Labor Induction and Pitocin

What Happens During Induced Labor?

A doctor can choose to induce labor for several reasons, including when a mother is beyond her due date, when a mother's water has broken but she is not experiencing contractions, or if she has hypertension or another reason to deliver the baby early. While induced labors have become very common, these kinds of deliveries can lead to many complications and birth injuries.

Pitocin—a synthetic version of oxytocin, the body’s natural hormone that produces contractions during labor—is administered in order to cause regular contractions to facilitate delivery. This hormone is administered as an infusion in gradual doses until the mother is experiencing regular interactions.

The contractions experienced during induced labor can be more forceful than those experienced during natural deliveries. Excessive doses of Pitocin can cause fetal distress, which is why medical staff should take the necessary precautions to ensure this drug is administered appropriately.

Induction can increase the risk that a cesarean section will be needed for fetal distress.

How Pitocin Leads to Birth Injuries

When too much Pitocin—or other drugs such as Cytotec, Cervidil, Oxytocin, or a prostiglandin—is administered, it can cause labor contractions to occur too closely together—sometimes less than two minutes apart (sometimes referred to as hyperstimulation or tachysystole). This may lead to birth asphyxia and severe injuries such as brain damage. Even the warning label that comes with every package of Pitocin sold throughout the United States expressly warns of the risks of “permanent CNS or brain damage” and “fetal death."

Since 2007, Pitocin (Oxytocin) has been classified by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) as one of only 12 drugs which are considered “High-Alert” medications. As described by ISMP, “High-alert medications are drugs that bear a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm when they are used in error.”

The danger is that it can reduce the placenta’s ability to replenish the baby's oxygen supply leading to brain damage. Nonetheless, Pitocin is a drug that is commonly used throughout the United States for the purpose of causing stronger and more frequent contractions during labor.

It is the responsibility of the medical staff to ensure that Pitocin is administered correctly during labor or delivery. Unfortunately, it is all too often that physicians and nurses misuse Pitocin, are ignorant to its well-known dangers, and negligently cause harm to innocent babies and their families. At Beam Legal Team, we know the medicine and will fight for you to hold hospitals accountable for their misuse of dangerous drugs like Pitocin.

Pitocin is often administered in the following kinds of situations:

• To induce labor
• To control bleeding after childbirth
• To strengthen a mother's contractions

We at Beam Legal Team have handled many birth injury cases related to Pitocin. During our more than 30 years of experience, we have secured over one billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for families whose children suffered birth injuries as a result of negligence, including the negligent administration of drugs such as Pitocin.