Synthetic oxytocin: looking beyond the benefits.

While the notion of drug abuse tends to be applied more to substances used outside of medical settings, there is increased concern that synthetic oxytocin is being overused in maternity care settings. This article presents an overview of some of the issues that have been raised within this area, including the risks that have been cited by recent research, social scientists and childbirth commentators, the concerns that are being anecdotally discussed by midwives and, even more importantly, the experiences of women themselves.