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 *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome