Use of abnormalities in the Friedman curve as a predictor of operative delivery in macrosomic babies.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of the Friedman labor curve as a predictor of operative delivery in macrosomic pregnancies. STUDY DESIGN: Medical records of 1141 patients who had delivered babies > or =4000 gm (group 1) were reviewed and were compared with the results of the next mother who delivered a neonate with birth weight or =4000 gm, there was a trend toward a longer second stage, arrest disorder, and operative delivery but this did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Abnormalities in the Friedman curve were not useful as a predictor for operative delivery in pregnancies complicated by fetal macrosomia. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of the variables studied.