Your physician or midwife may consider initiating your labor for several reasons:
- To decrease the risk of infection if your bag of waters has broken
- You are more than one week overdue
- You have other medical conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia).
Inductions can occur either by your physician or midwife initially breaking your bag of water or by intravenous administration of a medication called pitocin. Pitocin is a synthetic form of the natural hormone oxytocin, which stimulates the uterus to contract. Often a medication, misoprostol, is inserted vaginally prior to induction to increase elasticity of the cervix, to stimulate the contractions and enhance the effect of the pitocin.
Continuous fetal monitoring is necessary when pitocin is used. An intravenous pump carefully controls the quantity of pitocin given. Usually, the pitocin is increased in small increments to gradually intensify the quality of contractions, somewhat like a spontaneous labor. Many women, however, find contractions with pitocin are stronger, peak more rapidly, and are more intense and painful. Because of these intense contractions, the labor may also be shorter.