Influence of simultaneous low amniotomy and oxytocin infusion and other maternal factors on neonatal jaundice: a prospective study.

In a prospective study of 196 consecutive single births a significant increase in serum bilirubin concentrations was found in infants born after low amniotomy induction and oxytocin infusion compared with those born spontaneously. This relationship was not dose-dependent and may have been associated with artificial interruption of pregnancy rather than the oxytocin itself. Infants delivered after spontaneous labour accelerated by oxytocin showed no such increase. The hormonal surge at the spontaneous onset of labour may affect fetal enzyme induction, but other factors, such as methods of infant feeding and oral contraceptive use, were found not to be significant.