Monitoring the progress of labor in primiparous women using Partograph

Background: Prolonged and obstructed labor is an important cause of maternal deaths. Most deaths have been occurred because of inability to detect a prolonged labor. The partograph is a tool which can
graphically monitor the progress of labor and delivery. This study was conducted to determine
the length of the first stage of labor and pregnancy outcomes by using partograph.
Methods & Materials: In this descriptive study, data of 365 nulliparous pregnant women who came to the delivery ward of Imam Reza hospital in Kermanshah during June - July 2010was collected. Data was analyzed by SPSS software version 20.
Results: In total, 92.3% of the women had a normal vaginal delivery indicating the cesarean rate 7.7%.
The cervical dilatation of 89.6% was normal and it reached the maximum in less than 14 hours.
75.9% of mothers had an average contraction of 40 seconds and only 0.8 % had meconium in
their amniotic fluid. Bradycardia was seen in 1.1%. Failure to progress of labor in 14.8% of cases
has occurred and induction by oxytocin was helpful. In 91.2% of cases, the placenta and
membranes were completely removed.
Conclusion: This study was found a relationship between the use of the partograph and birth outcomes as the majority of the mothers had a vaginal delivery and only a limited number of those had cesarean
delivery. Partograph is an accurate instrument which can reflect the labor’s state and can warn us
when there is a risk and help to take the most appropriate actions.