Pregnant women's clinical characteristics, intrapartum interventions, and duration of labour in urban China: A multi-center cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: There is an increasing global trend towards the widespread over-medicalisation of labour and childbirth. The present study aimed to investigate pregnant women's clinical characteristics, intrapartum interventions, duration of labour and its associated factors; and to compare the differences of these variables between nulliparas and multiparas in China. Methods: A multi-center cross-sectional study was carried out in three tertiary hospitals of Fudan University in Shanghai, China. A total of 1523 participants were approched and assessed for eligibility. Data on women's sociodemographic characteristics, intrapartum interventions, and duration of labour were measured and collected. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to present the curves of total duration of labour by parity. After z-transformation of labour duration, multivariable linear regression was used to control for confounding and to identify independent associations between potential associated factors and the primary outcome of labour duration. Results: Overall, 1209 eligible women agreed to participate and were investigated. Rates of different intrapartum interventions were 27.4% in use of amniotomy, 37.9% in use of oxytocin, 53.0% in continuous electronic fetal monitoring, and 52.9% in epidural use, respectively. The curve of total duration of labour was significantly different between nulliparas and multiparas (P