GIF KEBIR, LIBYA – Researchers from Indiana university announced an important finding in caves outside of Gif Kebir, Libya yesterday. According to an Indiana University press release, a cave drawing estimated to be 35,000 years old clearly shows a postpartum woman with a Pitocin (oxytocin) infusion going. The find represents the oldest depiction of Pitocin in use of human childbirth, upending a previous find in Laas Geel, Somaliland.
Dr. Mike Jones, the chief researcher on the Indiana mission explains. “This again further confirms what is held to be the consensus by the scientific community: Pitocin infusions are a longstanding and integral part to childbirth. Find after find shows that since the dawn of man there have been Pitocin pumps.”
Dr. Samantha Bivens, the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, stressed the importance of the find. “This again shows that there is no reason to shut off a Pitocin infusion. Even if it’s 8 hours post delivery and the patient needs to use the bathroom under no circumstance should this important part of childbirth be discontinued.”
The cave drawing also she further light into pre-historic childbirth. Per Jones, the painting clearly shows a nurse or doula threatening to kill an anesthesiologist approaching the Pitocin pump. It also depicts a medical student delivering the placenta.
“Its important to pause and reflect on the fact that everything we do in childbirth has its importance and good reason,” Jones explained. “From the dawn of out species, after a baby is delivered, an uninterrupted Pitocin infusion must be immediately placed on the new mother no matter what the circumstance.”
