ABSTRACT
The study evaluates breast stimulation and oxytocin infusion as methods for cervical ripening in patients where an obstetric indication for induction of labour exists. Forty patients with a Bishop score of 5 or 6 were randomly selected for either breast stimulation or oxytocin infusion. In a similar group of 20 cases, no method was employed. The Bishop score improved in 41.2% of cases where breast stimulation was used as compared to 75% where an oxytocin infusion was given. Three foetal deaths in the breast stimulation group brought the study to a stop after 17 cases. Cervical ripening with an oxytocin infusion drip appears to be a better method since infusion dosage can be precisely controlled making the technique more predictable and reliable. Though breast stimulation is effective in ripening the cervix, it may be used only in cases of intrauterine foetal death as it may otherwise adversely affect foetal outcome.
Subject(s)
Breast/physiology , Cervix Uteri/drug effects , Female , Fetal Death/etiology , Humans , Infusions, Intravenous , Labor, Induced/methods , Oxytocin/administration & dosage , Physical Stimulation , Pregnancy , Pregnancy OutcomeABSTRACT
Low renal threshold for glucose during pregnancy renders glycosuria less specific for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes. Screening for gestational diabetes was done by utilising random plasma glucose (RPG). RPG was done at the first antenatal visit. In 12,623 patients who registered for antenatal care at the N.W.M. Hospital, 1371 patients had a RPG more than 100 mg%. An oral glucose tolerance test was advised in these patients. The pick-up rate of gestational diabetes correlated with RPG level. Thirty-six cases of gestational diabetes were picked up. The pick up rate is significantly higher as compared to that which would have been detected utilising conventional screening criteria.