Documentation status of the modified World Health Organization partograph in public health institutions of Bale zone, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND Partograph is basically a graphic representation of the events of labour plotted against time in hours. It is designed for early detection of abnormal progress of labour and prevention of prolonged labour in order to reduce risk of Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH), sepsis, obstructed labour and its sequels such as ruptured uterus and obstetric fistula. However, little is known about documentation status of partograph forms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess documentation status of partograph in public health institutions of Bale zone, Ethiopia. METHODOLOGY Institution based, descriptive cross sectional study based on retrospective document review was conducted to assess partograph forms in public health institutions of Bale zone, from May 1(st) to June 30, 2014. A total of 508 sampled mothers' medical records that had been used to monitor labour three months prior to actual data collection period (from February to April 2014) were considered as study populations. The data were analyzed using statistical package for social science version 16.0 and descriptive statistics were computed. RESULTS Out of the total 508 mothers' medical records reviewed, 342 (67.3%) medical records have partograph forms. Of which, 103 (30.1%) were not totally recorded and 239 (69.9%) partograph were recorded only in some manner. From partograph forms recorded in some manner, only 107 (44.8%) fetal heart rate, 3 (1.3%) moulding of fetal head, 76 (31.8%) cervical dilatation, and 17 (7.1%) descent of head, 57 (23.8%) uterine contraction, 23 (9.6%) blood pressure, and 14 (5.9%) temperature was documented to the standard level. CONCLUSION There is poor documentation of the modified World Health Organization (WHO) partographs during labour in public health institutions of Bale zone, Ethiopia. It is recommended to provide continuous pre-service and on-job training for health care professionals about the standard protocol of partograph documentation and to set policy for each health facility that mandate documentation of the partograph for all laboring mother as per WHO recommendation.