A study out of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was conducted to see whether extending the length of labor in nulliparous (who have never had a child) women with prolonged second stage affects the incidence of cesarean delivery and maternal and neonatal outcomes.
The study was conducted as the researchers took nulliparous women with singleton gestations at 36 0/7 to 41 6/7 weeks gestation who reached the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists definition of prolonged second stage of labor, which is three hours with epidural anesthesia or two hours without. Primarily, the researchers wanted to evaluate the incidence of cesarean delivery. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were compared secondarily. 78 women were included in the study. All the women were given epidural anesthesia.
The results of the study were that the incidence of cesarean delivery was 19.5 percent in the extended labor group and 43.2 percent in the usual labor group. This means that the rate of cesarean delivery dropped more than half when women were able to stay in the second stage of labor an extra hour. This is important because of the complications associated with surgery like a C-section.
For more information, read the full study.
Razi Berry, Founder and Publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (ndnr.com) and NaturalPath (thenatpath.com), has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized and supported the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. A self-proclaimed health-food junkie and mother of two; she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees (not easy in Phoenix), laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy and yes, that is her real name.
