The following adverse reactions have been reported in the
fetus or neonate:
Due to induced uterine motility:
– Bradycardia
– Premature ventricular contractions and other arrhythmias
– Permanent central nervous system damage
– Brain damage
– Neonatal seizures
– Death
Due to use of oxytocin in the mother:
– Low Apgar scores at five minutes
– Neonatal jaundice
– Neonatal retinal hemorrhage
About Chlorobutanol
Chances are you have never heard about the additive chlorobutanol. Pitocin contains not only a synthetic oxytocin, it also contains 0.5 percent chlorobutanol, a chloroform derivative that acts
as a preservative. While the oxytocin in Pitocin has a very short
half-life of 1-6 minutes (meaning it diminishes in your system
within a matter of minutes), chlorobutanol has a very long half-life (about 10 days!). The result is that chlorobutanol builds up
in your system for as long as you are being given this substance,
and remains in your body for weeks.
According to the article “Inactive Pharmaceutical Ingredients:
Implications for Pregnancy,” published in The Canadian Journal
of Clinical Pharmacology, “Chlorobutanol crosses the placenta
in animals and produces human embryotoxicity. Based on these
limited data, systemic preparations containing chlorobutanol
should be used with caution during pregnancy. Repeated
administration, in particular, should be avoided due to the long
terminal half-life of chlorobutanol (about 10 days) that may lead
to accumulation in the fetus.” Chlorobutanol is known to affect
EXPERTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST INDUCTION
ACCORDING TO DR. MARSDEN
WAGNER, author of Born in the
USA, a critical look at the U.S.
maternity system, “Federal stud-
ies that analyze birth certificates
tell us that the percentage of
U.S. births that happen Monday
to Friday, nine to five, is rapidly
increasing; even emergency
c-sections are more common
Monday to Friday, nine to
five…” This isn’t caused by
global warming or the effects of
the moon…we are looking at a
procedure called induction.
According to the study “Effects of Chlorobutanol and Bradyki-
nin on Myocardial Excitation,” “…chlorobutanol does have direct
effects on myocardial cells, acting on the cell membrane and
decreasing isometric tension produced by the heart.”
Another paper, “The Effect of Oxytocin on the Contractile Force
of Human Atrial Trabeculae,” states, “Chlorobutanol decreased the
ability of the heart to contract, while as pure oxytocin had no effect.
This explains why maternal blood pressure may decrease and pro-
vides impetus to produce oxytocin with another, safer preservative.”
And finally, from the article “Prescribing Methadone, a Unique
Analgesic” in the journal Supportive Oncology, “Chlorobutanol
or chlorobutanol plus methadone, rather than methadone alone,
may be the cause of cardiac toxicity in patients treated with IV
methadone. Chlorobutanol has a very long half-life, extending
beyond 10 days, and one report showed a serum concentration
of 85 mg/mL (0.480 mM) of chlorobutanol in a patient receiving
IV morphine preserved with 0.5% chlorobutanol. Furthermore,
in a controlled clinical trial that led to the discontinuation of chlo-
robutanol from heparin, chlorobutanol was found to decrease
blood pressure in patients. Chlorobutanol also causes significant
negative inotropic effects on human atrial tissue, and this was
the postulated cause of the hypotension seen in patients receiv-
ing oxytocin preserved with chlorobutanol.”
The call to find a safer alternative to chlorobutanol was first
made in 1998. This problem has been known and documented for
at least 12 years. Why is this not big news, and why have we not
explored other safer preservatives for Pitocin? My guess is this:
money. I wonder how many of the 81 percent of mothers who
have received Pitocin, having incurred a greater sum of medical
expenses in the birthing room, have ever heard of chlorobutanol?
Other Interventions, Other Risks
Hopefully by now you understand that using Pitocin is far from
the same as going into labor on your own. It affects the body
prior to an attempted induction
of labor you have up to a 90%
failure rate for your induction
which usually translates to you
getting a [cesarean section].”
Roger Freeman, M.D.,
professor of obstetrics and
gynecology at the University
of California, Irvine, said the
results of the Zhang study (a
retrospective study conducted
between 2002 and 2008 in
which researchers found that 44
percent of women in the study
population had their labor
induced and that the cesarean
delivery rate was twice as high
for such women) are consistent
with previous studies which
have suggested that the way
labor is managed is contributing
to the upward trend in number
of cesarean deliveries per-
formed. Freeman said that in-
duction is clearly a contributor,
and suggested that physicians
avoid elective induction, which
can elevate the rate of cesar-
ean delivery and prolong labor
without offering the potential
benefits of clinically indicated
induction. — Joni Nichols
