The present study investigated the potential role of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in uterine artery contraction and tested the hypothesis that pregnancy upregulated ERK-mediated function in the uterine artery. Isometric tension in response to phenylephrine (PE), serotonin (5-HT), phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), and KCl was measured in the ring preparation of uterine arteries obt...

Today’s maternal/fetal monitoring lacks the capability to diagnose labor and predict delivery. The objective of this work was to demonstrate that uterine electromyography (EMG) is proven to be a viable alternative to current monitoring techniques. Uterine EMG was monitored noninvasively and trans-abdominally from pregnant patients using surface electrodes. Several aspects of the uterine EMG wer...

Regular uterine contractions in normal labor are expulsive power to deliver the fetus. The intrauterine pressure changes were recorded and studied in the measurement of labor contractions of uterus, while external tocodynamometry is common in clinical fetal monitoring [1]. The duration of contraction was about 1 min and interval was also 1 min, and the peak intrauterine pressure was 30 to 50 mm...

OBJECTIVE We investigated the ability to non-invasively obtain uterine electromyograms (EMG; electrohysterogram (EHG)) to predict the intrauterine pressure (IUP) waveform. STUDY DESIGN Patients enrolled in a term labor study of trans-abdominal electrical activity, who underwent IUP monitoring for obstetric indication, were included in this study (n=14). EHG signals were processed and predicti...

Aiming at the enhancement of monitoring system for pregnant patients, an appropriate device is needed to monitor the maternal health during labour. A new method for non-invasive monitoring of respiration and uterine contraction activity of pregnant woman is described in this paper. A prolonged inspiration or shortness of breath occurs during initiation of labour associated with elevated uterine...

Preterm labor is defined as the presence of regular uterine contractions with progressive cervical changes before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Spontaneous preterm labor accounts for 40% to 50% of all preterm births [1]. An estimated 13 million babies (−10% of all births) are born preterm each year worldwide, and approximately 1 million of all newborn deaths are due to preterm birth [2]. At ...

BACKGROUND During labor, ephedrine is widely used to prevent or to treat maternal arterial hypotension and restore uterine perfusion pressure to avoid intrapartum fetal asphyxia. However, the effects of ephedrine on uterine blood flow have not been studied during uterine contractions. The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of ephedrine on uterine artery velocities and resistance ind...

conclusions results showed that the boiled anethum graveolens seeds was effective on labor induction. results case group had a significantly better bishop score following the intervention compared to the control group. the mean duration of active phase, second and third stages of labor were significantly lower in the case group. the control group had shorter latent phase than the case group. pa...