Maternal height and the outcome of labor in rural Tanzania.

The influence of maternal height (standardized for parity and birthweight) on obstetrical outcome is studied in 1095 women giving birth in Lugarawa hospital and 3869 women delivering in Mbozi hospital, both rural hospitals in the South Western Highlands of Tanzania. Short stature was found to increase the need for augmentation of labor in primiparae, the need for operative delivery (cesarean section/symphyseotomy) in all parity groups and the need for vacuum extraction in multiparae. The absence of such an effect of height on perinatal mortality is interpreted as the result of obstetric intervention. It is concluded that maternal height, which is easy to measure, remains a useful tool to predict difficult childbirth and cephalopelvic disproportion.