Academic Editor: Michael H. Dahan
Background: Although the mechanism underlying labor onset is
controversial, there is an empirical finding that bad weather influences it.
Previous reports have focused mainly on the relationship between the timing of
deliveries and the weather conditions; fewer reports have focused on the timing
of labor onset. Thus, we investigated the relationship for identifying
atmospheric factors contributing to labor onset. Methods: We conducted a
Japanese single-center retrospective cross-sectional study for identifying
atmospheric factors contributing to labor onset over 8 years. We gathered daily
atmospheric data in Tokyo from the official homepage of the Japan Meteorological
Agency; mean barometric pressure, total solar irradiation, mean vapor pressure,
and difference between the warmest and coldest temperatures. The percentage of
days on which 1 or more laboring woman was hospitalized and the number of
laboring women hospitalized per day were evaluated between low and middle/high
groups for each atmospheric condition. Results: In total 1178 eligible
women, the percentage of days significantly increased on days of low total solar
irradiation (low group: 38% vs middle/high group: 31%; p