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O63.9 ICD-10-CM Code: Long labor, unspecified

Compare with another code for O63.9Check this code on a claim

Billing Status: YES. This is a valid, specific, and billable ICD-10-CM reference.

Coding at a Glance

Official instructions
1 inclusion term

What these terms mean →

Billable · FY2027A valid, specific ICD-10-CM code, reportable for dates of service in FY2027.

What you need to know

Source: CMS/NCHS Official ICD-10-CM tabular notes, quoted. From the CMS/NCHS tabular list for the release in force. A note the category or block publishes applies to this code too, and is marked with where it comes from.

IncludesWhat this code covers
  • Prolonged labor NOS

Where it sits Source: CMS/NCHS

Under:Chapter 15: Pregnancy, Childbirth and the PuerperiumO60-O77 Complications of labor and deliveryO63 Long labor

CompareCheck ClaimView Related Codes

Inpatient Payment Groups (MS-DRG)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

MS-DRGs this diagnosis helps define, as principal or secondary, per the CMS ICD-10-CM/PCS MS-DRG Definitions Manual v44, Appendix B.

  • MS-DRG 817 — OTHER ANTEPARTUM DIAGNOSES WITH O.R. PROCEDURES WITH MCC (MDC 14)
  • MS-DRG 818 — OTHER ANTEPARTUM DIAGNOSES WITH O.R. PROCEDURES WITH CC (MDC 14)
  • MS-DRG 819 — OTHER ANTEPARTUM DIAGNOSES WITH O.R. PROCEDURES WITHOUT CC/MCC (MDC 14)
  • MS-DRG 831 — OTHER ANTEPARTUM DIAGNOSES WITHOUT O.R. PROCEDURES WITH MCC (MDC 14)
  • MS-DRG 832 — OTHER ANTEPARTUM DIAGNOSES WITHOUT O.R. PROCEDURES WITH CC (MDC 14)
  • MS-DRG 833 — OTHER ANTEPARTUM DIAGNOSES WITHOUT O.R. PROCEDURES WITHOUT CC/MCC (MDC 14)

A diagnosis appearing in a group's logic does not by itself determine the DRG assigned to a stay; the grouper uses the full claim.

Coding instructions

Official Tabular Instructional Notes: the inclusion, exclusion and sequencing notes published for O63.9 in the official ICD-10-CM tabular list, quoted as published.

Source: CMS/CDC — ICD-10-CM Tabular ListRelease: FY2027Effective: October 1, 2026

Trace:FY2027 changesChange historyRelease, file and checksum

Inclusion Terms

Alternative terms the tabular list files under this code.

  • Prolonged labor NOS

Coder workflow for O63.9

MedCoder structured workflow — derived from this code’s own official record

Before you code O63.9

  1. Unspecified does not mean incorrect. When the record gives no greater specificity, O63.9 may be the appropriate code. Check the record for detail that supports a more specific sibling — in this subcategory the siblings differ by stage. An unspecified code is for records that do not provide the detail a more specific code needs; a query, not an assumption, is the route to specificity (Guidelines I.A.9.b, I.B.18).

    ReviewO63.0, O63.1, O63.2

    See the relationships section · Guide: Other vs unspecified (NEC vs NOS) →

  2. Confirm the condition is documented as complicating the pregnancy, childbirth, or the puerperium, and check the trimester where the code carries one and the fetus character where the category requires it. Chapter 15 codes belong on the maternal record only and take sequencing priority over codes from other chapters. It is the provider’s responsibility to state that a condition is not affecting the pregnancy; the trimester is assigned from the documentation (Guidelines I.C.15.a, I.C.15.a.1, I.C.15.a.3).

    Guide: How to choose an ICD-10-CM code →

Choose the right path

  1. Does the record document the detail a more specific sibling code needs?
    Yes → Review the specific siblings in this subcategory.
    No → Continue — O63.9 is appropriate when the documentation goes no further.

    ReviewO63.0, O63.1, O63.2

Consider O63.9. Then confirm the code is valid for the date of service in the Verify section.

Documentation check

The provider’s diagnostic statement
Codes are assigned from the provider’s documented diagnosis, not from clinical criteria, test values or a medication list (Guidelines I.A.19).
Stage
The documented stage decides the sibling code; where a Use Additional Code note asks for a stage code, report it as well.
Trimester
Assigned from the documented trimester at the encounter, or the trimester in which the condition developed for inpatient stays (Guidelines I.C.15.a.3).
Any detail beyond this code’s title
What the record states that a more specific code would capture — or its absence, which itself supports the unspecified code.

Coding decision scenarios

Pattern scenarios for this code’s structure — decision rules, not clinical cases

Documentation: The provider documents the condition in the terms of this code’s title and records no further detail.

Coding question: Is a more specific sibling code supportable?

Path: Review the specific siblings in this subcategory and what each requires the record to state.

Reason: A more specific code needs documentation of the distinguishing element; without it the unspecified code is appropriate, and a provider query is the route to specificity (Guidelines I.A.9.b, I.B.18).

ReviewO63.0, O63.1, O63.2

Every row is derived from this code’s own record — its title, tabular notes, 7th-character family and same-category siblings — with fixed MedCoder wording; nothing is inferred about a patient. The official notes and guideline text are in the sections each row links to, and they control.

Coding context

Guidelines, coding notes, decision aids, relationships (with MS-DRG and CCSR classification), hierarchy, HCC, coverage and the context map: what a coder reaches for after the core. Each section names whether it is official source data, a MedCoder-derived relationship or MedCoder editorial.

Code Overview

Long labor, unspecified is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code (O63.9).

MedCoder summary Summary composed by MedCoder from this code's official ICD-10-CM record. The tabular instructional notes themselves appear verbatim below.

Verify Before Coding

  • Age-restricted: the Medicare Code Editor lists this as a maternity (age 9-64) diagnosis; other ages are presumed incorrect.
  • CC as a secondary diagnosis (FY2027). Can raise the stay's MS-DRG severity tier.

From the code registry, the Medicare Code Editor, and the MS-DRG Definitions Manual. Check it against a full claim in Claim Check.

Relationships & Classification

MedCoder-derived relationships — computed from published CMS and AHRQ datasets

MS-DRG Grouper Relationships (FY2027)

Potential MS-DRG participation — not a DRG assignment.

FY2027 MS-DRG: CC — Complication or Comorbidity. Reported as a secondary diagnosis, this code raises the stay's MS-DRG severity tier — except when the principal diagnosis is one of 250 clinically related codes on its CMS exclusion list.

Named in the grouper logic of 6 MS-DRGs: DRG 817 (MDC 14), DRG 818 (MDC 14), DRG 819 (MDC 14), DRG 831 (MDC 14), DRG 832 (MDC 14), DRG 833 (MDC 14).

From the CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (Appendices B and C). Actual DRG assignment depends on the complete claim.

Clinical classification (AHRQ CCSR):PRG024 — Malposition, disproportion or other labor complications (default).

Clinical Classifications Software Refined (CCSR) for ICD-10-CM Diagnoses. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Related Codes

Same clinical process (MS-DRG)

Acts as CC — raises the severity of other admissions. CMS groups these diagnoses into one MS-DRG principal-diagnosis exclusion process — a CC/MCC on this list never raises severity when the principal diagnosis is also on it.

O36.8134 — Decreased fetal movements, third trimester, fetus 4, O36.8135 — Decreased fetal movements, third trimester, fetus 5, O36.8139 — Decreased fetal movements, third trimester, other fetus, O36.8190 — Decreased fetal movements, unspecified trimester, not applicable or unspecified, O36.8191 — Decreased fetal movements, unspecified trimester, fetus 1, O36.8192 — Decreased fetal movements, unspecified trimester, fetus 2, O36.8193 — Decreased fetal movements, unspecified trimester, fetus 3, O36.8194 — Decreased fetal movements, unspecified trimester, fetus 4, O36.8195 — Decreased fetal movements, unspecified trimester, fetus 5, O36.8199 — Decreased fetal movements, unspecified trimester, other fetus, O71.00 — Rupture of uterus before onset of labor, unspecified trimester, O71.02 — Rupture of uterus before onset of labor, second trimester, O71.03 — Rupture of uterus before onset of labor, third trimester, O71.1 — Rupture of uterus during labor, O71.5 — Other obstetric injury to pelvic organs, O71.81 — Laceration of uterus, not elsewhere classified, O71.89 — Other specified obstetric trauma, O71.9 — Obstetric trauma, unspecified, O75.4 — Other complications of obstetric surgery and procedures, O75.81 — Maternal exhaustion complicating labor and delivery, +229 more

Same clinical category (CCSR)

AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software groups these diagnoses under the same clinical category (Malposition, disproportion or other labor complications).

O62.0 — Primary inadequate contractions, O62.1 — Secondary uterine inertia, O62.2 — Other uterine inertia, O62.3 — Precipitate labor, O62.4 — Hypertonic, incoordinate, and prolonged uterine contractions, O62.8 — Other abnormalities of forces of labor, O62.9 — Abnormality of forces of labor, unspecified, O63.0 — Prolonged first stage (of labor), O63.1 — Prolonged second stage (of labor), O63.2 — Delayed delivery of second twin, triplet, etc., O64.0XX0 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head, not applicable or unspecified, O64.0XX1 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head, fetus 1, O64.0XX2 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head, fetus 2, O64.0XX3 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head, fetus 3, O64.0XX4 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head, fetus 4, O64.0XX5 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head, fetus 5, O64.0XX9 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head, other fetus, O64.1XX0 — Obstructed labor due to breech presentation, not applicable or unspecified, O64.1XX1 — Obstructed labor due to breech presentation, fetus 1, O64.1XX2 — Obstructed labor due to breech presentation, fetus 2, +239 more

Same Index main term, other category

The ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries files this code under the main terms “Delivery”, “Prolonged, prolongation”; these codes share that main term but sit in a different category of the Tabular List.

O61.1 — Failed instrumental induction of labor (cesarean, failed, induction of labor, surgical), O61.8 — Other failed induction of labor (cesarean, failed, induction of labor, specified NEC), O61.9 — Failed induction of labor, unspecified (cesarean, failed, induction of labor), O62.0 — Primary inadequate contractions (cesarean, poor dilatation, cervix), O62.1 — Secondary uterine inertia (arrested active phase), O62.2 — Other uterine inertia (cesarean, atony, uterus), O62.3 — Precipitate labor (precipitate), O62.4 — Hypertonic, incoordinate, and prolonged uterine contractions (complicated, by, Bandl's ring), O62.8 — Other abnormalities of forces of labor (complicated, by, abnormal, abnormality, forces of labor, specified type NEC), O62.9 — Abnormality of forces of labor, unspecified (complicated, by, dysfunction, uterus NOS), O64.0 — Obstructed labor due to incomplete rotation of fetal head (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, deep transverse arrest), O64.1 — Obstructed labor due to breech presentation (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, breechpresentation), O64.2 — Obstructed labor due to face presentation (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, face presentation), O64.3 — Obstructed labor due to brow presentation (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, brow presentation), O64.4 — Obstructed labor due to shoulder presentation (complicated, by, shoulder presentation), O64.5 — Obstructed labor due to compound presentation (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, compound presentation), O64.8 — Obstructed labor due to other malposition and malpresentation (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, footling presentation), O64.9 — Obstructed labor due to malposition and malpresentation, unspecified (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, malposition), O65.0 — Obstructed labor due to deformed pelvis (cesarean, abnormal, pelvis, with obstructed labor), O65.1 — Obstructed labor due to generally contracted pelvis (complicated, by, obstructed labor, due to, contracted pelvis), +201 more

Contextual Map

Every relationship of O63.9 in one view: hierarchy, official tabular instructions in both directions, clinical classification, risk adjustment, MS-DRG participation, index terms and change history — each edge carrying the CMS source it derives from.

Hierarchy

Clinical classification (CCSR)

MS-DRG Grouper

MDC crossing

  • MDC 14 — Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium[MDC crossing]: “Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium — the grouper's crossing between diagnoses and procedures: a principal diagnosis sets the MDC, and same-MDC procedures move the stay to its surgical DRGs. 94 same-MDC procedures group here; browse them on the MDC page.”— CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual · FY2027

Index entries

  • Delay, delayed, birth or delivery NOS[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2027
  • Delivery (childbirth) (labor), cesarean (for), prolonged labor NOS[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2027
  • Delivery (childbirth) (labor), complicated, by, prolonged labor[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2027
  • Delivery (childbirth) (labor), complicated, by, retarded birth[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2027
  • Delivery (childbirth) (labor), delayed NOS[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2027
  • Long, labor[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2027
  • Prolonged, prolongation (of), labor[Index term]— CMS ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries · icd10cm-fy2027

Nearest codes

Change history

  • FY2016 — In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption [Change history]— CMS release files (code change ledger) · icd10cm-fy2016

Reference

Index terms and tables, published questions and FAQ, every source behind this page with its release and checksum, the date-of-service check and the complete change history.

Indexed Clinical Terms (7)

Official source data — entries quoted as published, in the Index’s own lookup phrasing

Clinical term phrases from the official ICD-10-CM Index to Diseases and Injuries that map to this code. These are alphabetic-index entries shown as the Index writes them — lookup phrasing, not necessarily the wording of a final diagnosis.

Sources for this page

Codes, titles, notes, index terms and mappings on this page are transcribed from the datasets below. Relationships MedCoder computed and text MedCoder wrote are labelled where they appear.

Code, title, tabular notes and index terms Official source data
CMS/CDC ICD-10-CM FY2027 tabular list, index and tables, effective October 1, 2026 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Claim edits Official source data
CMS Definitions of Medicare Code Edits — v44.0 (October 2026) Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Inpatient payment groups Official source data
CMS MS-DRG Definitions Manual (incl. Appendix B diagnosis index, Appendix C CC/MCC list, Appendix E procedure index) and IPPS Final Rule tables — v44 Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Change history and date-of-service validity Official source data
CMS ICD-10-CM release addenda, ingested release by release into the change ledger Release, file and checksum · Publisher’s page
Comparisons, relationships and the contextual map MedCoder-derived relationship
Computed by MedCoder from the tabular notes and tables above; every derived relationship is marked as derived where it appears
Summary and FAQ answers MedCoder editorial explanation
Written by MedCoder to explain the sources above: drafted with AI assistance, checked by a person against the release files, and labelled as MedCoder text where it appears. Not official text.

Current data releases:ICD-10-CM FY2027 · ICD-10-PCS FY2027 · HCPCS October 2026 · MS-DRG v44 · Medicare Code Editor v44.0 · NCCI PTP Q4 2026 · MUE Q4 2026 · NCD code lists 2026-01 · LCD export September 28, 2026 · All releases and sources

Labels on this page: Official source data · MedCoder-derived relationship · MedCoder editorial explanation. How to read the labels · All data sources and release dates · CMS coding rules

Cite this page

Reference this page in a research guide, syllabus or article. The release is included because code content changes each year.

MedCoder.ai. "O63.9 — Long labor, unspecified." ICD-10-CM FY2027. https://medcoder.ai/icd10/code/o63.9-long-labor-unspecified

Change history

  • FY2016 — October 1, 2015
    In the code set at ICD-10-CM adoption
    Long labor, unspecified

No changes since FY2016 — additions, deletions, description changes and billable-status changes are tracked through FY2027, and none are recorded for this code. Note changes are tracked from FY2027 only.

Nearest Codes in This Family

Official ICD-10-CM classifications closest to O63.9 in its code family, with their registry titles.

View all codes in the O63 family