A new study carried out by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that it takes longer to give birth today that it took 50 years ago.
A new study carried out by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that it takes longer to give birth today that it took 50 years ago. The researchers analyzed the child birth data of more than 140,000 deliveries from 50 years ago, in the 1960s, and compared it with the data today and found that the first stage labor was 2.6 hours longer when compared to 50 years ago.
Babies were also found to be born five days earlier and were heavier when compared to those born in 1960s while the mothers also were heavier compared to their 1960s counterparts.
“Older mothers tend to take longer to give birth than do younger mothers. But when we take maternal age into account, it doesn't completely explain the difference in labor times”, lead researcher Katherine Laughon said.
Source-Medindia