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Is placenta delivery with Syntometrine/Syntocinon a common practice in HK?

  1. #1
    mariac is offline Registered User
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    Is placenta delivery with Syntometrine/Syntocinon a common practice in HK?

    Hello,

    I am due to give birth in about 6 weeks at the Union Hospital in Shatin. My doctor is a resident doctor there. I recently went over my birth plan with her and while she has been mostly cooperative with the the drug-free natural approaches I am aiming for, she is not quite in agreement with the placenta delivery issue. She feels that rather than wait for the placenta to deliver naturally after delivery, it is better to take the Syntometrine/Syntocinon injection to help it to come out quickly. She feels that the injection reduces risk of placenta retention and heavy post-partum blood loss.

    Now I am no doctor, but from everything I'm reading, it does not sound like taking the injection is a routine procedure unless there is already a lot of bleeding during labor/delivery. I also read that sometimes the injection can actually cause the placenta to be retained because the uterus clamps down too quickly. Not to mention that it's a drug and can have side effects such as nausea, headache and elevated blood pressure even.

    Can anyone share if they have had any experiences with this procedure? If you have not given birth yet, is it something you have discussed with your doctor? How did that go? Any information is useful.

    Thanks a lot!


  2. #2
    lalligirl is offline Registered User
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    i had my baby in queen mary hospital & was also going down the natural path. they were fine with the actual delivery being drug-free, but wanted to give a syntocin (i think) injection to speed things up immediately after delivery (well, close to, anyway). I was adament that they wait 30 minutes before doing this - i read somewhere that anything longer than about 30 minutes is getting a bit too long. they reluctantly agreed. i did end up having the injection because i hadn't delivered the placenta within the 30 minutes & they were worried about bleeding. I was fine with that, though, as they had respected my wish to let my body try first.

    I recommend writing in your birth plan how long you would like to wait before receiving the injection & being firm about it in the delivery room.

    good luck!


  3. #3
    mariac is offline Registered User
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    thanks lalligirl. did you have any reactions to the injection?


  4. #4
    lalligirl is offline Registered User
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    not that i remember (other than the placenta being delivered quickly!!)


  5. #5
    pipinhk is offline Registered User
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    I had the injection (no other drugs prior or during delivery) and the placenta was delivered in about 20 minutes. It meant that I could then concentrate on my new baby much sooner!


  6. #6
    TNT
    TNT is offline Banned
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    I didn't have my babies in HK but know that in Australia it is standard practice in most hospitals to give the syntocin injection. Having said that i know people who have asked not to have it and their wishes been respected so it is possible, but i think takes a bit of effort, depending on the hospital and ob. It is definitely standard practice here in HK. As i unfortunately ended up having to have syntocin to be induced i decided it was not an issue despite wanting to avoid drugs as the syntocin was already in my system (they also waited 30 mins first at my request). I didn't notice any reaction at all.


  7. #7
    Lali07 is offline Registered User
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    Hi there, I had my baby in Australia, and even though my OB was very pro-natural, he recommends the delivery of the placenta with syntocinon. I had minimal bleeding, no reaction, and would definitely do the same again. Its pretty routine in Australia to give syntocinon to help placenta delivery, and I would think in Hong Kong too but I am not sure. Blood loss can cause some not-so-nice symptoms which will result in even more intervention. But if you really want to opt for drug-free, you can always try, then if there is bleeding you and your OB can make the call then to have the syntocinon? Good luck! :)


  8. #8
    prone_to_wander is offline Registered User
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    I declined the jab and wrote it in my birth plan. The didn't have any issue with me declining it. I gave birth in a public hospital.


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