Another Reason to Stay Fit: Obesity Could Mean Longer, Harder Labor
October 3, 2007 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reported earlier this year that overweight and obese women have longer labor and delivery times than women with healthy body weight when labor is induced.
The obese women also needed more medication — a dinoprostone vaginal insert — to activate labor, and it took longer for the medicine to start working. The obese women also are more likely to have a cesarean deliver than a vaginal delivery…
… the take home message is that doctors need to tell obese women that electing to have labor induced can place them at higher risk of longer labor and could increase the possibility that they will need a cesarean section. In addition, doctors may want to wait for labor to begin spontaneously rather than choosing to induce labor early in obese women, given these risks.*
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King
I’d guess this is largely related to strength/fitness, too. Labor is called labor for a reason … if you do cardio regularly and have strong abdominal muscles, it makes sense that giving birth would be faster and smoother.