"Kara H" wrote in message
...
First of all, I can't even begin to thank you all enough for taking the
time
to fill out those surveys for me!!! They are going to help me so much!

I need to back up all of your responses (I'm sensing a trend with the
majority of them which is a good thing!) and internet research is proving
to
only turn up personal experiences rather than medical research or tried
and
true literature. Do any of you have any resources you can point me in the
direction of? I have browsed WTEWYE which I know is a controversial book
but
it gave me some information that I was looking for. I was really just
looking for medically-backed information about subsequent births. I
wouldn't
have thought it would be hard to find but I can't seem to strike any gold
with the searches I've been doing.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Hi Kara,

I didn't answer your survey, but suffice it to say, my first labor was
significantly longer than my second. Here are a few links I found about the
subject.


This one says first labors average 14 hours, second labors 6.

http://www.w-cpc.org/pregnancy/delivery.html


This link is Merck Manual (great resource for health info):

http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanu...er249/249a.jsp

If you read that and understand it, click on link for "normal labor", and it
tells lengths of different stages of labor for "nulliparas" (never given
birth) and "mutiparas" (given birth before).

copied from website:

The 1st stage of labor--from onset of labor to full dilation of the cervix
(about 10 cm)--has two phases. During the latent phase, contractions become
progressively better coordinated, discomfort is less intense, and the cervix
effaces and dilates to 4 cm. The latent phase is difficult to time
precisely, and duration varies, averaging 8 1/2 h in nulliparas and 5 h in
multiparas. This phase is considered pathologic if it lasts 20 h in a
primigravida or 12 h in a multigravida. During the active phase, the
cervix becomes fully dilated, and the presenting part descends well into the
midpelvis. On average, this phase lasts 5 h in nulliparas and 2 h in
multiparas. The cervix should dilate 1.2 cm/h in nulliparas and 1.5 cm/h in
multiparas. The patient may begin to feel the urge to bear down as the
presenting part descends into the pelvis. However, the patient should be
discouraged from pushing until the cervix is fully dilated to prevent
tearing the cervix and wasting energy.

The 2nd stage of labor is the time from full cervical dilation to delivery
of the fetus. On average, it lasts 2 h in nulliparas and l h in multiparas.
It may last an additional hour if the patient has an epidural. For
spontaneous delivery, the patient must supplement uterine contractions by
expulsively bearing down.



Another one:

http://members.efn.org/~djz/birth/betterbirth/7.html

I just did a search in google "labor time pregnancies" and "labor length".
Some of what I saw wasn't useful, but I didn't really look too hard.

http://www.parentsplace.com/expert/m...a=adid=7948891

http://babies.sutterhealth.org/labor...ld_stages.html

Good luck Kara!!!

shelly