VARIABILITY IN BREATHING PATTERNS DURING LATENT LABOR: A Pilot Study

This study examined the breathing patterns of a small sample of women (n = 21) during latent labor. The study also examined the different thoughts or cognitions the women experienced during their early contractions and assessed whether these cognitions, when classified as associative or dissociative in orientation, were related to breathing styles and length of labor. Respiration rate and tidal volume were monitored during and between contractions using a noninvasive plethysmograph system. The breathing results indicated considerable variation among women in individual respiration rate and tidal volume both between and during contractions. In addition, marked variability was found in both the direction and degree of change in breathing frequency and tidal volume in response to contractions. Women who relied predominantly on associative strategies during early labor had lower breathing rates and higher tidal volumes than did women who employed dissociative strategies.