Sonopartogram versus conventional partogram for monitoring progress of labor: a prospective observational study

Background Repeated digital vaginal examination during labor may be uncomfortable for women and increases the risk of ascending infection. Transperineal ultrasound can assess fetal head descent, position, and cervical dilatation without these side effects. This study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of transperineal ultrasound in monitoring labor progress. Results The study included 40 primigravida women in labor. Fair correlation was found between the assessment of fetal head station by vaginal examination (VE) and fetal head perineal distance (HPD) by transperineal ultrasound (TPUS) (Kendall’s tau-b ( τ ) = − 0.299, 95% CI = − 0.479 to − 0.0863, p value = .0063) (Spearman rho = − .3844, p value = .0143; r 2 = 0.1478). Strong correlation was found between the cervical dilatation assessed by VE and by TPUS (Pearson’s r = .8601, 95% CI = 0.7493 to 0.9240, p value < .0001, r 2 = 0.7396). There is moderate agreement between VE and TPUS as regards the assessment of head position on the face-clock [weighted kappa ( κ ) = .557, 95% CI = .362 to.753]. Conclusion Transperineal ultrasound can be used as an alternative to repeated digital examination for assessment of labor progress.