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Length of Normal Labor in Women of Hispanic Origin
Author(s) -
Jones Marcia,
Larson Elaine
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of midwifery and women's health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.543
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1542-2011
pISSN - 1526-9523
DOI - 10.1016/s1526-9523(02)00367-7
Subject(s) - singleton , duration (music) , medicine , population , cohort , obstetrics , gynecology , demography , pregnancy , art , genetics , literature , environmental health , sociology , biology
Emanuel Friedman in the 1950s established means and statistical guidelines for normal lengths of labor. The childbearing population in the United States has changed considerably since Friedman's research was conducted. This study documented the duration of labor in a cohort of 240 Hispanic women who had normal vaginal births of singleton term infants from January 1995 through December 1998 and compared these results with the mean duration of the first and second stages of labor as established by Friedman. The mean duration of the active phase first stage labor duration for nulliparous Hispanic women was 6.2 hours, and for multiparous Hispanic women was 4.4 hours, both significantly longer than Friedman's group (P < .01). The mean duration of the second stage of labor in nulliparous Hispanic women was 54.2 minutes and for multiparous Hispanic women was 22.2 minutes, not significantly different from Friedman's group ( P = .5 and P = .09, respectively).