DURATION OF NORMAL LABOR UNDER PRESENT CONDITIONS

Objective. To study the impact of current management of spontaneous labor on its duration to elaborate criteria for its normal course. Subjects and methods. Four hundred and forty-two cases of labors with good maternal and perinatal outcomes were analyzed. Of them, 339 labor histories were retrospectively analyzed and 103 women formed a prospective management group. The study included parturients with full-term singleton pregnancy and fetal cephalic presentation without severe somatic and gynecological diseases. Results. The duration of latent and active phases does not greatly differ in primiparas. In secundiparas, the reduction in total labor duration is determined by the rapider course of the active phase in the first period and to a lesser extent in the second one. When employing epidural analgesia (EA), there was a significant increase in total labor duration in both primiparas and secundiparas due to the f irst period; a prolonged waterless interval; the higher frequency of cases of powerless labor in primiparas; acute fetal hypoxia was more common. Conclusion. Parity remains a leading natural factor that influences labor duration. The latter is significantly affected by obstetric tactics in a low-risk group.

labor, active and latent phases, obstetric tactics, parity, powerless labor, epidural analgesia