Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Jul 7;18(1):293.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-1832-z.

Comparison of the effect of breast pump stimulation and oxytocin administration on the length of the third stage of labor, postpartum hemorrhage, and anemia: a randomized controlled trial

Elham Dashtinejad  1 , Parvin Abedi  2 , Poorandokht Afshari  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Comparison of the effect of breast pump stimulation and oxytocin administration on the length of the third stage of labor, postpartum hemorrhage, and anemia: a randomized controlled trial

Elham Dashtinejad et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to compare the effect of breast pump stimulation with that of oxytocin administration regarding the duration of the third stage of labor, postpartum hemorrhage, and anemia after delivery.

Methods: In this study, 108 women were randomly assigned to two groups of breast pump stimulation (n = 54) and oxytocin administration (n = 54). Women in the breast stimulation group received breast pump stimulation (10 min intermittently for each breast with a negative pressure of 250 mmHg), while the women in the oxytocin (control) group received an infusion of 30 IU oxytocin in 1000 mL of Ringer's serum with a maximum rate of 10 mL infusion per min after delivery. The duration of the third stage of labor, blood loss during the third stage of labor and 24 h after delivery, hemoglobin and hematocrit (before and 24 h after delivery), after-birth pain, and the number of breastfeedings during the 24 h after delivery were recorded. The data were analyzed using the chi-square test, independent t-test, and Wilcoxon test.

Results: The mean duration of the third stage was 5 ± 1.97 and 5.4 ± 2.5 min in the breast stimulation and women that received intravenous oxytocin respectively (p = 0.75). Most participants had mild postpartum hemorrhage (98.1 and 96.2% in the breast stimulation and women that received intravenous oxytocin, respectively, p = 0.99). Although hemoglobin and hematocrit levels significantly decreased in both groups 24 h after delivery, there was no significant difference between both groups regarding both parameters. After-birth pain was significantly lower and the number of breastfeeding during the 24 h after delivery was significantly more in the breast stimulation group compared to the control group.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrated no differences between breast pump stimulation and oxytocin administration regarding the duration of the third stage of labor, postpartum hemorrhage, anaemia, after-birth pain, and the number of breastfeedings during the 24 h after delivery.

Trial registration number: The study protocol was registered in the Iranian Randomized Controlled Trial Registry (Ref. No.: IRCT2015050722146N1 ; Registration date: 2015-11-04). The study was registered prospectively and the enrollment date was 23/8/2015.

Keywords: Breast stimulation; Hematocrit; Hemoglobin; Postpartum hemorrhage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The design of this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ahvaz Jundisahpur University of Medical Sciences (Ref No: IR.AJUMS.REC.1394.86). All participants gave written informed consent to participate in the study.

Competing interests

Parvin Abedi has been an associate editor of BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth since January 2018. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of recruitment and retention of participants in the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Carroli G, Cuesta C, Abalos E, Gulmezoglu AM. Epidemiology of postpartum haemorrhage: a systematic review. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2008;22:999–1012. doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2008.08.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology; International Confederation of Midwives. International joint policy statement FIGO/ICM global initiative to prevent post-partum hemorrhage. JOGC. 2004;26:1100–1102. - PubMed
    1. Corwin EJ, Murray-Kolb LE, Beard JL. Low hemoglobin level is a risk factor for postpartum depression. J Nutr. 2003;133:4139–4142. doi: 10.1093/jn/133.12.4139. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dupont C, Ducloy-Bouthors AS, Huissoud C. Clinical and pharmacological procedures for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage in the third stage of labor. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris) 2014;43(10):966–997. doi: 10.1016/j.jgyn.2014.09.025. - DOI - PubMed
    1. WHO recommendations for the prevention and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage . WHO handbook for guideline development. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms