Related News
Sex does not instigate labor: Malay study finds
Source: Agencies |
November 23, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THERE is a widespread belief that sex during the later stages of pregnancy can jump-start labor, but that doesn't appear to be so - at least according to a study from Malaysia.
The researchers, whose work appeared in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found there were no differences in the timing of delivery between women who had sex near term and those who abstained.
"We are a little disappointed," said Tan Peng Chiong, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the University of Malaya and one of the authors of the study.
"It would have been nice for couples to have something safe, effective and perhaps even fun that they could use themselves to help go into labor a little earlier if (they) wanted."
Tan said many women believe intercourse can induce labor, and scientists have proposed plausible biological explanations for why it might help.
For one, semen contains a substance called prostaglandin, which is used in synthetic form to induce labor. Breast stimulation is also thought to hasten labor and orgasm can trigger uterine contractions.
The researchers invited more than 1,100 women to participate, all of whom were 35 to 38 weeks pregnant and none of whom had had sex in the previous six weeks.
Roughly half of the women were advised by a physician to have sex frequently as a means of safely expediting labor. The other half were told sex was safe during pregnancy, but its effects on labor were unknown.
The researchers tracked the women to determine how long their pregnancies lasted and whether they required medical intervention to start labor.
The rates of induced labor were similar: 22 percent of those advised to have sex and 20.8 percent of the other group, a difference small enough to have been driven by chance.
The researchers, whose work appeared in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found there were no differences in the timing of delivery between women who had sex near term and those who abstained.
"We are a little disappointed," said Tan Peng Chiong, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the University of Malaya and one of the authors of the study.
"It would have been nice for couples to have something safe, effective and perhaps even fun that they could use themselves to help go into labor a little earlier if (they) wanted."
Tan said many women believe intercourse can induce labor, and scientists have proposed plausible biological explanations for why it might help.
For one, semen contains a substance called prostaglandin, which is used in synthetic form to induce labor. Breast stimulation is also thought to hasten labor and orgasm can trigger uterine contractions.
The researchers invited more than 1,100 women to participate, all of whom were 35 to 38 weeks pregnant and none of whom had had sex in the previous six weeks.
Roughly half of the women were advised by a physician to have sex frequently as a means of safely expediting labor. The other half were told sex was safe during pregnancy, but its effects on labor were unknown.
The researchers tracked the women to determine how long their pregnancies lasted and whether they required medical intervention to start labor.
The rates of induced labor were similar: 22 percent of those advised to have sex and 20.8 percent of the other group, a difference small enough to have been driven by chance.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
