PURPOSE Cesarean delivery rates vary widely across populations. Studying communities with low rates of cesarean delivery may identify practices that can lower the cesarean rate. METHODS A population-based historical cohort study included all pregnant women (N = 1132) from 1992 through 1996 in a predominantly Native American region of northwestern New Mexico known to have a high prevalence of ...

Results Overall, 1, 898 pregnancies were eligible, of them, 259 underwent induction of labor, and 1, 639 were admitted with spontaneous onset of labor. Demographic data, parity, gestational age at delivery and birthweight were similar. The overall rate of cesarean delivery was significantly higher in the study group (16. 2% vs. 10. 7%, p=0. 01), mainly due to labor dystocia (8. 1% vs. 3. 7%, p<...

Vaginal delivery is a natural process that usually does not require significant medical intervention. Management guided by current knowledge of the relevant screening tests and normal labor process can greatly increase the probability of an uncomplicated delivery and postpartum course. All women should be screened for group B streptococcus; women who test positive should be treated with antibio...

Objective: We tested if fetal pulse oximetry in addition to electronic fetal monitoring (CTG) and scalp blood sampling improves the accuracy of fetal assessment and allows safe reduction of operative deliveries ( 50%) and scalp blood sampling ( 50%) performed because of nonreassuring fetal status. Study design: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 146 patients with term pregnancies in...

BACKGROUND Whether epidural analgesia for labor prolongs the active-first and second labor stages and increases the risk of vacuum-assisted delivery is a controversial topic. Our study was conducted to answer the question: does lumbar epidural analgesia with lidocaine affect the progress of labor in our obstetric population? METHOD 395 healthy, nulliparous women, at term, presented in spontan...