CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF PROLONGED LABOR TO BOTH MOTHER AND CHILD.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF PROLONGED LABOR.
A labor is usually called protracted or difficult, if the head presents, when it is not completed in about twenty-four hours from its actual commencement. There are many labors however, that last much longer, and yet terminate quite favorably, and many that are over much sooner and yet are very difficult. Still, generally speaking, the danger and difficulty increases as the time progresses, and it is seldom prolonged beyond twenty-four hours without serious inconvenience.
It appears, from the statistics of the Dublin Lying-in Hospital, that in seventy-eight thousand deliveries, one out of every ninety-two of the mothers died, and one out of every eighteen of the children was stillborn. Of those mothers who were in labor with first children, from thirty to forty hours, one in every thirty-four died, and one child in every five was stillborn. Of those who were in labor from forty to fifty hours, one died in every thirteen. Of those who were in labor from fifty to sixty hours, one died in every eleven. And of those who were in labor from sixty to seventy hours, one died in every eight, and nearly one-half of the children. It is evident therefore that, as a general rule, the danger increases with the length of time.