Synthetic oxytocin and breastfeeding: reasons for testing an hypothesis.

Synthetic oxytocin is widely used in developed countries and in emerging countries as well. It is the most common medical intervention in childbirth. A great variety of side effects are plausible. There are in particular theoretical reasons to test the hypothesis that the increasing incidence of breastfeeding difficulties and the frequent earlier than desired cessation of breastfeeding are related to the use of synthetic oxytocin during labour. There have already been some studies that tend to support this hypothesis. Four hundred of the 7465 children born in 2006 at the Carlos Haya University Hospital (Malaga, Spain) were randomly selected. By interviewing the mothers, information about feeding type and duration was obtained in 2011 for 316 children. Among the 189 children who were born after labours induced or augmented with synthetic oxytocin, the odds ratio for bottle-feeding was 1.451 and the odds ratio for withdrawal at 3 months was 2.294. In addition, the Battelle Developmental Inventory was used to assess at age five 148 children (84 born with synthetic oxytocin): the odds ratio for neuropsychological development disorders after use of oxytocin was 1.46. The main limitation of such a preliminary study is that in the context of a tertiary Spanish hospital the possible effects of synthetic oxytocin on the quality and duration of breastfeeding cannot be easily dissociated from the effects of other components of pharmacological assistance during labour, particularly epidural fentanyl (a synthetic opioid analgesic). This comment is valid for all studies exploring the side effects of synthetic oxytocin in obstetric units of developed countries, including explorations through videotapes of the effects of synthetic oxytocin on primitive neonatal reflexes. It is also valid for studies exploring the side effects of obstetric analgesia without taking into account the use of synthetic oxytocin. This is why we underline the importance of conducting such studies in emerging countries (e.g. China and Brazil) where synthetic oxytocin is widely used while there are no epidural services. Studies of oxytocin given electively at the onset of third stage of labour (after the birth of the neonate) should help to interpret possible effects on the quality and duration of breastfeeding.

Ante partum bed rest and unexplained infantile crying.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess whether bed rest during pregnancy is a risk factor for infantile colics. METHODS: In a previous paper a questionnaire was administered to 86 women (43 of whom had stayed in bed during pregnancy for a mean of 3.4+/-1.2 months, and 43 were controls) about the clinical history and the present state of their 11-15 year old babies. In the present paper we traced these women and assessed the presence/absence of unexplained infant crying (UIC, infantile colic), diagnosed by a physician in the first year of life of these children. Forty mothers answered the inquiry, and we compared their answers with 40 control mothers. RESULTS: Babies born after maternal bed rest during pregnancy had a higher incidence of UIC than the control group (26/40 vs 11/40; P=0.0015). No significant correlation was found between UIC and allergies or between UIC and maternal or artificial breast feeding. CONCLUSIONS: Our retrospective study shows a possible association between bed rest and UIC: further studies, including other important variables (stress, drugs, smoking) are needed.

O parto e as origens da violência

Tradução de texto do médico Michel Odent disponibilizado pela organização não governamental Amigas do Parto. Relaciona fatos culturais e bioquímicos, ocorridos no momento do parto, com a gênese da violência ou da capacidade de amar no recém-nascido.

New reasons and new ways to study birth physiology.

The age of cesarean sections on request, epidurals and drips of oxytocin is a turning point in the history of childbirth. Until recently women could not give birth without releasing a complex cocktail of 'love hormones'. Today, in many countries, most women have babies without releasing these specific hormones. The questions must be raised in terms of civilization. This turning point occurs at the very time when several scientific disciplines suggest that the way human beings are born has long-term consequences, particularly in terms of sociability, aggressiveness or, in other words, 'capacity to love'. I find it relevant to combine data provided by perspectives as diverse as ethology, animal experiments, studies of the behavioral effects of hormones that fluctuate in the perinatal period, and a branch of epidemiology I call 'Primal Health Research'. This combination of data offers new reasons to disturb the physiological processes as little as possible. We are also at a time when a physiological approach can help to rediscover the basic needs of women in labor. These women firstly need to be protected against any sort of neocortical stimulation. We must keep in mind what the main stimuli of neocortical activity are: language, bright lights, the 'feeling of being observed' and situations associated with a release of catecholamines.

New reasons and new ways to study birth physiology.

The age of cesarean sections on request, epidurals and drips of oxytocin is a turning point in the history of childbirth. Until recently women could not give birth without releasing a complex cocktail of 'love hormones'. Today, in many countries, most women have babies without releasing these specific hormones. The questions must be raised in terms of civilization. This turning point occurs at the very time when several scientific disciplines suggest that the way human beings are born has long-term consequences, particularly in terms of sociability, aggressiveness or, in other words, 'capacity to love'. I find it relevant to combine data provided by perspectives as diverse as ethology, animal experiments, studies of the behavioral effects of hormones that fluctuate in the perinatal period, and a branch of epidemiology I call 'Primal Health Research'. This combination of data offers new reasons to disturb the physiological processes as little as possible. We are also at a time when a physiological approach can help to rediscover the basic needs of women in labor. These women firstly need to be protected against any sort of neocortical stimulation. We must keep in mind what the main stimuli of neocortical activity are: language, bright lights, the 'feeling of being observed' and situations associated with a release of catecholamines.

The ethnological approach--comparing cultures.

In most known societies, until now, it has been an advantage to moderate and control the different aspects of the capacity to love, including love of nature, and to develop the human potential for aggressiveness. The greater the need to develop aggression and the ability to destroy life, the more intrusive the rituals and cultural beliefs in the period around birth have become.