[Oxytocin. Use and abuse]. / Oxitocina. Uso y abuso.

From 1985 to 1988 we analyzed two hundred puerperas with term pregnancies and live newborns which pregnancy ended by vaginal route. One hundred of them received oxytocin during the labor and one hundred didn't receive it. The results showed that the use of oxytocin produces and increase in the cervical and vaginal tears; the Apgar score of the newborns was lower with a longer period in the incubator, and a high rate of complications regarding to respiratory distress and jaundice. These results were statistically significant according ti Chi square test with p less than 0.05.