Wed, November 24, 2010 10:44:31 PM


Nikki Lee wrote:

Does anyone have any evidence that nipple
stimulation induces labor in anyone? I'd love to see some.

If nipple stimulation did induce labor, there would be no need for
Pitocin/IVs/misoprostol/cervidil and all the other bells and whistles to try
to start labor.

Here's an abstract of a study done in the UK that shows the babies aren't
affected. I'd love to see some where the impact of hand expressing on the
pregnant uterus is evaluated.

“Diabetes and antenatal milk expressing: a pilot project to inform the
development of a RCT”

•Sample: 43 pregnant women requiring insulin
•
•Cardiotocographs were undertaken after the first expressing episode and
none of the infant showed any sign of distress"



I have to respectfully disagree. 

Does "lack of studies that show nipple stimulation can trigger preterm labor" 
mean the white elephant in the room definitely does not exist? Or does it merely 
show that *at this point in time* we cannot rely on backup from studies, so we 
should exersize our judgement on the base of what is known about twin 
pregnancies, risks of preterm labor, anecdotal evidence of traditional practices 
etc, all combined to help us make a decision how to better help a mother? I 
liked a lot the recent discussion on information from different sources (and 
learned a lot from it). Lack of studies to show that something works usually 
means lack of studies to show that it does not work too.

The insulin dependant mothers study mentioned above used only one monitoring, 
after the first pumping only, that showed *infants* do not appear to suffer from 
mom's expression. That's fine, but it does not tell us anything about the effect 
of continuous expression for weeks on end on the cervix and on the risk of 
triggering preterm labor. Not to mention the big difference between this study's 
subjects - women requiring insulin - and the MOT.

Evidence-based medicine is a sound concept, but it has its limitations, as does 
every study that exists - or does not exist yet. Or at least that's my humble 
understanding of it.

Christina Yaneva
National Assossiation for Breastfeeding Support
Bulgaria


      

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