It turns out that adrenaline (epinephrine) is an antagonist to Oxytocin. So perhaps the traditional strategies to stop preterm labor are misguided. They usually tell people to go on bedrest and to just relax and take it easy when they should probably be telling them to have arguments with their spouses and to watch highly stressful movies like the exorcist or something… ok maybe the exorcist wouldn’t be so great for fetal programming, or arguing with spouses for that matter … but anything fairly stressful should do … So women should be encouraged to work even harder during pregnancy to help ensure a full term baby [I hope our staff are reading this post, especially Irina].
 
While the point of this study was something else, it discusses some of the antagonistic effects that epinephrine has on things that induce uterine contractions (oxytocin, prostaglandins, etc.).
 
disclaimer: The above hypothesis, while making sense physiolgically, has not been proven yet, so talk to your doctor before relying on this.
 
Molecular Pharmacology, Vol 10, 457-473