Characteristics of uterine activity in nulliparous labour.
Uterine activity was studied in 40 nulliparous Chinese women who were in normal labour and had a normal delivery. A catheter-tip pressure transducer coupled with a uterine activity integrator was used to observe and quantify uterine activity. Normal labour progress was defined as labour progressing within 2 h to the right of a line drawn at 1 cm/h in the active phase. A wide range of uterine activity was recorded with varying degrees of co-ordination. The minimum level of uterine activity likely to be associated with labour progress was 650 kPas/15 min at 3 cm cervical dilatation. The median level in the active phase of normal labour was 1440 kPas/15 min. There was a strong correlation between measurements in kPas/15 min and Montevideo units/15 min (r = 0.71, P less than 0.001). No significant increase was found in basal tone.
D000328:Adult; D001034:Apgar Score; D044466:Asian People; D001724:Birth Weight; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D014590:Uterine Contraction