Can I get an injection to induce labor at 37 weeks?

You cannot use oxytocin injections at 37 weeks. It will cause the fetus to be born prematurely. Premature babies have relatively poor body resistance and require more energy to take care of them, so pregnant mothers cannot use oxytocin injections. It is best to wait for natural delivery. The injection of oxytocin will stimulate the contraction of the uterus, which is not good for the development of the fetus. You can learn about it.

The prerequisite for oxytocin is cervical ripening

Before hanging up oxytocin, the doctor will give the cervix a score. The delivery of the fetus requires certain conditions for the cervix. The cervix should be softened, the cervical opening should be dilated, and the cervical canal should disappear. This is called cervical maturity. Generally, a cervical maturity check will be performed after 37 weeks of pregnancy. The full score is 13 points. A score of 10 or more indicates that the cervix is ​​mature, and both induction of labor and enhanced uterine contractions can be successful. 7-9 points means that the success rate of enhanced uterine contractions is 80%. If the score is below 6 points, the success rate will be reduced to 50%, or even failure. Imagine if oxytocin is given, the uterus begins to contract and pushes the fetus out of the uterus, but the condition of the cervix is ​​not good. If the fetus is forced out when the cervix is ​​mature, it will cause cervical laceration and cause postpartum hemorrhage.

If the fetus is suitable for early birth and the cervical condition is not good, you can first use drugs to soften the cervix and then hang oxytocin, which will be much safer.

Under what circumstances does the fetus need oxytocin?

My water broke, but there was no sign of labor.

Water breaking at full term is a sign of delivery. About half of mothers will go into labor within 12 hours after water breaking, 20% of pregnant women will go into labor within 24 hours, and some pregnant women will go into labor within three days. If the pregnant woman is more than 35 weeks of gestation and there are no signs of labor after water breaking, induced labor must be performed for the safety of the fetus. The most common method is to use an oxytocin injection to promote uterine contractions and prevent intrauterine infection. Of course, the maturity of the cervix should be checked first, and the premise of hanging the uterine contraction needle cannot be ignored.

Insufficient contractions

Many mothers experience insufficient uterine contractions during the delivery process, the fetal head fails to descend, and the labor process is prolonged. After excluding other causes, the doctor believes that the fetus can be delivered through normal delivery, so he or she will use oxytocin to strengthen uterine contractions to help the mother deliver the fetus. There is no need to worry about the oxytocin injection taking some time to react. Generally, oxytocin can take effect quickly after entering the body's circulation, and many pregnant mothers will feel strong uterine contractions, but it is not ruled out that some mothers are insensitive to uterine contraction injections and have to wait a while before they can feel it.

Therefore, oxytocin cannot be given casually. It requires a doctor's diagnosis. Mothers should avoid judging their own labor process. It is better to cooperate with the doctor. What do you think?