Monitoring Childbirth

A new study gives health care providers more information on how best to monitor the contractions of certain pregnant women while they’re in labor.

Researchers explored different ways to measure women’s contractions during induced or augmented labor. Induced labor is when a woman undergoes medical intervention to trigger the labor process. Augmented labor means that medical intervention is utilized to help the process along.

The researchers compared two ways of measuring the women’s contractions: an external instrument or a device placed into the mother’s uterus. They were interested to see if either group was more likely to require a cesarean section or tools such as forceps to help pull the baby out.

They found that both groups were equally likely to need help getting the baby out, either with the special tools or a C-section. Babies born in either group also had a similar chance of unwanted issues such as longer hospital stays.

But using internal monitoring does have risks for the mother and baby, the study authors wrote. They concluded that their findings do not support routine use of this more invasive technique in women who need help starting or augmenting their labor.