Before I begin this post, which I plan to be an all encompassing location to get all the information you ever needed about Cytotec, I thought I would post this link from ACOG:
ACOG Committee Opinion No. 342: induction of labor for vaginal birth after cesarean delivery.
Quote:
“Selecting women most likely to give birth vaginally and avoiding the sequential use of prostaglandins and oxytocin appear to offer the lowest risks. Misoprostol should not be used in patients who have had cesarean deliveries or major uterine surgery.”
WARNING
If you have a scar on your Uterus, DO NOT let anyone put a Cytotec tablet on your cervix!!! Have your husband or birth partner watch closely during each vaginal exam to see if the birth attendent; nurse, doctor, or midwife places a little tablet on the tip of their glove before doing a vaginal exam. If they do, make them IMMEDIATELY stop what they are doing, Or, if they are really sneaky and do a vaginal exam during birth and all of a sudden your contractions become overwhelming and painful, demand to look at your birth records to see if someone put cytotec (Misoprostol) on your cervix without informed consent.
(And FYI, I have read about some home birth midwives using this drug during home births to speed things up.)
You now have grounds to sue your health care provider. And many families who have had women lose their lives, their uteruses, or their babes from a rupture are in fact doing just that.
Go Here and Here and Here.
I am not someone who believes in frivilous law suits. I would never encourage a family to “go after” a doctor for some silly reason. However, I believe the only way to get Cytotec banned from being used on womens bodies is for these lawsuits to move forward.
“Searle, the makers of Cytotec (misoprostol), issued a warning letter in August of 2000 and sent it to all abortion providers. In the interest of providing you with all the relevant information, here is a copy of that letter with important parts highlighted (You can also view this letter at the FDA website.)”
IMPORTANT DRUG WARNING CONCERNING UNAPPROVED USE OF INTRAVAGINAL OR ORAL MISOPROSTOL IN PREGNANT WOMEN FOR INDUCTION OF LABOR OR ABORTION
Dear Health Care Provider:
The purpose of this letter is to remind you that Cytotec administration by any route is contraindicated in women who are pregnant because it can cause abortion. Cytotec is not approved for the induction of labor or abortion.

Continue reading “The Cytotec Primer (Misoprostol) a common drug used to induce labor by Jenny Hatch” →

How Childbirth Went Industrial: A Deconstruction
Web Exclusive – November 27, 2006
“The trouble with people is not that they don’t know but that they know so much that ain’t so.”
— Josh Billings
Henci Goer, author of The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth, skewers a recent, ripe-for-the-deconstructing article in the New Yorker on the rise of cesarean sections. If you read Atul Gawande’s article with mounting dismay, this brilliant, research-based riposte will leave you thoroughly restored.
Gawande’s history of obstetrics begins with the premise that childbirth is a complicated, dangerous business where, “At almost every step . . . the process can go wrong.” In particular, “obstruction of labor” poses a threat. To illustrate this, Gawande recounts the story of the English Princess Charlotte, who in 1817 gave birth to a stillborn boy after 50 hours of labor and then succumbed to a postpartum hemorrhage. The parallel with Rourke’s labor is surely intentional.
According to Gawande, yesterday’s tragedies can now be averted thanks to the development of new and improved obstetric procedures, drugs, and instruments. “By the early twentieth century,” he says, “the problems of human birth seemed to have been largely solved.” In the next paragraph, however, he retracts this statement. A 1933 report, he writes, found that most maternal deaths were attributable to medical mismanagement and that women were “better off delivering at home” with midwives who avoided using those same procedures, drugs, and instruments.

Continue reading “Henci Goer at Mothering Mag: How Childbirth Went Industrial: A Deconstruction” →

A truly horrific birth story.
From the Blog: Coercive C-Sections and the Hostile State of Obstetrics
“If you were coerced into a c-section, want to VBAC or to avoid a cesarean section, this site is for you.”

Wednesday, April 19, 2006
“Since my nighmarish birth experience at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, I’ve still been feeling out of sorts, and I want to reach out to other women out there–preferably BEFORE you give birth.
The experience made me see how combative the relationship with obstetricians and their patients have become. In my case, my obstetrician Dr. Claudia Holland burst into the operating room while I was strapped to the o.r. table, shouting at me that she wanted my verbal consent because she “didn’t want to be charged with assault.” Is this an incidence of a single individual with anger-management problems or the current state of obstetrics in the U.S.?
…..One problem is there’s a prevailing attitude even among pregnant women that a c/section is no big deal. I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s painless compared to a vaginal birth.
Well, it’s nearly 6 months since my daughter’s birth, and I still feel pain in the incision. Of course this makes me worry about the carelessness and violence of the surgery. Will I rupture if I have another baby? What if my child needs the cord blood that Dr. Holland clearly forgot (in her agitation) to extract? Who will answer for this?
I don’t want to admit this, but Dr. Holland has made a huge impact on our lives. My husband and I suffer from post-traumatic stress, my baby’s first months have been far from tranquil, and we may now never have another baby.”
Bless your family Mama!
Jenny Hatch