Socio-demographic characteristics, maternal and fetal outcome of parturients presenting in second stage labour

Abstract

Purpose: To document the socio-demographic characteristics, maternal and foetal outcome of booked patients presenting in second stage labour and compare them with those who presented in spontaneous active phase, first stage labour, delivering normally and without oxytocin augmentation. Method: Retrospective case - control study. Result: Women who presented in second stage labour were more likely to book late in pregnancy (23.01±7.55 weeks versus 20.80±7.98, p value 0.014) and attended fewer antenatal care visits (7.22±3.09 versus 8.67±2.98 p value 0.000). Higher parity (p value 0.002), lower female education (p value 0.000) and HIV positive status (10.52% versus 0.66% p value 0.000) were other factors found with late presentation in labour. The commonest reason for presentation in the second stage of labour was transportation problems (31.9%). Perineal tear was the only significant maternal outcome between the cases and control (26.3% versus 13.8%, p value 0.001). There was no significant difference in the foetal outcome between the two groups. Conclusion: Socio-demographic characteristics of patients affect their utilization of available obstetric care. Maternal and foetal outcomes were comparable in the two groups except for increased perineal tear among the cases. A multicentre prospective study is necessary to further evaluate the foetal and maternal outcome in this group of patients.

Keywords: Second stage labour, first stage of labour, failed antenatal care, socio-demographic characteristics.