Plot Labour Progress on a Partograph

The partograph is the single most important chart in a labour ward. It plots how labour is progressing — how far the cervix has opened (dilatation), how strong and frequent the contractions are, and how the baby’s heartbeat is holding up — all against time. Reading it at a glance tells the midwife whether labour is moving normally or beginning to stall, so help can be called early. Veona keeps the partograph live: every timed observation you plot is saved and stays on the chart.

Who / when: the midwife (role midwife), from the moment a mother is admitted to the labour ward and through the hours of her labour. We’ll follow Midwife Funke caring for Mrs. Adeyemi, who has gone into labour.

1. Midwife — first make sure the mother is admitted to labour. Open Maternity → Labour Ward and use “Admit to labour”; this is the same admission step described in Admit a Mother to the Labour Ward. It opens her labour admission (a LAB- reference) and places her on the live labour-ward list.
2. Midwife — open Maternity → Partograph and select the mother’s labour admission. Her partograph chart opens, ready for entries.
3. Midwife — press “Plot entry” to add a timed observation. Record the cervical dilatation (how many centimetres the cervix has opened), the contractions (how many in ten minutes and how strong), and the fetal heart rate (the baby’s heartbeat).
4. Midwife — save the entry. The point is plotted on the chart against the dilatation axis at the time you recorded it, and it persists — reopen the partograph later and your plot is still there.
5. Midwife — repeat “Plot entry” at each assessment through labour. The chart fills out over time, drawing the picture of how labour is progressing.

Note

Plot honestly and on time. The partograph’s whole value is the trend it shows — a dilatation line that flattens, or a fetal heart rate drifting out of range, is the early warning that something needs attention. Every plotted entry is timestamped and saved against her labour admission.

Tip

You admit the mother once (step 1) and then plot many entries against that same labour admission. You do not re-admit her each time — just reopen Maternity → Partograph, pick her admission, and add the next timed entry.

What happens next

As labour reaches its end, the midwife records the birth itself. Open Maternity → Delivery (“Record delivery”), pick the mother, and set the delivery time and mode — SVD (spontaneous vaginal delivery), C-section (caesarean), assisted, or breech — then save. Recording the delivery is the step that opens the way to registering the newborn as a patient in their own right.

Follow the trail

• Previous: Record Antenatal Care Visits · Admit a Mother to the Labour Ward
• Next: Register a Newborn as a New Patient
• Related: Admit a Mother to the Labour Ward · Schedule Newborn Immunisations and Reminders