Abstract
Summary. Uterine activity was studied in 40 multiparous Singapore women of Chinese origin who were in normal labour and had a normal delivery. A catheter tip pressure transducer coupled with a uterine activity integrator was used to quantify uterine activity. Normal labour progress was defined as labour progressing within 2 h to the right of a line drawn on the partogram at 1 cm/h in the active phase of labour. A wide range of activity was observed. The median level of uterine activity rose from 815 kPas/15 min at 3 cm dilatation to 1731 kPas/15 min at 9 cm dilatation with an overall median level of 1130 kPas/15 min. The 10th centile value rose from 430 kPas/15 min at 3 cm dilatation to 923 kPas/15 min at 9 cm dilatation. Profiles of dilatation‐specific activity values were constructed. These values were significantly lower than in a comparative group of nulliparous patients. The parous uterus requires to expend significantly less effort to effect normal vaginal delivery than its nulliparous counterpart.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 843-848 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology |
Volume | 91 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1984 |