Childbirth is the period from the onset of regular uterine contractions until expulsion of the placenta. The process by which this normally occurs is called labor—a term that in the obstetrical context takes on several connotations from the English language. According to the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1993), toil, trouble, suffering, bodily exertion, especially when painful, and an outcome of work are all characteristics of labor and thus implicated in the process of childbirth. Such connotations all seem appropriate to us and emphasize the need for all attendants to be supportive of the laboring woman‘s needs, particularly in regard to effective pain relief.
At Parkland Hospital in 2003, only 53 percent of 12,139 women with singleton cephalic presentations at term had a spontaneous labor and delivery. The remainder had ineffective labor requiring augmentation (29 percent) or other medical and obstetrical complications requiring induction of labor. It seems excessive to consider almost 50 percent of parturients as “abnormal” because they did not spontaneously labor and deliver. Hence, the distinction between normal and abnormal is often subjective. This high prevalence of labor abnormalities, however, can be used to underscore the importance of labor events in the successful outcome of pregnancy.