Spurious labor: a high risk factor for dysfunctional labor and fetal distress

This is a retrospective case controlled study comparing the outcome of labor and neonates in pregnancies complicated by spurious labor at term. The first stage of labor was significantly longer and the proportion of cases requiring oxytocin augmentation was higher in the study group when compared to the controls. More infants in the study group displayed intrapartum CTG abnormalities and five had a depressed Apgar score at 5 min, compared to none in the controls. Of these five neonates, three were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and one died from meconium aspiration syndrome and asphyxia. The findings in this study support the view that spurious labor at term constitutes a high risk factor for the ensuing labor.