In a study of early abortions (less than 16-week pregnancies) no significant increase in fetomaternal haemorrhage was found in patients having either threatened or incomplete abortions. A statistically significant increase in fetal cells in the maternal circulation, however, occurred after curettage. The administration of oxytocic drugs in conjunction with curettage in cases of incomplete abort...

Plasma bilirubin was estimated on 690 term infants on about the 6th day of life. Perinatal factors were recorded and the results analysed. Hyperbilirubinaemia was defined as a level greater than 205 micromol/1 (12 mg/100 ml) and this was present in 20% of cases. Three factors--epidural analgesia, breast feeding, and poor weight recovery--showed highly significant associations with jaundice. The...

Throughout history obstetric haemorrhage has been a major cause of maternal mortality in both developed and developing countries.1' 2The oldest work in obstetrics and gynaecology, published toward the end ofthe first century AD, is attributed to Soranus of Ephesus, who brought together the knowledge of obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics of that era.3 Soranus gives no account of oxytocic me...

An examination of the birth records of New York City for the years 1957-59 reported by Hewitt (1961) indicated that pregnancies which terminated in the summer months tended to be of shorter duration than those which terminated in the winter. February births showed the longest gestations and August births the shortest, the estimated difference being between one and two days. It seemed important ...

IN Part V [Gulland and Randall, 1935] it was shown that the molecule of the oxytocic hormone certainly contains one, and may possibly contain two, oxidation-reduction systems, although the existence of the second is not definitely established. The present communication describes the actions on the hormone of some oxidising and reducing agents, which were studied in the hope that they might thro...

The puerperal uterine inversion is a rare and severe complication occurring in the third stage of labour. The mechanisms are not completely known. However, extrinsic factors such as oxytocic arrests after a prolonged labour, umbilical cord traction or abdominal expression are pointed. Other intrinsic factors such as primiparity, uterine hypotonia, various placental localizations, fundic myoma o...

I-Mercaptoacetic acid-oxytocin, an analogue of deaminooxytocin in which the size of the disuhide ring is decreased from 20 to 19 members, has been synthesized and isolated in highly purified form by means of countercurrent distribution. The analogue possessed 4 units per mg of avian vasodepressor activity, 25 units per mg of oxytocic activity, 50 units per mg of milk-ejecting activity, 0.1 unit...

Islamic Traditional Medicine (ITM) is a holistic system of medicine. Saffron (Crocus sativus) is one of the most famous plants cultivated in Iran and has a wide range of activities such as oxytocic, anti-carcinogenic, exhilarant, anti-depressant, and anti-asthma effects. In addition, saffron can increase the bioavailability and enhance absorption of other drugs. This study comprises a bibliogra...

Post abortion complications remain one of the major causes of mortality among women of child bearing age in Zimbabwe. Based on this problem, factors associated with mortalities due to abortion were investigated with the aim of improving post abortion outcomes for Zimbabwe's women, and possibly also for women of other African countries. Cases and controls were selected from 4895 post abortion re...