My personal experience with nursing a toddler through a new pregnancy is 
that it does cause "contractions" similar to the ones caused by pressure 
on the belly (like when bending over). I have nursed through two 
pregnancy's already, both baby's were born between 39 en 40 weeks.

Roosje van Gorp
LLL leader
Maastricht, The Netherlands

Nikki Lee wrote:
> Dear Friends:
>
> If nipple stimulation (i.e. endogenous oxytocin release)  was enough to
> induce labor, then every baby born in the world would be too premature to
> survive.
>
> There was some thought that this might work back in the 80s, and I remember
> doing Non-Stress Tests (what a crazy name for such a stressful event!) with
> pregnant women who were told to do nipple stimulation to stimulate
> contractions. But the practice has been abandoned for labor induction,
> because it doesn't work. (The uterus contracts from the moment of
> implantation right up to delivery.....the contractions of an NST were not
> effective ones, and would not encourage the uterus to open.)
>
> 30 years ago, women who wanted to breastfeed were told to hand express
> newborn milk....with no increase in prematurity. There is at least one
> article about it from 1958.
>
>  •
>  •J Obstet Gynaecol Br Emp. 1958
> •Jun;65(3):448-9.
> –“The value of antenatal massage of nipples and expression of colostrum*.” *
> (Ingleman-Sundberg)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> My understanding is that uterine oxytocin receptors don't wake up until the
> last 4 weeks of pregnancy...in most women. We'd all be reluctant to suggest
> prenatal expression of newborn milk to a woman with a history of premature
> labor. There are enough midwives on this list to give opinions here!
>
> warmly,
>   

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