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Previous Volume 341:660-666 August 26, 1999 Number 9 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Labor is the physiologic process by which a fetus is expelled from the uterus to the outside world. Labor is defined as an increase in myometrial activity or, more precisely, a switch in the pattern of myometrial contractility from irregular contractures (long-lasting, low-frequency activity) to regular contractions (high-intensity, high-frequency activity),¹ resulting in effacement and dilatation of the uterine cervix. In normal labor, there appears to be a time-dependent relation between the biochemical changes in the connective tissue in the cervix that usually precede uterine contractions and cervical dilatation. All these events usually occur before the spontaneous rupture of the fetal . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Labor at Term

The Endocrine Control of Labor at Term

Preterm Labor

Predictive Factors

Management

Conclusions

Source Information

From the Division of Maternal–Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston (E.R.N., J.N.R.); and the Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto (J.R.G.C.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Norwitz at the Division of Maternal–Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115, or at ernorwitz@bics.bwh.harvard.edu.

References

Related Letters:

The Control of Labor
Pryde P. G., Mittendorf R., Norwitz E. R., Robinson J. N.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1999; 341:2098-2099, Dec 30, 1999. Correspondence

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