Untrained birth attendants in the country are using veterinary oxytocin to induce labor, Neha Mankani, the founder of Karachi-based Mama Baby Fund that offers mothers and newborns essential medical care, has claimed.
Oxytocin for human beings stimulates contractions during childbirth and lactation after childbirth. However, veterinary oxytocin is unsafe for both mothers and newborns.
Untrained birth attendants in Pakistan use vetarinary oxytocin to induce and augment labor and for abortions. This 50ml vial they say is cheaper and stronger than ampules. "I put one vial a night in my pocket and it lasts me a few deliveries" pic.twitter.com/bMfq5RzOFv
— Neha Mankani (@Nehamanks) October 23, 2022
Taking to Twitter, Neha revealed that untrained birth attendants claim that veterinary oxytocin is cheaper and stronger than normal oxytocin. They say that a 50ml bottle of veterinary oxytocin helps them in several deliveries.
Neha added that she found out about veterinary oxytocin when she established the first midwife-led birth unit and pregnant women admitted into it refused to deliver without veterinary oxytocin.
She said that she bought veterinary oxytocin from a medical store near the midwife-led birth unit. She showed the veterinary oxytocin to the mothers and birth attendants and they all identified it as a ‘magic birth drug.’
Neha has also designed a poster to raise awareness regarding the adverse effects of veterinary oxytocin for mothers and newborns. The poster states that veterinary oxytocin can prove fatal for mothers and newborns.