The effect/use of the drug oxytocin as a treatment for slow progress in labour

Slow progress in the first stage of spontaneous labour may be caused by weak contractions of the womb. Doctors and midwives commonly give a drug called oxytocin with the aim of strengthening contractions and speeding up labour to avoid harm to both the mother and the newborn infant. The belief is that managing the labour in this way will enable progression to a normal vaginal delivery and reduce the need for caesarean section. However, others have been fearful that it has no effect on the type of delivery a woman might have and in other ways may do more harm than good. This review of eight studies, involving 1338 low-risk women in the first stage of spontaneous labour at term, showed that oxytocin did not reduce the need for caesarean sections. Neither did it reduce the need for forceps deliveries or increase the number of normal deliveries when compared with no treatment or delayed oxytocin treatment. Oxytocin seemed to shorten labour by nearly two hours on average. The uptake of epidurals was no different. It does not seem to cause harm to the mother or baby, but the sample size was too small to determine if its use has an effect on the death rates of babies. The decision whether to undergo this treatment is one that can reasonably be left to women to decide in the context of a reduction in the length of labour. The included trials used different doses of oxytocin, and different criteria for starting treatment in the delayed oxytocin arm.