Oxytocin

This is a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study of the effects of intranasal oxytocin in youths with obesity, ages 10-18 years old. Subjects will be randomized to receive intranasal oxytocin or placebo (1 spray per nostril, 4 times per day) for 12 weeks. Study visits include screening to determine eligibility, 2-part main study visits at baseline, week 8, and week 12, and safety check-in visits at weeks 1, and 4; phone calls at weeks 2, 6, and 10, with a safety follow-up visit 6 weeks after the last dose of study drug. Study procedures include appetite, behavioral, metabolic, and endocrine assessments.

The investigators propose a parallel group randomized clinical trial of intrapartum nipple stimulation versus exogenous oxytocin infusion for nulliparous women undergoing induction of labor near term. The central hypothesis is that intrapartum nipple stimulation to induce labor increases spontaneous vaginal delivery, improves patient-centered outcomes such as childbirth satisfaction, labor agentry, and pain scores, and reduces adverse neonatal and maternal outcomes in nulliparous women. The investigators will pursue the following specific aims: 1) Assess the effectiveness of intrapartum nipple stimulation on the rate of spontaneous vaginal delivery in nulliparous women, 2) Breastfeeding as the sole source of nutrition at time of maternal hospital discharge (Primary Aims); 3) Maximal percent newborn weight loss during the birth hospitalization within 72 hours of life, 4) Determine the effect of intrapartum nipple stimulation on the rate of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, 5) Determine the impact of intrapartum nipple stimulation on patient-centered outcomes and 6) In a sub-cohort of women who are enrolled in the trial, investigators will measure the change in oxytocin concentration from baseline to time at which patient achieves a regular contraction pattern.

The purpose of this research is to investigate associations between mindfulness and meditation techniques and changes in maternal breastmilk in the mother pumping for her NICU infant.

Cesarean section is the most prevalent operation among women globally, 10-15% (1, 2). Recent research has shown Egypt to be the third-largest country globally, with an estimated 52% cesarean sections (3). However, the cesarean section has many serious complications, including the primary postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) (4). During labor, the average blood loss is about 300 to 400 ml. Bleeding postpartum is known as losing over five hundred milliliter of blood following a vaginal birth and losing over one thousand milliliter after the cesarean section (5). The prime cause of maternal death rate is postpartum bleeding, predominately in poor countries, and the estimated mortality number due to postpartum bleeding is one hundred thousand per year (6). Therefore, it is essential to reduce bleeding during and after CS to diminish maternal mortality and morbidity (7). The most successful technique for decreasing PPH is the active third stage labor management, requiring prophylactic uterotonic drugs like oxytocin, ergometrine malate, prostaglandins (E1, E2, and F2α), and combinations of them, or hemostatic agent as tranexamic acid (Kapron) and Etamsylate (Dicynon) (8, 9).