There are a number of possible causes of prolonged labor. During the latent phase, slow effacement of the cervix can cause labor time to increase. During the active phase, if the baby is too large, the birthing canal is too small, or the woman’s pelvis is too small, delivery can take longer or fail to progress.
What are the three principal causes of prolonged labour?
The causes of prolonged labour occur at physical, emotional, and social levels. But three principal causes are the 3 Ps: passage, passenger, and power. 1.
What happens during prolonged labor?
When entering in prolonged labor, doctors start taking measures to speed up the process of delivery, depending on the cause. If the contractions occur rarely or are too weak in intensity, doctors might administer oxytocin, a hormone that increases the intensity and number of contractions.
What are the causes of delayed labor?
There are many reasons for prolonged labor. Starting from lack of proper nutrition and diet, less activity and exercise, bad habits to interventions during pregnancy, post pregnancy testing all can delay your labor by a great extent. Here are few of the causes which might delay your labor by a great deal:
What is prolonged labour or failure to progress?
Prolonged Labour is also known as failure to progress or slow progress of labour. When the duration of labour is abnormally more, it is bracketed as prolonged labour. Prolonged labour has no definite definition as at different stages, the delay differs, and the causes also differ.
What are the signs of prolonged labor?
Signs and symptoms of a prolonged labor include labor beyond 18 hours, maternal exhaustion, back pain, high pulse rate, tender uterus; and ketosis....Prolonged Laborintrauterine infection;post partum hemorrhaging;fetal distress (accels or decels);hypoxia, ischemia and asphyxia; and.intracranial hemorrhaging.
Who is at risk for prolonged labor?
Maternal risk factors that increase the risk for prolonged labour include primiparity [11] and total maternal weight gain or high body mass index [12,13]. Foetal risk factors include a heavy birth weight, large head circumference and occiput posterior presentation [14,15].
What can I do for prolonged labor?
Although some causes of prolonged labor may require medical intervention, there are some steps you can take to ease your way. If you are failing to progress during the latent phase, the best thing to do is relax and wait while the cervix ripens. Take a walk, sleep, or take a warm bath.
How can I make my cervix open faster?
Walking around the room, doing simple movements in bed or chair, or even changing positions may encourage dilation. This is because the weight of the baby applies pressure to the cervix. People may also find swaying or dancing to calming music effective.
What can slow down labor?
Emotional stress. Underlying emotional and/or psychological stress can cause labor to stall or slow down. Known as "emotional dystocia" this can be anything from an extreme fear of pain to trauma, unease, and/or not feeling safe.
Can prolonged labor affect the baby?
However, allowing a labor to continue for too long carries health risks for both the mother and child, including oxygen deprivation, permanent injury, and trauma in the child, and hemorrhaging and infection in the mother.
What is slow labor?
Your doctor may refer to slow labor as "prolonged latent labor.". Prolonged labor may happen if: The baby is very big and cannot move through the birth canal. The baby is in an abnormal position. Normally, the baby is head-down facing your back. The birth canal is too small for the baby to move through.
How long does it take for a baby to be in prolonged labor?
If your baby is not born after approximately 20 hours of regular contractions, you are likely to be in prolonged labor.
What is labor pain?
Labor is a series of intense, repeated muscle contractions. The contractions help push the baby out of the uterus (womb) and into the birth canal. You will probably feel the contractions in the lower back and belly area. This is called labor pains. The contractions help dilate (widen) the opening to the vagina (called the cervix ).
What to do if labor is going slowly?
If your labor is going slowly, you may be advised to just rest for a little while. Sometimes medicine is given to ease your labor pains and help you relax. You may feel like changing your body position to become more comfortable. Additional treatment depends on why your labor is going slowly.
Is childbirth a unique experience?
Childbirth is a unique experience for every woman, whether you're a first-time mom or a longtime parent. Sometimes, the baby comes really fast. Other times, well, not so fast. How quickly your bundle of joy arrives depends on many things, including how fast something called labor is happening. Labor is a series of intense, repeated muscle ...
Does C-section help with contractions?
This medicine speeds up contractions and makes them stronger. If after your doctor feels like you are contracting enough and the labor is still stalled, you may need a C-section. If the baby is too big, or the medicine does not speed up delivery, you will need a C-section. Risks of Prolonged Labor.
What is prolonged labour?
Prolonged labour is also known as failure to progress, or slow progress of labour. When the duration of labour is abnormally long, it is bracketed as prolonged labour. Prolonged labour has no definite definition as at different stages, the delay differs, and the causes also differ. Prolonged Early Stage of Labour: When labour is prolonged ...
Why does my baby have a long labour?
The causes of prolonged labour due to the ‘passenger’ or the foetus can be that the foetus continues to grow even after the due date, it is too big, or that the head is too big to pass through the pelvis.
What are the complications of prolonged labor?
However, advanced technology and science have reduced such complications. Some common complications in the mother include: Infection.
How to know if you are in labor for 18 hours?
Labour beyond 18 hours: The most prominent sign is the delay. Maternal exhaustion: The mother is feeling weak and fatigued. Other physical symptoms such as unbearable back pain, high pulse rate, and a tender uterus also warn of a prolonged labour.
Why does pregnancy increase the size of a baby?
Gestational diabetes, or pregnancy hypertension accompanied by obesity can increase the size of the baby from the average. Such health complications can make the mother weak, and the fat around the birth canal can cause problems.
What to do when mother is in labour?
One of the immediate things done when prolonged labour is recognised is to relax the mother emotionally and mentally through the presence of a strong companion, pain relief, or any other element which may de-stress the mother. One may be given natural or pharmacological pain relief.
How long does it take to get to the second stage of labor?
Prolonged Second Stage of Labour: This usually takes five to thirty minutes.
What to do when you are in labor?
If you are failing to progress during the latent phase, the best thing to do is relax and wait while the cervix ripens. Take a walk, sleep, or take a warm bath.
How to stop contractions from a syringe?
Take a walk, sleep, or take a warm bath. If drugs are slowing your contractions, you may need to simply wait until they are flushed from your body. Sometimes changing positions may help the process along; lay on your other side, stand, walk, or squat.
What happens during the active phase of pregnancy?
During the active phase, if the baby is too large, the birthing canal is too small, or the woman’s pelvis is too small, delivery can take longer or fail to progress.
Can you have prolonged labor during the active phase of giving birth?
However, prolonged labor during the active phase of giving birth can be cause for concern. If you experience a failure to progress, your healthcare provider will begin running tests to determine the cause.
What happens if you have a long labor?
Prolonged labour can cause serious complications in the mother or the baby. Extreme being the death of the mother or the child. But advanced technology and science have reduced such complications.
Why does my baby grow after the due date?
The causes are due to the passenger or the fatal. The foetal continues to grow even after the due date, the baby is too big , and the head is too big to pass through the pelvis.
Why is my baby's head so small?
When the pelvis of the mother is too small, or the passage through which the baby is to come out is small for baby’s head to pass through the labour is prolonged. Rarely, an unusually shaped pelvis or some other obstruction in the passage such as a tumour will also lead to prolonged labour.
Why does my muscle mass decrease during pregnancy?
One of the causes for the decrease of muscle mass in a pregnant woman is lack of exercises and proactiveness. Labour is a very active and strenuous procedure for the body. It requires good muscle function to progress smoothly through labour, a decrease in muscle mass will reduce strength increasing risk of the slow progress of labour.
What age group is the most convenient for the body to give birth smoothly?
The most convenient age group for the body to give birth smoothly is the late teens to the early thirties. Anything before or after is a time that the body is not prepared.
When is prolonged labor more common?
Prolonged labor is more common in a first pregnancy and in women over the age of 35 years (this is considered “advanced maternal age”) (1).
Why does my thigh hurt during labor?
Pain in the back and sides of the body, radiating out to the thighs due to prolonged strong pressure on the back. Decrease in labor pains over time as the muscles become fatigued.
What are the stages of labor?
A normal course of labor consists of the following stages (1): Stage 1: There are uterine contractions leading to complete cervical dilation. This stage is divided into the latent and active phases. In the latent phase, irregular uterine contractions occur with slow and gradual cervical effacement and dilation.
How fast does a woman's cervix dilate?
During active labor, the cervix should progressively dilate at a rate of no less than 1.2 cm per hour (during a woman’s first pregnancy) or 1.5 cm per hour ...
Why does my uterus have issues?
Issues with uterine activity can arise due to a pregnancy with multiples, excessive use of painkillers or anesthesia, or a variety of other factors. Maternal obesity: Higher maternal BMI (body mass index) is correlated with a longer first stage of labor, as well as a variety of other pregnancy complications.
Why is my pulse rate high?
High pulse rate due to dehydration, exhaustion, and stress. Dilation of the large intestines, which can be felt along both sides of the uterus as large, thick, air-filled structures. The uterus is tender upon touch and does not relax fully between contractions. Fetal distress may develop.
What is considered normal progression in labor?
Medical professionals have established timelines for what is considered a “normal progression” of labor. If some of the markers for progress (such as cervical dilation and effacement) are delayed or stalled, staff must evaluate whether there is “prolonged” or “arrested” labor. If there is, medical professionals may try a number of different interventions to assist with a vaginal birth. However, allowing a labor to continue for too long carries health risks for both the mother and child, including oxygen deprivation, permanent injury, and trauma in the child, and hemorrhaging and infection in the mother. Therefore, if initial attempts to intervene are unsuccessful, medical professionals must be prepared to move onto a C-section delivery in order to ensure that harm from prolonged labor is avoided (1).
There are many reasons behind prolonged labour. Read on to know why it happens, the risks associated with it and how to deal with this condition
Childbirth may sometimes come with some complications and prolonged labour is one of them. At times, the duration of labour may be abnormally long. There may be many causes behind this.
Causes of prolonged labor
You may experience this due to many reasons. The slow effacement of the cervix can prolong labour time and during the active phase, it may happen if the baby is too big. Your birth canal and pelvis may also be too small for normal delivery.
Solutions to prolonged labour
In the initial stages of labour, it is easy to deal with this condition. Just relax and wait for the cervix to dilate normally. You may try taking a walk, go to sleep or soak in a warm bath. This will relax you and help you cope better.
Is Cesarean section a solution?
Most of the time, a doctor may recommend Cesarean section if labour is delayed in the active phase. This is especially necessary if the baby's position is wrong or if the head is too big to fit through the pelvis.
Risk factors
One of the main risk factor of prolonged labour is obesity. It can lead to gestational diabetes or pregnancy hypertension, which may increase the size of the baby. You may also experience this if you are too skinny. That is why proper nutrition is so essential during pregnancy. Age also plays a role here.
General Information
Causes
- The main factor of prolonged labor is recognized as the weakness of labor activity, which occurs primarily (insufficiently active contractions from the very beginning) or secondarily (a sharp weakening of normal uterine contractions). More rare causes include hypertensive dysfunction and discoordination of labor activity. In the painful period, pat...
Pathogenesis
- Physiological childbirth consists of 3 stages: opening of the cervix, expulsion (attempts), birth of the afterbirth. The period of opening of the cervical canal is divided into a latent and active phase, lasts 10-12 hours in primiparous women, 6-8 hours in repeat-bearing women. The expulsion of the fetus lasts 1-2 hours and 20-60 minutes, respectively. The duration of the third period is no mor…
Symptoms
- The oppression of labor activity is indicated by weak, rare and short contractions. This type of uterine contractions occurs from the very beginning of labor or appears in their process, replacing normal labor activity. Prolonged and inconclusive contractions greatly tire a woman, are accompanied by severe pain, cause negative psychoemotional reactions. Palpation determines …
Complications
- Irregular and prolonged muscle contractions cause disorders of uteroplacental blood flow and fetal hypoxia. In the absence of an emergency delivery, a child may experience hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, asphyxia, neonatal hypoglycemia. When fetuses are extracted using obstetric instruments, there is a risk of cerebral hemorrhage, Duchene-Erb and Dejerin-Klumpke paralysis, …
Diagnostics
- The examination of a woman is carried out by an obstetrician-gynecologist directly in the prenatal ward or in the delivery room. Prolonged labor is a clinical diagnosis that is established with constant monitoring of the course of labor and fixing its key indicators on the partogram. To study the nature of the course of labor, the following diagnostic methods are used: 1. Obstetric resear…
Tactics of Conducting Protracted Labor
- To stimulate labor activity in the first period, amniotomy with the introduction of oxytocin, prostaglandins is indicated. They stimulate uterine contractions and accelerate the course of labor. The drugs are administered intravenously drip under the control of cardiotocography. The rate of administration varies from 6-8 to 40 drops of solution per minute. In the second period, w…
Prognosis and Prevention
- Most protracted labor ends with a successful delivery and the birth of a live fetus. However, this does not exclude postpartum complications in the mother and long-term negative consequences for the baby. To prevent abnormal labor, it is necessary to properly manage pregnancy, psychological preparation for childbirth, and create a comfortable environment for a woman in l…