Kate Middleton Had a Quick, 3-Hour Labor. How Common Is It?
Only a small percentage of women have as speedy a labor and delivery as Kate did on Saturday, when she gave birth to her little princess Charlotte. (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
When Kate Middleton was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in London on Saturday morning, it was 6am, and Kensington Palace tweeted that she was in the “early stages” of labor. At 8:34 a.m., Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana had come into the world.
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Kate’s labor appears to have clocked in at under three hours — enviably quick when compared to the typical length of time for second-baby labor, which is 10 to 12 hours, Dr. Gil Weiss, assistant professor of clinical medicine at Northwestern University and an ob-gyn in Chicago, tells Yahoo Parenting.
And considering that Kate and her new princess (along with Will and cheeky Prince George) checked out of the hospital by 6pm, her labor wasn’t just speedy, it seems to have been complication-free.
How did Kate luck out with a labor and delivery that didn’t even require an overnight hospital stay? Three percent of moms experience a labor of three hours or shorter — which is the definition of fast labor, or “precipitous labor,” as ob-gyns call it. And though luck comes in to play, most of these moms have certain factors in common that make labor go lightning fast.
One has to do with pelvic size. “Kate looks so petite, but she probably has what we call a ‘good pelvis,’ meaning it’s wide enough to get a baby through easily,” says Weiss. The type of pelvis a woman has depends on her genetics, so Kate can thank her mom and dad for this one.
STORY: Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Life With Baby No. 2
Another factor has to do with fitness. “Kate is very active, and she’s not overweight,” Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, clinical professor of ob-gyn at Yale School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Parenting. “The fitter you are, the more strength and power you have to really push when needed. That helps labor progress.”
Adds Weiss: “Women who are in shape tend to have better muscle control.” They’re also more aware of their bodies, he says, which helps when it comes to anticipating contractions and knowing when to push.
A rapid-fire labor is much more common in second and third births. “Your body has been through it before, and your muscle memory kicks in and helps the process go faster,” says Weiss. Also, women whose moms or sisters sped through labor are more likely to experience it as well. (Heads-up Pippa!)
Of course, it’s possible that Kate was in labor a lot longer than three hours, but she chose to hang out at home instead of hightail it to St. Mary’s. “I tell my patients that if their contractions are starting and they’re 8 to 10 minutes apart, there’s no rush to get to the hospital; they can stay home, where they’ll be more comfortable,” says Minkin. “It’s only when contractions come every five minutes or less that it’s time to get moving,” says Minkin.
Kate manages to keep her cool in so many aspects of her life. So it’s not a stretch to think that she may have started feeling contractions hours earlier — but chose to chill out with Will and Prince George until it was officially time to push and deliver.
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