Maternal Height and the Risk of Cesarean Delivery Due to Cephalopelvic Disproportion in Nulliparous Women

This study was performed to identify the relationship between maternal height of ≤155 cm and the risk of cesarean delivery and cesarean delivery due to cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD) among women who had delivered in Chonnam National University Hospital from January 1997 to December 2007. A total of 1214 term, uncomplicated, singleton nulliparous pregnant women were selected among 10,434 deliveries, and the patients were divided into two groups based on maternal height: ≤155 cm (173 cases) as the study group and ＞155 cm (512 cases) as the control group. Various baseline clinical characteristics, intrapartum characteristics, and maternal and neonatal outcomes were analyzed. The cesarean delivery rate was 34.7 % (60/173) in the study group and 21.7 % (111/512) in the control group, which was statistically significant (p=0.001). The cesarean delivery rate due to CPD was 19.7 % (34/173) in the study group and 10.7 % (55/512) in the control group, which was statistically significant (p=0.003). Birth weight was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (3193.2±336.8 g and 3293.0±384.1 g respectively, p＜0.003). In conclusion, the overall cesarean delivery rate and cesarean delivery rate du