Factors Influencing the Use of Partograph among Midwives in Monitoring of Labour :

Abstract

The partograph is a graphical paper, which provides display of observations carried out on a laboring mother. It is very important in the identification of abnormal labor, which is the cause of problem, which leads to morbidity and mortality. Aim of the study was to assess the factors that influence partograph use in the monitoring of labor among midwives in Lacor and Gulu regional referral hospital.

The method: cross-sectional study design used a mixed method where structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the midwives and five key informants were interviewed using a key informant guide.

Findings: the analysis showed that partograph utilization was at 62% and that41.3% of the midwives had good attitude towards partograph use, 36.96% had a fair attitudes and 21.74% had a poor attitude towards partograph use. The factors that were responsible for the low usage of partograph included the following: inadequate knowledge about the partograph (the staff had good knowledge about the partograph, but most of the them could not define the alert and the action line which are very important lines on the partograph); inadequate staffing levels which was reported by both the midwives and the in charges (key informants; mothers reporting late in labor and some women who come to give birth have complicated births.

Conclusion and recommendation: the partograph use is not optimal hence there should be proper training provided to midwives right from their training institutions and there should be continuous training provided to the in-service staff to boost the utilization of this important tool.

Key words: partograph-utilization-labor-factors.