United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I've been wondering, 3 of my 4 kids were induced labors. All were looong labors except for the last one. During my last birth (Amy ROBPI), the nurse kept coming in and cranking up the pitocin. It's like she was on a mission to get this baby by lunchtime or something. She even said things like " no use waiting around, lets just get her out!" Anyway, does increasing the amount of pitocin into the I.V. increase the chances of having shoulder dystocia?

I think so. I believe that my labor would not have progressed if I wasn't induced and the Ob would have been forced to do a c-section. The pitocin forced the baby to come out when my body probably was telling us that I couldnt handle the baby's size. I have had many discussions with others about this. They say women have been having babies for millions of years etc and I say, yes and I would have been one who died during child birth.

Not sure if the amount does or not, but that wasn't the case of my son (ROBPI).
Both of my kids were induced.
1. daughter/4-5 weeks early/large amount of potcin and fast/no dialation..had her in 6 hours flat!/no problems
2. son/3 weeks early/little bits of potcin delivered every hour or so/30 hours later....ROBPI

Many medical experts believe there is a relationship between the use of pitocin and eventual shoulder dystocia. The thought is that the pitocin causes "hard labor" that can result in more stress upon the fetus. Not all ob/gyn's accept this and studies that have been done do not support the therory completly. Of course, you may have been given greater than the accepted dose of pitocin which would take you out of the studies that gave only acceptable amounts.
Also, there cleraly are certain anantomical differences that can cause one mother to have a problem that another will not. that is why some mothers experienece shoulder dystocia with a 7 pound baby while another can safely deliver a 10 pound baby.

In order to properly understand the correlation between the pitocin and the eventual shoulder dystocia you would have to have the medical records reviewed.

What is more important is that you labors were all very long. A prolonged second stage of labor is a very imoortant warning sign for shoulder dystocia. the prolonged second stage of labor is a sign that the baby is not descending properly. This should cause the ob.gyn to question why, and consider that the delay in descent is caused by the size of the baby. Again, long labors with prolonged second stages are very important for the ob to be concerned about and are a definite warning sign for shoulder dystocia.

I hope this has answered your question somewhat. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ken Levine
Klevine@Klevinelaw.com
617-566-2700

I'm not sure BV - But my labour was induced also.

Mine was also.

My labor was induced. It seems I read somewhere that an induced 10cm is not the same as a natural (without inducing drugs) 10cm. Has anyone else read this? Nancy

I was induced 3 days after my due date. There was no problems with my pregnacy, they didn't determine how big my son was going to be, they just wanted to get me out of the way, I believe because I came throught the clinic. I wasn't high priority. The Mid wife who checked me out told me the week before that they would enduce if I didn't have him by the following week. I was enduced with my daughter because of high blood pressure, that wasn't the case with my son. I was perfectly fit. I never met the doctor before who delivered my son.

My first child was not induced and weighed 9 lbs. My second child was induced weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. and has BPI.