Changes in labor patterns over 50 years.
cross_sectional · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 22542117.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.ajog.2012.03.003 and PMC identifier 3655692.
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Abstract
The objective of the study was to examine differences in labor patterns in a modern cohort compared with the 1960s in the United States. Data from pregnancies at term, in spontaneous labor, with cephalic, singleton fetuses were compared between the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP, n = 39,491 delivering 1959-1966) and the Consortium on Safe Labor (CSL; n = 98,359 delivering 2002-2008). Compared with the CPP, women in the CSL were older (26.8 ± 6.0 vs 24.1 ± 6.0 years), heavier (body mass index 29.9 ± 5.0 vs 26.3 ± 4.1 kg/m(2)), had higher epidural (55% vs 4%) and oxytocin use (31% vs 12%), and cesarean delivery (12% vs 3%). First stage of labor in the CSL was longer by a median of 2.6 hours in nulliparas and 2.0 hours in multiparas, even after adjusting for maternal and pregnancy characteristics, suggesting that the prolonged labor is mostly due to changes in practice patterns. Labor is longer in the modern obstetrical cohort. The benefit of extensive interventions needs further evaluation.
Medical subject headings
- Delivery, Obstetric
- Labor, Obstetric