Autism and inhibited Oxytocin during birth

[StarlightMcKingsThree]

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/new-insights-into-the-mystery-of-autism-could-it-be-caused-at-birth-by-salt-in-the-nerves-9112720.html

As some of you know I feel strongly that my treatment during my ds' birth which left me with PTSD after screaming for hours and having had a SHO jumping on my abdomen to blast ds out, is responsible for his ASD.

I have always suspected that treatment during the birthing process can encourage or inhibit oxytocin which is a key hormone in birth but also social interaction.

This article is interesting to me and wondered what you thought.

There's no doubt that ASD is genetic in many cases. There is doubt in our case.

It would also be sensible to assume a 'genetic disposition', in that what isn't Autism could become so if the environmental context triggers it.

I think there has been a link found with synthetic oxytocin increasing the chances of ASD, whereas natural body-made oxytocin reducing it.

I totally agree with you Star. Which is why one of my posts is to do with what caused it. Most people answered genetic though. Certainly looking around our local NAS Christmas party at all families attending seems genetic.

I too had a terrible birth - put me off having any more. The first question in the birthing room was " Is he going to be damaged?" He had a low APgar score. I found the horrible truth with a diagnosis less than three years later. Various professionals always ask me about the birth too.

I too am very angry at the way I was treated they totally ignored my birthing plan. It makes me fearful to go into hospitals as they can just do what they want.

I was denied an epidural I believe due to the cost. I felt like a car crash victim and cried for hours afterwards. I told them how angry I was before after and during. They said an epidural would slow down the birth but in the end that is what I needed as he was born very quickly. I knew this would happen from my first birth. But they just would not listen. I hope some midwives can answer why an epidural should not be given instead of cost.

I have been told I can request my birthing notes but I am still too angry to go all over it again. Various chemicals/medicines were used before after and during.

The Pain, Pus and Poison series has been very interesting and does make you wonder whether we have another "Thalidamide case" on our hands in the case of Autism. I have always wondered this in our case.

Hopefully superdata can reveal the cause soon. There must be someone out there really interested in researching this further.

How do you determine an Autistic mouse nevermind human?

I have worried having my hair coloured during pregnancy was a catalyst too????

I will search but can anyone point me towards the research into synthetic oxytocin as that's what I was given during ds birth

www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/autism-and-induced-labor/

I had 3x CS.

dd1 - emcs after a long labour and failure to progress.

dd2 - emcs after a short labour and failure to progress

ds - elcs.

1 dx so far, but dd2 and ds both being assessed too.

Had to take ds back to the GP.

Referral got put in again today.

GP thinks there might be issues. Did some daft tests where he pointed to his watch and asked ds what it was, and then a pencil and then a phone .

DS obliged all with an answer. Usually like 'blebuba'. Then GP questioned whether breastfeeding might be interfering with talking. Well obviously he can't talk WHILST he's breastfeeding .

breastfeeding interfering with talking?! blimey, they do like to scrape the barrel don't they?

the paed we saw got all embarrassed and flustered as she forgot to ask if I was still feeding. so when I mentioned ds was dairy free due to signs of intolerance, she looked puzled and told me that ds should be having milk as part of his diet. and then was very when I said I was still breastfeeding, and fell over herself telling me I could feed whenever I liked and if ds was thirsty to go on ahead etc etc - I could barely interrupt to point out he also drinks water .

I got told to use actions while singing to ds. becasue that'll help his ability to produce sounds...

at your GP suggesting bf interferes with talking
would have thought the reverse, bf encourages devpt of muscles in the mouth

yay for signs.

It's different this time. I don't expect anything, and I don't expect anyone to know what to do about any issues that are found. I simply want to make sure he is 'known' and in the systems should they ever come up with anything useful or if I need a reference or evidence of something.

The GP was very apologetic at the mistake, but so what? We'll be seen when we will. I can honestly wait a couple more months to be told to sing to him, read to him and take him to toddler groups.

I dunno. Maybe he has a family member with a baby who doesn't shut up ever and his mother's solution is to stick him on the breast for 5 mins respite?

He wasn't claiming Bfing was the cause, but I suppose it is 'out of the norm' and all things out of the norm are likely to be causes unless you know better.

I'm always suspicious that the difficult birth/ oxytocin theories are an under-the-radar attempt to bring back refrigerator mothers

Study from INEMD, France Team specialising in fragile X model mice

1 x a bit complicated by generally ok (induction with nasty syntocin driop)

1 x very quick and straightforward

= 2 x DS with AS

It's almost certainly genetic here. Neither myself or my dad are diagnosed but it's pretty clear cut I'd say. And DH isn't without a few traits either...

WW x

Thanks for the link starlight I will read later

Does it mean women who have planned c sections and therefore don't produce oxytocin have a higher risk?

Yes, I think so. I remember an article once which looked like it had sound research but the interpretation sparked an angry debate as it implied that women who reduced their oxytocin levels by choosing pain relief or anything other than a totally natural drug free birth caused their child's autism.

I would not be surprised if the interference and imo the barbaric way we are expected to give birth in 1st world countries truly did have some impact on the way a baby's brain subsequently developed, nor would I be surprised if the chemical cocktail many are forced to take increased the likelihood of a trigger of a genetic predisposition.

Though I would never suggest that ASD could be avoided from a natural drug free birth either. I expect the issue is extremely complex, and that ASD, being only a set of observable behaviours for dx, means that the causes are likely to be multiple or combined.

At a very basic level I cannot imagine that a birth experience horrific enough to cause a chemical imbalance and psychological distress of enough magnitude to affect the woman years later won't have at some level have affected the extremely vulnerable and developing brain.

I don't think researching this would be popular. An investment in maternity services is not going to be a priority for the government. A finding of pharmaceuticals being risky will not be a popular result for drug companies or women who live in a culture where pain relief during birth is seen as a right and real need. I think very few women now in this country experience a truly natural birth, as it is supposed to happen, with maximum oxytocin flooding their systems. The system allows only something that pretends to be that.

Mucking up women's labours unnecessarily is very unlikely to be completely safe. And babies with neurological issues are also less likely to have a normal birth. More likely to be premature, well overdue, or to show 'distress' or abnormalities that trigger an intervention in labour.

Take cerebral palsy for an example. Used to be blamed on the bad births. Then fetal imaging improved enough to detect that babies with brains injury pre-birth, tend to have less straightforward deliveries. So bad delivery + CP link isn't entirely clear

But that research was done in order to PROVE there was no-one to sue. There was proper motivation to do it.

I was my mother's first child and my birth was so absurdly easy (and fast) that my mother couldn't quite believe it. I have ASD.

My sister and brother's births were equally swift, and equally complication-free. My sister has petit mal epilepsy, narcolepsy, synesthesia and a major sleep disorder, as well as many many ASD traits. My brother, who has a different father to me and my sister, also has quirks that are typically autistic.

My mother has many ASD traits including poor facial recognition, odd prosody, sensory sensitivites, poor balance and co-ordination and appalling sleep issues. She was my grandmother's only child; her labour lasted six hours start to finish and the delivery was textbook.

In my case, my autism shows a clear inherited pattern down the maternal line, exacerbated by my father's grand mal epilepsy (also a developmental disorder of the brain).

Agree, star, but it was probably hospitals' exaggerated fear of large CP payouts that led to the culture of excessive intervention in the first place.

This is quite interesting

I had a hideous induced birth experience. Would never risk getting pregnant again. My son had a stroke at birth and is hemiplegic/learning difficulties. Conveniently, my hospital notes have been "lost"