Myometrial electrical activity during pregnancy and parturition in the pygmy goat

To quantify the pattern of myometrial activity during gestation and parturition, one bipolar electrode was implanted on each uterine horn of four bilaterally pregnant pygmy goats between days 102 and 120 of gestation. After a recovery period, electromyographic recordings were made for at least six hours per day and continuously when parturition was judged to be imminent. During late gestation myometrial activity occurred as discrete episodes of myometrial electrical activity (EMEA) with a mean duration ranging from 6.2 +/- 2.07 to 8.3 +/- 1.60 minutes. The mean interval between two successive EMEAs ranged from 45.8 +/- 19.95 to 74.7 +/- 42.27 minutes. In three of the four goats these characteristics were not significantly different from the two uterine horns. Parturition was preceded by a prolonged period (eight to 12 hours) of myometrial quiescence. It was only from 19 to 15 hours before expulsion of the first kid that total duration of EMG activity increased. This finally resulted in the regular occurrence of bursts which occupied 25 to 30 per cent of the recording time. The results demonstrate that, as in the sheep, cow and pig, the myometrium is active during late pregnancy. It is postulated that luteolysis coincides with the prolonged period of myometrial quiescence which precedes the onset of the parturient pattern of uterine activity.