New Risk for ADHD Identified - Use of Pitocin During Labor

May 3, 2011
Brenda Lane

Does Pitocin Increase Risk of ADHD? - Flickr Photos by Natapics

New research suggests that a possible risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may have its roots in the use of pitocin for labor induction.

According to experts, attention deficit hyperactitivity disorder (ADHD) currently affects between 3-5% of children today. Scientists would agree that there is no known method of preventing ADHD in children, yet there is new research that may shed light on the relationship between this disorder and what the mother is exposed to during childbirth.

Link Between ADHD and Pitocin

Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at Colorado State University examined the medical records from 172 women from diverse regions across the country who had given birth between three and 25 years ago.

Since there is a strong familial predictor of ADHD as well as gender (it is more common among males), researchers also examined both in their study. Along with the use of pitocin during labor, the scientists included 16 other obstetric interventions or complications to see whether or not any showed links to ADHD.

Pitocin Nearly Doubles the Risk of ADHD

There were several obstetric factors that slightly increased the risk of ADHD including the length of labor and the length of gestation (pregnancy). However the researchers found a strong predictive relationship between the use of pitocin for labor induction and risk of ADHD later in life.

In fact, the study findings showed that children whose mothers were exposed to pitocin during labor had nearly double the risk of ADHD as compared to the children with no exposure to pitocin, a whopping 67.1% versus 35.6%, respectively.

Researchers Lisa Kurth and Robert Haussmann suggest that their findings "warrant further investigation into the potential link between perinatal pitocin exposure and subsequent ADHD diagnosis."

What to do if Labor Induction is Recommended

If you are expecting a baby soon and your provider recommends an induction, what should you do? First of all, remember that this research shows a link between pitocin and ADHD; it is not a cause and effect relationship.

Another thing to find out is whether you have a medical reason for the induction. Believe it or not, very few labor inductions today occur because there is a health problem for mother or baby. That is why is a good idea to let nature take its course and go into labor spontaneously whenever possible, rather than getting induced.

Sources:

Dept of Psychiatry, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, "Attention Defiticit Hyperactivity Disorder," healthline.com.
Kurth, L., Haussmann, R., "Perinatal Pitocin as an Early ADHD Biomarker: Neurodevelopmental Risk?" Journal of Attention Disorders, April 28, 2011

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.

Brenda Lane - Brenda Lane is a published author, Lamaze certified childbirth educator, DONA certified birth doula and approved birth doula trainer.

Comments

May 28, 2011 8:47 PM

Guest :

Weak study. I was induced with all 3 of my children, none of whom have been diagnosed with or show signs of ADHD. My mom retired this year after 40 years of teaching middle schhschoolers. She found that the kids with difficult home situations were much more likely to have ADHD. I strongly believe it's more environmental. Not allowing kids down time and not having a calm, quiet home life seem much more detrimental to kids than Mom being induced by Pitocin.

Jun 6, 2011 7:23 AM

Guest :

2 of my 3 have ADHD. My first was induced because I didn't know any better, I had a paracervical for pain. My second was exposed to Pitocin because, although my natural labor was progressing normally and I was 8 days past my Estimated Due Date , my OB said,"Let's move things along so that I can get to my golf dinner tonight, we'll just give you a little something to speed up those contractions." Pain was non-stop and I was given Demerol (another BIG mistake) With my 3rd, I had learned about respecting my body and my baby coming in his own time, no IV's, no Demerol, no pitocin, no fluids or shots. My 3rd does NOT have ADHD. I would like to see further research.

Jun 6, 2011 8:13 AM

Guest :

How rude, my child has ADHD and my home is not crazy. I have to create moments for my daughter where she can release energy as well as moments for her to calm down, which is not an easy thing for her. Her mind and body race on an almost constant basis! And relating to the article, I did not have any pitocin during my labor with that child. I did have it with another child because I wasn't progressing fast enough and she does not have ADHD (as far as we can tell at her age).

Jun 6, 2011 9:58 AM

Guest :

172 women, you can have numbers show almost anything. I was induced with pitocin with all 4 of my children (3 boys) and none of them showed any signs of ADHD. Maybe there is a link (doubt it), but anyway don't worry parents until a proper study is done!

Jun 6, 2011 6:20 PM

Guest :

A small thing: ADHD is not a learning disorder.

Jun 6, 2011 6:59 PM

Guest :

It is suggesting a link, not cause and effect as the article states. Just something that may be related and could open the door for further study. And weak study? Well, yes, 172 subjects is a small sample size, but still much bigger than your sample of 3, and 4 in the other comment.

Jun 7, 2011 7:23 AM

Guest :

Most Mothers in my area are given pitocin without their consent. Even if the mother is not induced/augmented during her labor, most of the area hospitals will push pit after baby is born to help contract the uterus and the ease the placenta out. Pitocin is passed on through breastmilk.

Jun 7, 2011 9:59 AM

Guest :

Interesting! I think there are too many factors to pin causes of ADHD on one thing. But in some ways I can also see that if your family is prone to or has the ADHD gene, then a drug or many things could increase your chances of triggering that disease. I use to work in autoimmune research and from what I learned there I believe many of our ailments including autoimmune diseases are triggered by foreign compounds in our system. For example something like lupus can be triggered by chemicals we expose our selves to, or viruses we are exposed to like the flu or the cold. You have to have the weakness or genetic predisposition to the disease first. It would also explain why some of these diseases including allergies (which is an autoimmune reaction) are more pronounced in society today.

Jun 8, 2011 9:12 AM

Guest :

The only child I had a pitocin drip with is the furthest thing from ADHD.....

Jun 8, 2011 11:48 AM

Guest :

I think the first comment about home life may be true in the sense that children act out. No one asks the child about home life; some times well meaning people just assume an ADHD diagnosis. This is obviously not true in all cases, but children go to school whether they are experiencing divorce, death ... Very difficult life circumstances. There are studies that show children who are grieving exhibit the same characteristics as ADHD children but may not truly have ADHD. So in all fairness I don't think one can say home life is the reason for all ADHD diagnosis. ...just my humble opinion.

Jun 8, 2011 5:59 PM

Guest :

I wonder if the issue is with the pain reliever often given with Pitocin. I had Pitocin without anything else; my son does not have ADHD. Just one anecdote...

Jun 8, 2011 6:02 PM

Guest :

If this is true? Can anything be done about it? I have a 10 yr. old son who is ADHD and they had induced my labor.

Jun 9, 2011 12:22 PM

Guest :

ADD/ADHD is largely genetic, and they've found strong genetic links recently. They also know children born too early may be at higher risk for ADD/ADHD, so perhaps if they stopped all the elective inductions, children would be born when they're ready not when the doctor wants to get to his golf game or whatever. That being said, This is a very weak study and I'm disinclined to believe pitocin is the cause, an unnecessary early induction perhaps, but not the drug itself when its nearly chemically identical to the natural hormone that starts labor anyway.

Jun 9, 2011 2:40 PM

Guest :

Could be toxicity in general, of which pitocin is one of.

Jun 10, 2011 11:21 AM

Guest :

Notice no exposure to Pitocin yields 35.6% of children with ADHD, yet only 3-5% of children in the general population has ADHD

Jun 10, 2011 8:49 PM

Guest :

Just give another excuse to bad parenting! Our 3 children all born with the assistance of Pitocin are well and normal chidren ages 14,12 and 9 with no ADHD, because we discipline them and give them consiquenses for their actions!

Jun 11, 2011 7:36 AM

Guest :

I have a child with ADHD and one without. We parent both children the same. We are a middle class family and it hurts me to read these comments about how it's the parents fault for not parenting or we are supposedly the bottom of the food chain! Really?! For parents with children with ADHD we probably spend more time with out children as they need it. Things take longer to explain and they need constant repeat guidance. So don't sit here and write about how we are not parenting.

Jun 11, 2011 7:53 AM

Guest :

To the person who said it's another excuse for bad parenting - Sorry but ADHD is not caused by not disciplining your children. The study is also only suggesting a link between pitocin and ADHD. It does not mean that your child will have it. I do not agree with induction unless there is cause for concern for the mother and baby. I wouldn't consent to any drugs that haven't been proven as safe during labour such as pitocin unless there is great need to get the baby out as soon as possible because of the side effects involved not including the link to ADHD. Due dates should be guess dates. Anything either side by 2 weeks is within a normal range so I wouldn't consider induction unless there is proof my child needs to be born.

Jun 11, 2011 10:02 AM

Guest :

This is so pathetic. I received pitocin during my labor. I thank mother nature for protecting my child.

Jun 11, 2011 10:14 AM

Guest :

That's really funny, that discipline and consequences prevents/cures ADHD? Really hilarious, I got a good giggle out of that. Here's a fact: Kids with ADHD have actual brain differences, especially in the frontal lobes, the areas that control motivation, self-discipline, organization, etc., it's called "executive function." They have a very weak understanding of cause and effect, of actions and consequences. You can impose a consequence on them 50 times and the 51st time they think of doing the same action, they'll still do it because they honestly don't remember that the consequence will happen. And it doesn't matter if it's a "discipline" consequence or a "natural" consequence... ie, "if you don't watch where you're going and you step on your toys, they will break and you won't have them to play with anymore." No matter how many times that resulted in tears and tantrums, my son still could not figure out to try to be more careful with where he was stepping (or even, not to leave his toys on the floor.)

My son was born without pitocin though there were other interventions I wouldn't have allowed had I known better at the time. My daughter, who was induced (due to one of the few legitimate medical reasons), shows no signs of any attention problems. We are actually *less* strict with her... because we don't have to be. She self-regulates pretty well all on her own.

But that does NOTHING to negate the results of this study, as neither do the examples above of 3 or 4 kids without ADHD who were induced. That's what LIKELIHOOD means. It does not mean GUARANTEE. Misunderstanding of statistics leads to so many problems. The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'. So your 3 kids are fine, well maybe they're part of the 65% (or whatever) who show no effects. Big duh, really. The study shows a strong suggestion that induced kids are twice as LIKELY to have ADHD. That means 20 instead of 10, or 4 instead of 2, or whatever.

Your few kids who are not affected don't negate the study any more than "my grandfather smoked his whole life and never got lung cancer" doesn't mean there's no connection there either.

Jun 20, 2011 1:23 PM

Guest :

I'm not surprised at how many people rush to comment about how they used pitocin and their kids are "just fine" or "the opposite of ADHD", or how they think ADHD is mainly steered or caused by good or bad parenting. Let's re-examine the article, people. The research suggests that there is a POSSIBLE LINK between the use of pitocin and ADHD, NOT that the use of pitocin is now the deciding factor regarding causation of ADHD.

And by simply saying "weak study" just suggests you yourself have little or no experience in research or in the critique of research. There are thousands of studies that show mere links between things, which is necessary in the difficult process for finding the ultimate causes for disorders. Just look at all the "blank may cause cancer" articles in the papers for christ sake..

Jun 21, 2011 2:37 PM

Guest :

Weather or not labor induction drugs such as pitocin can be linked to disorders - I think no one should allow any "man-made" drugs to injected in their body to start labor! There is no one else who knows better when that baby needs to be born than God - and of course the baby knows when his/her lungs are ready for this world. I wish more mothers would take the time during pregnancy to educate themselves about the current processes of hospital births and their consequences on the baby and mother. Or at least they would not believe everything what they are told - always question, look for alternatives, educate and therefore you can make an informed decision even if it's the same as your ob tells you BUT you made the choice and not someone made it for you.

Jun 22, 2011 5:42 AM

Guest :

There are natural ways of being induced that do not involve pitocin... do some research and talk to a knowledgeable doula or midwife. If you are concerned about needing to be induced there are other options you can try before they turn on the pit. ;)

Jun 22, 2011 10:33 AM

Guest :

To all those saying ADHD/ADD is a parenting problem, I suggest you do actual research and meet parents whose children have ADHD/ADD and have been through behavioral plans, have to deal with school personnel, and are under psychiatric care. Meet the parents who have kids with and without ADHD/ADD and ask them why that happened. I have kids with ADHD/ADD and kids without. All kids parented by the same 2 parents their entire lives. Interestingly, one child was born with pitcoin induction before his due date, and 2 others with ADHD/ADD were born at home with absolutely no medications at all. To add to the genetic link, my husband also has ADHD and was born in the 1960's without any medication at all.

I have kids with ADHD/ADD and without. The ones with ADHD/ADD require much more attention and parenting than my others. Just getting my oldest son through school was a full time job. I don't expect anyone who hasn't been there to understand, nor do I truly care what that person would think of me, my parenting, or my children. But on occasion, I do take the time to point out that none of us are perfect parents with perfect children. I would imagine those that judge the parents of a child with ADHD/ADD have probably been judged on their parenting for some other reason. Remember we're all doing the best we can, and we all love our children. Peace.

Jun 23, 2011 10:45 AM

Guest :

I think this article is rather biased. My son and I both suffer from ADHD and my mother was not induced with Pitocin but my son was with me. ADHD is linked to being genetic (my son's bio father has it as well). They need to look at genetics too and not blame medicine.

Jun 23, 2011 10:54 AM

Guest :

Interesting article. My first had heavy interventions because I had pre-eclampsia - magnesium sulfate, pitocin, etc etc...she has ADHD and LD. My other 4 children do not and were born without intervention. I still thing there are many factors, so I'm not pinning anything on the pitocin, but to say that ADHD is a lack of discipline? You are just ignorant as to what true ADHD is. My daughter's working memory is so short she has a difficult time taking scantron tests because the answer is escaping her between the test booklet and the answer sheet. How would you suggest I discipline that out of her? Hmmm? And how do you answer that my husband and I have four other children that are excellent students and don't have to fight for every single piece of material to stick? I guarantee you we were even more strict with our ADHD child because she needed the constant boundaries and reinforcement of those boundaries. It's a lack of impulse control. Get a clue.

Jun 23, 2011 8:05 PM

Guest :

Very interesting! This ACTUALLY explains why ALL of my three children, (all of which induced with pit) are ADHD! It makes you think... pitocin could be causing a lot of things in our world today.

Jun 23, 2011 8:06 PM

Guest :

Okay folks. The research is a sound start for an idea that certainly needs to be further explored. Just like when an association in smoking and cancer first emerged, this novel idea was met with shock and disbelief. All research is valuable, and does not imply cause-effect, only a mere correlation that is worthy of further exploration.

Jun 24, 2011 9:46 AM

Guest :

I think it is wise to consider that there are MANY potential side effects of pitocin for labor, including increased risk for Cesarean birth. I would like to see more research. I get that there is a correlation and it is not simply cause and effect--it is important to understand what that means, and what that does not mean.

Jun 26, 2011 8:42 PM

Guest :

I think this study is rediculous..... My first born now 4 no potocin and very wild but also very smart... My 16 month old used potocin and soooo calm and layed back.... Can play all day long... Both my kids are healthy... I just don't think this study should focus solely on potocin but other chemicals that entered the mothers bodies from day one of being pregnant... I am sure that all this medication that people take for any reason doesn't help an unborn childs development... I just think this study needs to be investegated.... Women out there who read this article are going to be scared to death that if they use potocin that their child will have this... I had to be induced with my first one not for medical reasons but because she stayed in the womb almost 2 weeks over.. The 2 one I was induced at 39 weeks...This is just my opionion..;) I do have two family members that are ADHD and their family life is horrible and always has been.. Not saying that is the sole reason but I bet if they were put in a secure environment that was stable and consistant these family members may be different;))

Jul 17, 2011 1:54 PM

Guest :

Predisposition people. I believe what the study is trying to simply draw attention to is that Pitocin may possibly contribute to someone who is already genetically predisposed to ADHD/ADD being diagnosed later. And yes, a child who has ADHD or ADD will be a lot worse off if they don't have a good home life or have "bad parenting"...but that DOESN'T mean that's why they are ADHD or ADD. There are plenty of kids who are "bad kids" who aren't ADHD/ADD...so clearly bad parenting isn't the cause of it, or there would be a lot more diagnosis! ADHD/ADD does not mean that a child is a bad kid either! I have plenty of ADHD/ADD students who are excellent kids, but struggle to focus on extensive tasks or multi-step processes. Some kids need to simply stand up or bounce their legs to release all their pent-up energy. I've had students crying in class because they want to focus so badly and just can't. It's really sad! I'd like to see the research some of you have done proving bad parenting causes ADHD/ADD. And for whoever said that pitocin is the same thing as what naturally occurs in women giving birth, that's a ridiculous point! We also have all sorts of other natural hormones and chemicals in our body that when you flood your system with them artificially cause all sorts of problems and side effects, even death. There is nothing natural about pitocin.

Aug 9, 2011 3:55 PM

Guest :

This is fascinating. Oxytocin, the natural hormone which stimulates labor, lactation and many other functions of the "love" category is produced by the hypothalamus and then secreted by the posterior pituitary gland. I'm curious whether either of these parts of the nervous/endocrine systems are involved in ADHD, ASD, OCD and other brain development issues.

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