title: The relationship of ethnicity, maternal height and shoe size, and method of delivery.
abstract: In a bid to determine the relationship of ethnicity, maternal height and shoe size as predictors of cephalopelvic disproportion, we conducted a prospective comparative study of primigravidas at term with singleton pregnancies, who had undergone spontaneous labour. A total of 208 primigravidas were studied; 151 (62.9%) achieved vaginal delivery and 57 (37.1%) had emergency caesarean section for failure-to-progress. We found a statistically significant positive correlation between maternal height and vaginal delivery (p = 0.04), but no correlation with maternal shoe size was found (p = 0.24). This study also showed that Caucasian women were significantly more than twice as likely to achieve vaginal delivery compared with Africans (p = 0.02). Maternal height of at least 162.5 cm, has a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 43% for predicting vaginal delivery. We concluded that the most predictive anthropometric measurement for vaginal delivery is maternal height.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Derby Hospital, Derby, UK. aokewole@hotmail.com
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Okewole
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faiola
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fakounde
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yoong
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Phillip
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amer
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height; D052178:Cephalopelvic Disproportion / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012775:Shoes