BACKGROUND There is increasing interest in carrying out pre-induction cervical ripening on an outpatient basis. However, there are concerns about the use of prostaglandins, the agents commonly used in hospital settings for this indication, because prostaglandins induce uterine contractions that may lead to fetal hypoxia. Indeed, in a recent study we demonstrated abnormalities in 9% of fetal hea...

The goal of obstetrics is a pregnancy that culminates in a healthy infant and a minimally traumatized mother. Ideally all pregnancies should go to term and labour should begin spontaneously. More often than not, the need for delivery is clear but the timing is not emergent and the route is not dictated by foetal demands. A method to initiate the normal process of labour at a time before labour ...

Background: Saffron is a perennial plant native to Iran which has been traditionally prescribed to facilitate labor. We aimed to investigate the effect of Crocus sativus (Saffron) on cervical ripening and progress of labor in a sample of primiparous term Iranian women. Materials and Methods: </stro...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of misoprostol in cervical ripening before evacuation of conception in the first trimester missed miscarriages, and to compare between oral and vaginal routes of administration. METHODS A randomized controlled study was carried out in Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq in 2006. One hundred and twenty women with first trimester missed miscarriages we...

Leppert, P.C. and Yu, S.Y. (1994) Apoptosis of cervical cells in pregnant rats occurs in association with cervical softening. Gynecol. Obstet. Invest., 37, 150-154. Liggins, G.C. (1981) Cervical ripening as an inflammatory reaction. In Ellwood, D.A. and Anderson, A.B.M. (eds), The Cervix in Pregnancy and Labour. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, UK, pp. 1-9. Purcell, T.L., Buhmischi, I., Given,...

Prostaglandins are known to induce cervical ripening and this effect may be mediated by an increase in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) concentration. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of progesterone on prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2))-induced changes in GAG synthesis by human cervical cells in culture. Human cervical fibroblasts were obtained by cervical biopsies in hormonally active women an...

Labor induction is defined as the artificial onset of labor for the purpose of vaginal birth. Cesarean section is one of the potential risk of labor induction as it occur in about 20% of the inductions. A ripe cervix (soft and distensible) is needed for a successful labor. During the ripening cervical tissues experience micro structural changes: collagen becomes disorganized and water content i...

We have demonstrated a new protocol of synthesizing Ag nanowires via an electrochemical Ostwald ripening (OR) driven branch fragmentation mechanism; the branching rate of the Ag nanowires is significantly decreased by means of an electrodeposition under a strong applied-potential, following a relaxation process.

Pregnancies of women displaying achondroplasia are at high risk of adverse events. Early sonographic assessment of affected women can indicate an unusually long cervical length. It is the consequence of pathological anatomy of the pelvis. Thus, there is a foreseeable dystocia owing to cephalopelvic disproportion. Furthermore, this situation could also complicate cervical ripening prior to fetal...