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July 28, 2004

Comments

Aimee

Cytotec has a pretty high incidence of maternal death when used to induce labor :( There was a big article about it in a local paper a couple of years ago, which started with a chilling story of a woman with a normal pregnancy who died because she was induced with Cytotec. It's shocking that it's still being used this way.

Amy

I can't believe it, either. Except that it's a lot cheaper than Pitocin, and it doesn't have to be put through an IV because it's a pill---seems like it costing less and being less trouble for the doctors/nurses takes precedence over the welfare of moms and babies.

Ali

I think that's what I was induced with. Or it's similar. I was induced with misoprostal by my midwife, and when I Google it, I see Cytotec pulled up frequently.

And then I found this:

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/misoprostol.asp

God, that DOES explain my horrid labor, doesn't it.

Wow, I feel lucky, considering what could've happened...

Melissa

I made sure that if I had to be induced that my OB doesn't use that, scary stuff! Thank goodness I went into labor on my own! Still ended up with a c-section but at least I know that I did everything I could to keep me and baby safe.

Ali

Whatever the drug's dangers, most women who receive it have no idea that it is not approved for use during pregnancy. Alicia Balassa-Clark, a 35-year-old artist in Vancouver, Washington, planned to have her baby in a birthing center where she could be attended by midwives. But her insurance covered only births attended by a physician, and she was referred to a local obstetrician. To help induce labor, Balassa-Clark recalls, the doctor inserted Cytotec into her vagina, assuring her that she would have "a completely natural labor."

After 14 hours of labor, Balassa-Clark says, the doctor told her that she was "almost there." Suddenly, a nurse said that she could not detect fetal heart sounds. "My doctor's face went ashen as the monitor readings registered that my baby was in fetal distress," Balassa-Clark recalls. (The doctor did not respond to requests for comment.) An emergency cesarean section was performed, but the baby was not breathing when she was born. Twenty-four hours later, Balassa-Clark and her husband made the agonizing decision to remove the small girl they had named Isabella Marie from life support. "I held her in my arms as she took a few tiny little breaths and then passed away," she recounts.

(from http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2001/01/labor.html)

I delivered in Vancouver, WA. There is only one hospital there, so I assume that's where this woman delivered too.

I can't believe my midwife used this shit on me. Gah. And I had no clue that she'd used something that wasn't FDA approved for inducing labor. I also know that her second child was induced using misoprostal.

mar

Wow. I had no idea, either. And considering just HOW many birth stories I read where the woman was induced with misprostal? Just ... wow :(

Amy

The more I read about it, the angrier I get. I found that Dateline (NBC) did a story on the drug in the fall of 2001, basically hailing it as some kind of miracle drug for induction, giving plenty of air time to OBs who gushed about how wonderful it is, and almost no time to a doctor who is against its use for induction. I also found an article where a doctor said that OBs don't give women all the pertinent information about the drug because if they had to inform patients about every drug/procedure, the doctors "wouldn't be allowed to do anything." Basically they're depending upon women to be uninformed.

It's not illegal for doctors to use drugs for "off-label" purposes; the company that makes the drug won't research its safety for inductions because they could possibly spend a lot of money to find out that it's unsafe---and then they'd lose money because doctors would have to stop using it. It's like they're using women and their babies as guinea pigs.

Melissa

Actually the company that makes Cytotec actually recommends against using to induce labor. It sent a letter to physicians warning of the risks and recommending that it be used only for its approved purpose. http://www.cytoteccase.com/Searle%20drug%20warning.htm

I just wish all women would know of these risks before they go in to be induced!

Amy

Yes, and can you believe that only 1/3 of doctors/hospitals who received that letter stopped using it for inductions?

This perinatal epidemiologist
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/cytotec.asp

(he's the one who was pretty much ignored by Dateline) makes a good point when he says that "in reality, using Cytotec for induction is not "off-label" at all—it is "on-label contraindicated." On the Cytotec label it is explicitly written that this drug is contraindicated for use on pregnant women." Makes me crazy to think that those other doctors and hospitals are so arrogant that they think they know better than the company that made the drug (and the FDA, and the WHO, and OB/GYN groups in many other countries, all of whom do not recommend using Cytotec for inductions).

Melissa

Yeah, I will never understand how doctors who are made aware of the risks would continue to risk the health of the woman and or baby. It doesn't make sense to me at all! Of course I don't understand everyone who wanted me to get induced as soon as I was one minute "overdue" either. I wouldn't have been induced until I was 42weeks1day and I read everything I could about induction just in case that happened.

Amy

I agree. I wish more women would try to get as much information as they can about labor/birth, and then speak up and ask questions about everything that is done. It frustrates me when women sit back and allow their doctor/midwife to pretty much control the labor/delivery experience, assuming that the doctor knows best. Maybe women are afraid to ask questions because of the "doctor as God" persona? I'm hoping some day to get more involved in helping women understand the importance of empowering themselves with information regarding labor and birth; I hope that maybe someday a reader who saw the thread here on Cytotec will remember the information everyone's been so kind to post, and question her doctor or midwife about it instead of allowing decisions to be made for her.

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