European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Objective: To determine association of cervical dialatation rate with body mass index (BMI). Introduction: The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing among women of childbearing age. Observational studies show that obese women have up to a 2-fold increased risk for a cesarean delivery compared with normal-weight women. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of maternal overweight and obesity on the pattern of labor progression in pregnant women with a singleton, term pregnancy with spontaneous onset labour. Methods: We analyzed data from 1531 pregnant women with a term pregnancy those were admitted in SSMC ,Rewa from August 2017- July 2018 with spontaneous onset labour pain at term. The median duration of labor by each centimeter of cervical dilation was computed for under weight(Body mass index BMI<18.5 kg/m2), normal-weight (BMI_ 18.5 –24.9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI >24.9-29.9 kg/m2), and obese (BMI>30 kg/m2) women and used as a measurement of labor progression. Results: After considering inclusion and exclusion criteria all laboring females were allowed to progress naturally and four hourly partogram was recorded. All females who required augmentation ,caesarean or instrumental delivery were excluded from the study. On the basis of individual labour progress chart which were obtained ,a final composite labour graph was derived and appropriate statistical tests were applied. We have found that BMI is directly related to rate of cervical dilatation . Mean rate of cervical dilatation was 1.46 cm/hr in group with BMI <18.5 kg/m2 .The rate of cervical dilatation was less in group with BMI >30 i.e 0.9 cm/hr. Conclusion: . Labor progression in overweight and obese women was significantly slower than that of normal-weight and under- weight women. Given that NFHS (National family health survey -5)¹ has shown that obesity is increasing in India in all states from 21% to 24% among women, it is critical to consider differences in labor progression by maternal pre pregnancy BMI before additional interventions are performed.