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CHARACTERISTICS OF NORMAL LABOUR AMONG DIFFERENT RACIAL GROUPS IN MALAYSIA
Author(s) -
Lim M. A.,
Wong W. P.,
Sinnathuray T. A.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1977.tb12661.x
Subject(s) - medicine , malay , obstetrics , cervix , parity (physics) , demography , gynecology , philosophy , linguistics , cancer , sociology , physics , particle physics
Summary The characteristics of normal labour in 977 Malay, Chinese and Indian parturients were established from a retrospective study. Indian babies were found to be significantly smaller than Malay babies which were significantly smaller than Chinese babies (P≤0·05, P≤0·05). The mean duration of the first stage of labour taken from the time of admission to the labour ward was 3·4 hours in primiparae and 2·7 hours in multiparae. The mean durations of the second stage of labour were 23·7 minutes and 13·1 minutes respectively. Curves of mean dilatation of cervix and probit analysis at 80 per cent revealed significant differences in the progress of normal labour in primiparae among the three racial groups. The Indian primiparae not only had a slower rate of cervical dilatation but seemed to reach the accelerated phase of dilatation later. No significant differences were noticed in the labours of multiparae.