BMJ 1994;309:1016 (15 October)

Letters

WHO partogram helps

EDITOR, - James G Thornton and Richard J Lilford's review of active management of labour1 was accepted for publication too late for it to include the results of the multicentre trial of the World Health Organisation partogram.2 Although not a randomised controlled trial (it would be impossible to conduct such a trial free from bias), this trial of the impact of use of the partogram with an agreed protocol for managing labour on the outcome of labour is important because of its scientific rigour, the fact that it was a multicentre study, and, in particular, the large number of women in labour included (35 484). Its findings largely reinforce Thornton and Lilford's conclusions but add force to the argument for monitoring all labours with a partogram incorporating alert and action lines similar to Philpott and Castle's original design.3

The crucial factor in active management of labour is the timing of . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Active management of labour: current knowledge and research issues
J G Thornton and R J Lilford
BMJ 1994 309: 366-9. [Abstract] [Full Text]

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