How Pitocin Can Harm Breastfeeding
A new study (2024) suggests that baby’s who experience labor induction/acceleration have suboptimal feeding behaviours.
Let's break it down:
When newborn babies feed, they have some natural instincts that help them locate, approach and latch on to their mother's nipple. These instincts are called primitive reflexes. Laid-back positions facilitate the release of these reflexes.
In some studies, researchers have watched newborns as they were placed skin-to-skin on their mom's chest. They used a special scale to see how the babies behaved before they started sucking on the nipple. They also looked at how many primitive reflexes the babies showed and how well they eventually sucked, with and without giving them a synthetic hormone called oxytocin.
The studies found that babies had fewer primitive reflexes related to feeding not only one hour after birth, but also 48 hours later. This means that their natural feeding instincts weren't as strong.
Sometimes, staff give synthetic oxytocin to help with labor. But it's been suggested that giving oxytocin during delivery for a long time might change how the baby's brain works for at least 48 hours after birth.
In a Nutshell
This study looked at how giving moms oxytocin during labor affected their babies' ability to suck during the first day or two after birth, and how well they breastfed a month later.
They found that babies born to moms who had synthetic oxytocin had some differences in their sucking behavior. They took fewer breaks while sucking, had longer breaks, and their sucking patterns varied more. This suggests that oxytocin during labor might make it harder for babies to suck effectively.
Surprisingly, when they looked at how well these babies breastfed a month later, they didn't find a direct link between oxytocin and breastfeeding success. But it's still important to remember to get extra support with breastfeeding in the first couple of days after birth and use laid-back positions to activate those reflexes more powerfully.
