NIH study finds women spend longer in labor now than 50 years ago

Changes in delivery practices appear to be main contributing factor

Women take longer to give birth today than did women 50 years ago, according to an analysis of nearly 140,000 deliveries conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The researchers could not identify all of the factors that accounted for the increase, but concluded that the change is likely due to changes in delivery room practice.

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This page was last updated on Friday, January 21, 2022