Skip to main content

Table 3 Oxytocin levels in blood samples collected during physiological birth in the 20 selected papers. Values from pregnant and non-pregnant women are included. All values are presented in pg/mL, with SD or range in parentheses

From: Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth – a systematic review with implications for uterine contractions and central actions of oxytocin

First author, year

Labour and birth (pg/mL)

Time for blood sample

Pregnancy (pg/mL)

Gestational week (w)

Non-pregnant (pg/mL)

Coch 1965 [13]a

167

Active labour

   

Kumaresan 1974 [14]a

302 (58.3–725.0)

Active labour

110

4 w

< 1.7

  

275

40 w

 

Kumaresan 1975 [15]a

150.0 (18.3)

10 min before birth

   

136.7 (20.0)

Immediately after birth

   

Gibbens 1976 [16]a

4.2–20.8

1st – 3rd stage

   

Vasicka 1978 [17]a

73.3–273.3

Active labour

211.5 (35.2)

24 w

 
  

255.0 (44.3)

40 w

 

Dawood 1979 [18]

0–86

1st stage of labour

17.9 (2.1)

1–20 w

 
  

28.9 (4.7)

21–30 w

 
  

32.9 (2.9)

31–32 w

 
  

26.4 (4.8)

38 w

 
  

74.2 (14.2)

39 w

 

Leake 1981 [19]a

2.2 (0.3

Latent phase

2.2 (0.2)

15–42 w

2.3 (0.3)

2.7 (0.3)

Active labour

   

1.8 (0.2)

Visible head

   

7.0 (1.8)

Delivery of head

   

Otsuki 1983 [20]a

21.0 (63.3–146.7)

Active labour

8.3

20 w

 
  

20.8 (12.8)

36–41 w

 

Goodfellow 1983 [21]

7.2–46.0;

Full dilatation

   

8.8–85.0c

Crowning of head

   

Husslein 1983 [22]

50.7 (10.7)

29.1 (9.7)

Full dilatation

30 min postpartum

   

Fuchs 1983 [23]

45 (3.9)

21.1 (6.4)

49.1 (10.9)

58.8 (9.9)

110 (22.7)

1st stage

1–3 mU/min SOT inf

4–6 mU/min SOT inf

7–9 mU/min SOT inf

10–15 mU/min SOT inf

15.4 (8.7)

17.4 (4.8)

19.9 (3.1)

1–2 weeks before labour

Before induction

At term

 

Amico 1984 [24]a

1.7 (0.5)

Arrest in active labour

   

Takeda 1985 [25]a

32.8 (5.5)

Active labour

26.8 (4.8)

7–41 w

8.0 (0.8)

Takagi 1985 [26]a

75.3 (32.7)

Before emergency CS

  

11.7 (8.8)

De Geest 1985 [27]a

276.7

< 3 cm cx dilatation

78.3

8–12 w

 

298.3

5–7 cm

128.3

20–24 w

 

281.7

10 cm

208.3

30–34 w

 

276.7

2nd stage

226.7

38–42 w

 

Kuwabara 1987 [28]a

51.0 (8.3)

Immediately after birth

27–28

6–41 w

6.8 (0.8)

  

33.3

At term

 

Thornton 1988 [29]b

3.2 (2)

Crowning of head

   

6.4 (2)

After delivery of shoulder

11.6

Mean peak after birth

Oosterbaan 1989 [30]

65 (9)

12 (9)

Immediately after birth

During prelabour CS

   

Fuchs 1991 [31]a

1.8 (0.2)

1st stage < 6 cm

1.5 (0.5)

At term before elective CS

 

2.3 (0.6)

2nd and 3rd stage

   

Stoche 2001 [32]

7.4 (2.1)

1st stage

   

6.6 (3.1)

Before analgesia

   
  1. pg/mL picograms per millilitre, mU/min milliunits per minute, SOT inf synthetic oxytocin infusion, CS caesarean section, μU/mL microunits per millilitre, pmol/L picomoles per litre
  2. aOxytocin levels have been converted from μU/mL to pg/mL
  3. bOxytocin levels have been converted from pmol/L (pM) to pg/mL
  4. cCorrected from Table 1 in Goodfellow 1983
Back to article page

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

ISSN: 1471-2393

Contact us