European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Since decades  labour curve given  by E. Friedman in 1950 is used in  obstetrics practices all over the world; but recent studies have highlighted labour progression pattern which deviates from Friedman’s curve. Recently there have been many studies done to focus on progress of labour in contemporary labouring females. Till date no other study has been focused on developing labour curves for Indian origin females. This study is done to evaluate pattern of labour progress in  central Indian origin female. Objective: To analyse demographic  characteristics  affecting spontaneous  labour progression in low risk pregnant females of central Indian origin.  Material and methods: It was prospective observational study done from August 2017 to July 2018. Low risk term pregnant women with spontaneous onset of labour were included and findings were entered in a pre-structured format. Results: Mean age of study population was 24.43 years with a range of 18 to 35 years. Mean body mass index (BMI) of study population was 21.49 with a range of 18.5 -30 kg/m2. Maximum number of females were nulliparous i.e 79.10%. Mean cervical dilatation at admission was 4 cm. Mean duration of active phase of labour was 3.66 hrs. Mean duration of second stage of labour was 38.4 minutes. Mean rate of cervical dilation in active phase of labour was 1.42 cm/hour. Conclusion: Demographic features of our study population are different from other studies done in various parts of world.Labour curve of our study population is also different from contemporary labour curves. Labour curve of our study population is comparable with classic Friedman's curve in terms of extent of labour duration and duration of second stage of labour , but it differs from it in start of active phase of labour,rate of cervical dilatation. But whether this curve should be accepted as for Indian population, still need validation by some more studies.