Labor progression of women attempting vaginal birth after previous cesarean delivery with or without epidural analgesia

Netanella Miller*, Michel Pelleg, Nasrean Hag-Yahia, Yair Daykan, Yael Pasternak, Tal Biron-Shental

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Normal labor curves have not been assessed for women undergoing a trial of labor after cesarean delivery (TOLAC). This study examined labor patterns during TOLAC in relation to epidural analgesia use. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of deliveries of women undergoing TOLAC at a single, academic, tertiary medical center. Length of first, second and third stages of labor was compared between 424 women undergoing TOLAC in the current labor with no previous vaginal delivery (VD) and 357 women with at least one previous VD and current TOLAC. Results: Women in the TOLAC only group had significantly longer labors compared to women in the previous VD and TOLAC group. In both groups, women who underwent epidural analgesia had longer first and second stages of labor. In the TOLAC only group, more women who had epidural analgesia tended to deliver vaginally as compared to those who did not (P = 0.09). For women who delivered vaginally, the 95th percentile for the second stage duration with epidural was 3.40 h in the TOLAC only group and 2.3 h in the previous VD and TOLAC group. The 95th percentile for the second stage duration without epidural was 1.4 h in the TOLAC only group and 0.9 h in the previous VD and TOLAC group. Conclusions: Operative intervention (instrumental delivery/cesarean delivery (CD)) might be considered for women attempting TOLAC after a 2-h duration of second stage without epidural and 3-h duration with epidural, with an hour less for women who also had previous VD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)129-134
Number of pages6
JournalArchives of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Volume299
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Jan 2019

Keywords

  • Epidural analgesia
  • Labor curve
  • Labor progression
  • TOLAC
  • VBAC

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