Electrical activity of the bovine uterus prior to and post parturition

Recordings of electrical activity of six different areas of the uterus were obtained from two pregnant cows before and after delivery of their calves. Periods of activity occurred as spike bursts of potentials which occupied 52% of the recording time before delivery and 92% at the expulsive phase. The mean duration of the bursts was nearly doubled in the last ten hours prior to parturition without changes in their frequency. After delivery, the activity of the uterus occupied 29% of the recording time and consisted of long-lasting periods of spike bursts whose frequency was nearly halved. The alternation of periods of activity and quiescence represents the basic motility pattern of the pregnant uterus. Periods of quiescence are shortened at the time of expulsion and become predominant in the empty uterus, a phenomenon paralleled by changes in the temporal organisation of the number of spike bursts with the periods of activity.