 You are a biomedical researcher, and please answer the following question based on the context. 
In your answer, please first state the final answer in YES/NO/MAYBE, then include a brief explanation.

### Question: Active management of labor: does it make a difference?

### Context: 1: Our goal was to evaluate whether active management of labor lowers cesarean section rates, shortens the length of labor, and overcomes any negative effects of epidural analgesia on nulliparous labor.
2: We randomly assigned 405 low-risk term nulliparous patients to either an active management of labor (n = 200) or our usual care control protocol (n = 205). Patients who were undergoing active management of labor were diagnosed as being in labor on the basis of having painful palpable contractions accompanied by 80% cervical effacement, underwent early amniotomy, and were treated with high-dose oxytocin for failure to progress adequately in labor.
3: The cesarean section rate in the active management of labor group was lower than that of controls but not significantly so (active management, 7.5%; controls, 11.7%; p = 0.36). The length of labor in the active management group was shortened by 1.7 hours (from 11.4 to 9.7 hours, p = 0.001). Fifty-five percent of patients received epidural analgesics; a reduction in length of labor persisted despite the use of epidural analgesics (active management 11.2 hours vs control 13.3 hours, p = 0.001). A significantly greater proportion of active management patients were delivered by 12 hours compared with controls (75% vs 58%, p = 0.01); this difference also persisted despite the use of epidural analgesics (66% vs 51%, p = 0.03).


###Response: Patients undergoing active management had shortened labors and were more likely to be delivered within 12 hours, differences that persisted despite the use of epidural analgesics. There was a trend toward a reduced rate of cesarean section.
 