(Reuters) – many things can be done more quickly now that

50 years ago, but the arrival in the world of a baby in a way

natural seems to not be one of them, according to a study of the

Government United States.

Compared to the 1960s, American women have

passed in the last two years or three hours more in work of

delivery, according to researchers at the national institutes of

American health, which they said the finding suggests that

doctors might need to reconsider the definition of the

is a “normal” labour.

According to data published in the American Journal of

Obstetrics & Gynecology, the additional time comes from the

first stage of labor, the longest part of the

process, prior to the phase of “bid”.

Mothers are also different. On average, are more

larger and weigh more, and their babies are also more

large.

“but even when we take into account these changes

“”

demographic, labour is still longer”, said the

main researcher Katherine Laughon, Institute

National child health and human development.

Although Laughon said that the study could not identify

fully the possible reasons for the difference, one of the

partial explanations could be the pain relief of the

anesthesia, epidural, which is much more common now that makes 50

years.

It is known that epidurals can slow labor

between 40 and 90 minutes.

The data are based on two Government studies

made in different decades.

One, between 1959 and 1966, included some 39,500 women that

gave birth to a baby to term, while the other made a

monitoring to more than 98,000 women who had a baby at

term from 2002 to 2008. All the women had

a spontaneous labour, i.e. that no was inducted.

In regards to the duration of labor, the

new mothers in recent years take 2.6 hours longer in the

first stage, compared with their counterparts in the Decade of

60. This difference was reduced to two hours in women than

had already been mothers earlier.

Current women were much more likely to use

epidural anaesthesia: 55 per cent, compared with the 4

percent of the of 50 years ago.

On 12 per cent had a delivery by caesarean section compared with the

3 per cent in the early 1960s, while 31 percent

abdu’llah oxytocin – which stimulates contractions-, front

to 12 percent of 50 years ago.

Laughon noted that many more women now have jobs

labor induced or planned Cesarean, compared with

a few decades ago, which is why the number of women in

currently have labor spontaneous may differ

in some way of its counterparts of 50 years ago.

But whatever the underlying reasons, the

doctors may need to redefine the idea of a work of

childbirth “normal”, a concept which is based on what was the norm

for women half a century ago.

For example, doctors have thought that a work of

is abnormal if there is no change in the neck of the uterus after delivery

of two hours in the “active” part of the first stage of the

labor. At that time, they can intervene either

administering oxytocin or doing a c-section.

Laughon stated that the conclusion is that there would be a new

concept of “normal”, and added: “I think that we need to review

definitions of ' abnormal ' and labor and time

suitable for interventions that we use”.