Premium
WHO next‐generation partograph: revolutionary steps towards individualised labour care
Author(s) -
Hofmeyr GJ,
Bernitz S,
Bonet M,
Bucagu M,
Dao B,
Downe S,
Galadanci H,
Homer CSE,
Hundley V,
Lavender T,
Levy B,
Lissauer D,
Lumbiga P,
McConville FE,
Pattinson R,
Qureshi Z,
Souza JP,
Stanton ME,
HoopeBender P,
Vannevel V,
Vogel JP,
Oladapo OT
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/1471-0528.16694
Subject(s) - referral , medicine , nursing
In 1972, two landmark papers in this journal described the partograph,1,2 a chart designed to provide finite referral criteria for midwives working in peripheral clinics who needed to refer women in labour to Harare Hospital, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia). This innovation coincided with influential reports from the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin of the 'active management of labour' (early amniotomy, proactive use of oxytocin and one-to-one nursing care) with the objective of achieving birth within a limited time frame.3 The partograph was globally adopted, and has been used as part of the assessment of labour progress for nearly half a century. It was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the early 1990s as a routine tool for displaying the progress of labour. Despite its global acceptance, utilization and correct completion rates as low as 31% and 3% respectively, have been reported.