Preeclampsia, labor duration and mode of delivery

Objective: To determine if there is a difference in the length of labor, and method of delivery between preeclamptic and normotensive patients. Methods: A retrospective case control study was performed using a perinatal database. Study subjects included nulliparous patients diagnosed with preeclampsia, and were compared with normotensive nulliparous patients. Results. There were 1454 controls and 727 subjects identified. There was no difference between groups with regard to duration of total labor. There was a statistically but not clinically significant increase in the duration of the second stage in preeclamptics (35 vs. 27 min, P=0.003). Preeclamptics had a consistently higher risk of cesarean delivery, even when controlled for confounding variables. Conclusion: The clinical belief that preeclamptic patients have more rapid labors is not supported. Preeclamptics do seem to have a higher risk of cesarean delivery. (C) 1997 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.