Premature Rupture of the Membranes and Cytotec

When I went into labor with my son, it didn't start with contractions. Instead, my water broke long before the contractions started. This made for a very long labor and some extra time in the hospital after his birth.

My water broke on Saturday, July 3, 2010 at around 2:00 in the afternoon. We made it to the hospital about 30 minutes later. I got all hooked up to the monitors only to discover that there weren't any contractions-not even mild ones-going on. After the midwife watched me for a while, she said that she was going to give me Cytotec to help me with contractions. She told me that Cytotec was preferred over Pitocin.

The procedure for Cytotec was to administer a dose every four hours until my contractions were strong, productive and regular. Little did I know that my contractions never would get to the regular point.

I got my first Cytotec pill at around 6:00 that evening. Nothing happened. My husband decided to head home with our boys to let them eat and get some sleep before they had to come back for the birth of our baby. I played on the Internet and got some sleep until the nurse came in at 10:00 that night to tell me that I still wasn't having contractions.

At 10:00, I got another dose of Cytotec. At that point, I decided to find out more about this drug. I got on Google and started searching. The information I found was rather troubling. I found out that unlike Pitocin, Cytotec can't be controlled if the contractions get too strong. When Pitocin is administered via an IV, it can be adjusted according to the needs of the mother. Cytotec is a pill so you can't just lower the dose or increase the dose at will.

This worried me so I questioned the midwife. She said that Cytotec allowed my body to work slowly up to where I needed to be because they were only giving me ¼ of a pill. That made me feel better so I continued the four hour dosing protocol.

I continued to get the Cytotec every four hours until 10:00am on July 4, 2010. After that pill, my contractions starting coming. By this point, my midwife3 was getting concerned because we were approaching the 24 hour mark from when my water broke. Some practitioners won't let a woman stay in labor longer than 24 hours after her water breaks because of the risk of infection. I didn't want a C-section so I let my midwife know that. She said that the risk of infection was elevated because of frequent checks to see if the woman was dilating and she had been very cautious not to check me too often.

My son was born at 3:32pm on July 4, 2010. After delivery, both of us got some antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection. We also had to remain in the hospital for 48 hours to watch for signs of infection. I am happy to say that despite the risk of infection and the possible complications of the Cytotec, we both turned out fine and were discharged on schedule.

Source:
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/cytotecwagner.asp