What are the ACOG/SMFM guidelines for prevention of cesarean delivery (C-section)?
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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) released joint guidelines for the safe prevention of primary cesarean delivery. These include the following :
Prolonged latent (early)-phase labor should be permitted
The start of active-phase labor can be defined as cervical dilation of 6 cm, rather than 4 cm
In the active phase, more time should be permitted for labor to progress
Multiparous women should be allowed to push for 2 or more hours and primiparous women for 3 or more hours; pushing may be allowed to continue for even longer periods in some cases, as when epidural anesthesia is administered
Techniques to aid vaginal delivery, such as the use of forceps, should be employed
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@mala Cesarean deliveries were initially performed to separate the mother and the fetus in an attempt to save the fetus of a moribund patient. They subsequently developed to resolve maternal or fetal complications not amenable to vaginal delivery, either for mechanical limitations or to temporize delivery for maternal or fetal benefit.