Abstract
Jonathan Orrelle1 and Jacob Bornstein2* Author Affiliations 1Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Medicine, Israel 2Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Galilee Medical Center, Israel Received: December 15, 2020 | Published: December 23, 2020 Corresponding author: Jacob Bornstein, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Galilee Medical Center, Israel DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2020.32.005314
Highlights
Nipple stimulation has been documented as a method of birth induction and cervical ripening in many cultures [1,2] and European medical documents from the 18th and 19th centuries indicate that the method was used in cases of prolonged birth [3]
Uterine contractions formed through nipple stimulation are used for Contraction Stress Test (CST) [4] that is performed in late pregnancy to examine the fetal heart rate response to uterine contractions
One hypothesis for the mechanism by which nipple stimulation leads to uterine contractions is that the mechanical stimulation of the nipple mimics the infant’s sucking action, which results in the production and secretion of endogenous oxytocin from the pituitary gland in both pregnant and non-pregnant women [1,2]
Summary
Nipple stimulation has been documented as a method of birth induction and cervical ripening in many cultures [1,2] and European medical documents from the 18th and 19th centuries indicate that the method was used in cases of prolonged birth [3]. Uterine contractions formed through nipple stimulation are used for Contraction Stress Test (CST) [4] that is performed in late pregnancy to examine the fetal heart rate response to uterine contractions. Oxytocin binds to oxytocin receptors found in the membranes of uterine muscle cells. When bound to its receptor, oxytocin activates the phospholipase C-inositol pathway [2,7,8] which causes an increase in intracellular calcium levels and eventually leads to a synchronous contraction of the uterine muscle. The number of oxytocin receptors increases 100- to 300-fold during pregnancy. No direct relationship has been clearly demonstrated between blood oxytocin levels and uterine activity response during breast stimulation [2,9]
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