A definition of difficult labour was developed after reviewing the literature, consulting with experts, and examining alternatives. Difficult labour, in primiparas, was defined as either prolonged labour with vaginal delivery, longer than 15 hours from admission to full dilatation, or cesarean section after admission for uncomplicated labour. This measure proved, to a satisfactory degree, practical, reliable and valid. / A study of predisposing factors, measured prior to labour onset, was conducted in 1,125 primiparas at two hospitals, a community hospital and a high-risk referral hospital. Analysis was restricted to 781 primiparas, admitted to hospital for uncomplicated (spontaneous) labour. Rates of difficult labour were 17% at the community hospital and 24% at the high-risk referral hospital. Rates of cesarean section were in keeping with high rates reported elsewhere, but rates of prolonged labour were higher than expected. Anxiety about childbirth, as self reported prior to labour onset, was not found to predispose to difficult labour, nor was lack of attendance at childbirth education classes. Factors predisposing to difficult labour, at both hospitals, were short maternal height (p = 0.01) and heavy body mass index, kg/m('2) (p = 0.01). Further research is needed, using a reliable measure of difficult labour, to clarify reasons for labour differences between women and hospitals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.72043 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Thomson, Mary Ellen. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 000222102, proquestno: AAINL24042, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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