[Trial vaginal delivery for women with previous cesarean section]

A retrospective analysis was made on 85 cases of trial labor after previous cesarean section (CS) and compared with 100 primiparous vaginal deliveries (as control) during the last 10 years. Oxytocin infusion has been used in 61 trial cases to induce and/or to accelerate labor, and valium, procaine and atropine administered during the labor process in 23 of them. 65 of the 85 cases (76.5%) successfully delivered through the vagina (VD group), while 20 cases (23.5%) had repeat CS following failure in trial labor (CS group), and 3 women had reatened uterine rupture. There was 1 neonatal death in the VD trial labor group. No obvious difference in the Apgar scores of newborns was found between the CS group and the controls, and the duration of the labor process was much shorter in the VD trial group than that in the primiparae (7.51 +/- 2.44 hrs vs. 9.10 +/- 3.75 hrs) (P < 0.01). This study indicated that following a previous uneventful transverse lower segment cesarean section, trial labor should be encouraged under supervision.