 1953 and has only been approved for the medical inducation
and stimulation of labor. When Pitocin is used for the elective
induction or stimulation of labor, it constitutes off-label usage of the
drug. Mothering magazine reports, "A survey by Robbie Davis-Floyd, a
cultural anthropologist at the University of Texas, found that 81
percent of women in U.S. hospitals receive Pitocin either to induce or
augment their labors."
It has been said that only 3 percent of deliveries medically require it.
Pitocin
has been nicknamed "Pit," and I've even heard "Vitamin P." I've heard
many obstetrics professionals say that Pitocin is just oxytocin, and has
the exact same effect on your body. While the oxytocin in Pitocin is
chemically designed to mimic the oxytocin your body produces, it has far
from the same effect on your body.
How Pitocin Is DifferentWhile
the oxytocin your body produces is chemically similar to the oxytocin
contained in Pitocin, the way your body recognizes and responds to the
two is very different. The difference has to do with the blood-brain
barrier. Simply put, the vast majority of substances that enter our
bloodstream cannot pass into the cerebrospinal fluid. The body protects
the brain from all but a select few substances going from the blood
into the brain (such as oxygen and glucose).
Oxytocin
is produced by the brain and has a direct effect on brain function.
But when Pitocin is introduced into the bloodstream, it does not affect
the brain.
While Wikipedia is not
always a reliable source of information, the WikiDoc page on oxytocin
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytocin) has enough reputable sources cited that
I am very confident of its accuracy. Here's what it has to say on the
difference between natural oxytocin and Pitocin.
"Oxytocin
secreted from the pituitary gland cannot re-enter the brain because of
the blood-brain barrier. Instead, the behavioral effects of oxytocin
are thought to reflect release from centrally projecting to the
pituitary gland, or which are collaterals from them. Oxytocin receptors
are expressed by neurons in many parts of the brain and spinal cord,
including the amygdala, ventromedial hypothalmus, septum, nucleus
accumbens and brainstem."
The article goes on to list these effects of natural ocytocin:
Sexual
arousal. Oxytocin injected into teh cerebrospinal fluid causes
spontaneous erections in rats, reflecting action in the hypothalamus and
spinal cord. Centrally administrated oxytocin receptor antagonists can
prevent non-contact erections, which is a measure of sexual arousal.
Studies using oxytocin antagonists in femal rats provide data that
oxytocin increases lordosis, indicating an increase in sexual
receptivity.
Bonding. In the prarie vole, oxytocin released into the brain of teh female during s