Obese women are more likely to require labor induction due to complications during pregnancy; however, they are also at higher risk for labor induction failure (where the labor will not advance despite labor-inducing medications). There have been medical studies in which obese women experienced induction failure twice as many times as women with normal BMIs. For women who are obese, progress of labor is also significantly longer in the first stage of labor than that which is experienced by women of normal weights, regardless of the size of the fetus.
Risk factors for cesarean delivery, whether emergent or elective also increase with the expecting mother’s weight. It is also much less likely that obese mothers will be able to have a vaginal delivery in future pregnancies after a cesarean delivery due to an increased incidence of uterine dehiscence or rupture. Babies born to obese mothers are also at increased risk of being large for gestational age, which is often why a cesarean delivery becomes necessary.
A baby's large size leads to difficulty in the shoulders of the baby passing through the birthing canal. There is also an increased number of infants who are stillborn or die during birth when the mother is obese. This is another negative outcome for which the risk increases with increasing levels of obesity.
Photo Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wray-herbert/
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References
Ramsey, P., Schenken, R., Lockword, C., Pi-Sunyer, X., &
Barss, V. (2017). Obesity in
pregnancy: Complications and maternal management, UpToDate. Retrieved from
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/obesity-in-pregnancy-complications-
and-maternal-management
Squibb, L. (2014). Pregancy, delivery, and childhood
obesity. International
Journal of Childbirth
Education, 29(2), 73-77.
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