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Investigating Induction
What You Need to Know
About Being Induced
About Being Induced
By Kelly Camden, Certified Doula
Different labor pattern: The higher levels of Pitocin in the bloodstream often cause contractions to be longer and harder than during a spontaneous labor.
Use an informed decision-making process! Parents can gather information and weigh the pros and cons of induction before they decide if it is right for them.
Continuous monitoring is required while using Pitocin. Therefore, labor positions are restricted to those that allow Baby to be monitored easily. Normally, intermittent monitoring is sufficient. However, the longer, stronger contractions of induced labor may decrease the "flow of oxygen-rich blood through the placenta to the fetus," according to Ina May Gaskin in the book Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (Bantam, 2003). Therefore, the baby is "watched" closely.
Tendency for fetal distress and hyperstimulation of the uterus increases, as does the use of the vacuum and forceps or Cesarean birth.
Indications for induction, according to Gaskin, include cancer, hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, small for dates baby, decrease in amniotic fluid or intrauterine death followed by a long wait for labor to begin.
Other methods of encouraging labor include nipple stimulation, acupuncture treatments, castor oil, sex, sweeping the membranes. It may be useful to research these options and discuss the information during a prenatal visit with your care provider.
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