Vaginal birth after cesarean section for arrest of labor: is success determined by maximum cervical dilatation during the prior labor?

The charts of 229 patients who attempted a vaginal birth after a cesarean section were reviewed. A total of 103 patients had a prior cesarean section for either failure to progress or cephalopelvic disproportion. On the basis of the maximum cervical dilatation in the prior labor, the patients were categorized into three groups: 0 to 5 cm, 6 to 9 cm, and 10 cm. The success rates for vaginal delivery of 61%, 80%, and 69%, respectively, were not significantly different among groups (p = 0.31). When arrest of labor was not the indication for primary cesarean section, 78% of the patients were subsequently delivered of their infants vaginally. This was not significantly different from the 70% overall success rate achieved by the group with failure to progress or cephalopelvic disproportion (p = 0.17). Similarly, when the success rate for a trial of labor was plotted against neonatal birth weight, the trends were comparable in the groups with and without failure to progress or cephalopelvic disproportion. These data suggest that patients with a prior cesarean section for arrest of labor are good candidates for a trial of labor and that the cervical dilatation previously reached does not determine the likelihood of success.