BACKGROUND The pathogenesis of postpartum dysgalactia syndrome (PDS) in sows is not fully elucidated and affected sows often present vague clinical signs. Accurate and timely diagnosis is difficult, and PDS is often recognized with a delay once piglets begin to starve. Increased rectal temperature of the sow is an important diagnostic parameter, but it may also be influenced by a number of othe...

In pig production, parturition progress is a key event for sow's reproductive performance, evaluated by piglet survival and piglets' performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of feeding a high-fibre (HF) diet during gestation on parturition progress and reproductive performance of sows. Forty-two primiparous sows (Large-White × Landrace crossbred) were fed during gestatio...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the electromyographic (EMG) activity of smooth musc1es of uterine cervix (UC) and uterine horn (UH) in sheep during pregnancy and parturition in time/frequency domain and to recognize the differences between the two activities. The uterine electromyographic activity was recorded in eight sheep by electrodes, surgically implanted on UC and UH during pregnanc...

The times at which post-partum ovulation occurred relative to the times of parturition, were similar for CD-1 mice exposed either to 18L:6D of 10L:14D and comparable to the times reported previously for mice of the same strain kept under 14L:10D. When parturition took place close to 'lights off', ovulation tended to occur 13--14 h after littering (i.e. during the last part of the same dark peri...

Successful delivery of the fetus (parturition) depends on coordinate interactions between the uterus and cervix. A majority (70%) of mice deficient in the type 1 isozyme of steroid 5alpha-reductase fail to deliver their young at term and thus manifest a parturition defect. Using in vitro and in vivo measurements we show here that rhythmic contractions of the uterus occur normally in these mutan...