Pulsatile Versus Continuous Oxytocin for the Augmentation of First Stage of Labour: Randomized control study

Abstract

During labour strong coordinated uterine contractions are required to dilate the cervix and deliver the fetus. However, evidence suggests that 14% of women in labour for the first time experience a slowing or arrest of cervical dilatation, leading to delay in the first stage of labour Also known as 'labour dystocia' or 'failure to progress. There continues to be debate around the definition of 'normal labour' and what constitutes abnormal labour progress. In 1950 Friedman described the active phase of labour as when there was a significant increase in the rate of change of cervical dilatation and slow progress being signified by dilatation of less than 1.2 cm per hour and less than 1.5 cm per hour in primiparous and multiparous women, respectively. In 1990 the World Health Organization (WHO) produced an internationally recognized partogram, a chart plotting the cervical dilatation against time with 1 cm per hour considered normal progres.