NPR article on new labor length recommendations

rainydayluck · February 2014

I scanned to see if this was posted already, so sorry if I missed it. I thought it was a good read.
https://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/20/280199498/doctors-urge-patience-and-longer-labor-to-reduce-c-sections

Allibob · February 2014

That's great! Thanks for sharing.

yvanehtnioj · February 2014

Wow. Good article, thanks for posting.

amroke · February 2014

I wish they said more about the interpretation of the heart rate monitor. I don't really get what he meant - what are the possibilities for interpretation? I almost had a c-section (they ended up getting him out with vacuum suction) with my son because they felt he was in distress based on his heart rate, so I'm just very curious.

deanna1313 · February 2014

I enjoyed that and hope that it is something they are starting to do all over. I'd like to avoid c-sections and pitocin if I can. If not, then fine, but I would prefer to let my body handle it for as long as it can.

spacepotatoes · February 2014

amroke said:

I wish they said more about the interpretation of the heart rate monitor. I don't really get what he meant - what are the possibilities for interpretation? I almost had a c-section (they ended up getting him out with vacuum suction) with my son because they felt he was in distress based on his heart rate, so I'm just very curious.

I have heard that one common reason doctors will push for c-sections is because they will see heart rate decels on the monitor with contractions. They will often interpret this as a sign of fetal distress. I've also read that it can be perfectly normal for baby's heart rate to drop during contractions. My guess is that this is where the interpretation problem lies - to one doctor, it would signal distress but to another, it's fine. Sounds like an area where they need clearer guidelines.

amroke · February 2014

Yeah, that's exactly what it was - we would lose the heart rate entirely during contractions.

angelita11 · February 2014

I think you make a good point about the pitocin. I also think it is significant that the article mentions that the guidelines should be for normal pregnancies. I wouldn't think a longer labor would be healthy for a woman with a complications like hypertension or pre-e

JAM85 · February 2014

Great share- i didn't even realize the caps they had on active labor but if I can't avoid the pitocin because it's now raised to 6cm then that's fantastic. Of course I am looking at induction anyways due to lupus but it's good to know they are trying to decrease unnecessary c-sections.

spacepotatoes · February 2014

@ashtog What an awful experience that must have been! I haven't done a lot of reading on the specific details so I'm not sure what kind of range is considered acceptable, if they even have a range defined, when it comes to the heart rate drops. It sounds like your son's was quite significant. That probably muddies the waters even more when it comes to interpretation. It could be normal but it may not always be possible to know for sure.

Hooper88 · February 2014

Great article! Thanks for sharing!

lavendergiraffes · February 2014

I saw that too and posted it on my Facebook I was do excited! Haha

@spacepotatoes We asked at our birth class if there were any 'guidelines' for that and she said no. That upset me!!

@ashtog How scary!! I could see dropping down to 50 being cause for alarm!!

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