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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Betty-Anne Daviss, MSc, RM, Midwifery Collective of Ottawa, 36 Glen Ave, Ottawa, ON K1S 2Z7, Canada, 613 730 0282, Betty-Anne@rogers.com and Kenneth C. Johnson, PhD, Evidence and Risk Assessment, Public Health Agency of Canada, 120 Colonnade Rd, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada.

1. Purpose/aim To present the frequency of plateaus in labour using midwife data.

2. Background and significance Midwives that grew up in the alternative birth culture in North America traditionally contested Friedman's curve and terminology that labels labour as ‘dysfunctional' once it has deviated from the standard partogram. In similar fashion to Leah Albers' work challenging the use of Friedman's curve in evaluating labour progress, we have been collecting data with appropriate detail on labour plateaus since 1993. As the databases we are working from are largely comprised of home birth clients who have fewer arbitrary time limits than the average hospital birth clients, the data provide a good perspective of what occurs in a natural experiment of undisturbed birth.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to understand "Friedman's Curve
• Participants will see new literature that proves Friedman incorrect.
• Participants will be able to list other possibilities besides Friedman in a normal labor curve

Keywords: Access and Services, Maternal and Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation