SynthesisBMC pregnancy and childbirth2017
A realist review of the partograph: when and how does it work for labour monitoring?
Synthesis in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effect of partograph use on outcomes for women in spontaneous labour at term and their babies.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- The effect of mechanical massage on labor pain, duration and maternal satisfaction: a randomized controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of the Modified WHO Labour Care Guide to Detect Prolonged and Obstructed Labour Among Women Admitted at Eight Publicly Funded, Midwife-Led Community Health Facilities in Rural Mbarara District, Southwestern Uganda: An Ambispective Cohort Study.International journal of women's health · 2025Trial
- Effects of the WHO Labour Care Guide on cesarean section in India: a pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized pilot trial.Nature medicine · 2024Trial
- Multi-professional simulation training on prolonged labor in Tanzania: A quasi-experimental, pre-post interventional study.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- A Comparison of Midwives' Perceptions of the Labour Care Guide and the Traditional Partograph: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice of birth attendants regarding partograph use and its association with birth outcomes: a cross sectional study in Iran.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Effect of eHealth intervention (ADHERE) on adherence to partograph and WHO safe childbirth checklist in intrapartum care: implementation research in Ethiopia.Reproductive health · 2026Article
- Acceptability of the Moyo device for intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring at a referral hospital in Uganda: a qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Review
- Effectiveness of the modified WHO labour care guide to detect prolonged and obstructed labour among women admitted at publicly funded facilities in rural Mbarara district, Southwestern Uganda: an ambispective cohort study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Development of a novel labour monitoring tool: Improving labour care quality in the Indian setting.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2024Article
- Article
- Customization and acceptability of the WHO labor care guide to improve labor monitoring among health workers in Uganda. An iterative development, mixed method study.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Utilisation of partogram at a district in the North West Province, South Africa.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
- Global research priorities related to the World Health Organization Labour Care Guide: results of a global consultation.Reproductive health · 2023Article
- Article
- Implementing the WHO Labour Care Guide to reduce the use of Caesarean section in four hospitals in India: protocol and statistical analysis plan for a pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized pilot trial.Reproductive health · 2023Article
- In which context and for whom can interventions improve leadership of surgical trainees, surgeons and surgical teams and why: a realist review protocol.NIHR open research · 2023Article
- Proper partograph utilization among skilled birth attendants in Hawassa city public health facilities, Sidama region, Ethiopia, in 2021.BMC women's health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe partograph (or partogram) is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), for monitoring labour wellbeing and progress. Concerns about limitations in the way the partograph is used in the clinical context and the potential impact on its effectiveness have led to this realist systematic review of partograph use.
methodsThis review aimed to answer two key questions, 1) What is it about the partograph that works (or does not work); for whom does it work; and in what circumstances? 2) What are the essential inputs required for the partograph to work? A comprehensive search strategy encompassed key databases; including papers of varying methodologies. Papers were selected for inclusion if the focus of the paper was the partograph and related to context, mechanism or outcome. Ninety five papers were included for data synthesis. Two authors completed data extraction and synthesis.
resultsThe evidence synthesis relates the evidence to identified theories of health worker acceptability, health system support, effective referral systems, human resources and health worker competence, highlighting barriers and facilitators.
conclusionsThis first comprehensive realist synthesis of the partograph, provides the international community of maternity clinicians with a picture of potential issues and solutions related to successful labour recording and management, which is also translatable to other monitoring approaches.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.