Maternal intrapartum temperature elevation as a risk factor for cesarean delivery and assisted vaginal delivery

E. Lieberman, A. Cohen, J. Lang, F. Frigoletto and L. Goetzl

American Journal of Public Health, 1999, vol. 89, issue 4, 506-510

Abstract: Objectives. This study investigated the association of intrapartum temperature elevation with cesarean delivery and assisted vaginal delivery. Methods. Participants were 1233 nulliparous women with singleton, term pregnancies in vertex presentations who had spontaneous labors and were afebrile (temperature: 99.5°F [37.5°C]) at admission for delivery. Rates of cesarean and assisted vaginal deliveries according to highest intrapartum temperature were examined by epidural status. Results. Women with maximum intrapartum temperatures higher than 99.5°F were 3 times as likely to experience cesarean (25.2% vs 7.2%) or assisted vaginal delivery (25.2% vs 8.5%). The association was present in epidural users and nonusers and persisted after birthweight, epidural use, and labor length had been controlled. In adjusted analyses, temperature elevation was associated with a doubling in the risk of cesarean delivery (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5, 3.4) and assisted vaginal delivery (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.4, 3.1). Conclusions. Modest temperature elevation developing during labor was associated with higher rates of cesarean and assisted vaginal deliveries. More frequent temperature elevation among women with epidural analgesia may explain in part the higher rates of cesarean and assisted vaginal deliveries observed with epidural use.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1999:89:4:506-510_7

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().