article · International Journal of Women s Health
Prolonged and obstructed labour is a major cause of maternal illness and death in Nigeria. Early identification of abnormal progress through the partograph can reduce these fatalities, yet routine implementation remains challenging. An assessment of 130 non-physician obstetric caregivers at General Hospital in Calabar examined knowledge, usage levels, and barriers regarding the tool. Although roughly 71 percent of caregivers possessed general awareness of the partograph, they lacked detailed understanding of its specific components. Usage was strongly associated with caregiver knowledge and tool availability, while knowledge itself was significantly linked to prior training. The primary barriers hindering consistent use included insufficient knowledge, physical non-availability of charts, staffing shortages, and the time required to complete the tool. Addressing these operational barriers through regular training, reliable supply of monitoring charts, adequate staffing levels, and clear institutional policies is vital to ensure effective labour monitoring.
Obstructed labour contributes heavily to maternal mortality in developing regions. Understanding why healthcare providers fail to use proven monitoring instruments such as the partograph provides hospital administrators and health authorities with actionable evidence. Resolving basic hurdles like chart shortages, insufficient staffing, and inadequate training can significantly improve early detection of obstetric complications, directly saving the lives of mothers and babies.
The findings inform operational training programmes and clinical workflow management for maternal health providers. Prospective end users are public health authorities, hospital managers, and training organisations aiming to deploy maternal health tools. While the research describes clinical practices rather than a commercial product, it indicates an applied need for accessible training toolkits, simplified monitoring formats, or digital labour tracking solutions that reduce time constraints for understaffed clinical teams.
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BACKGROUND: Prolonged and obstructed labor is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, one of the six countries contributing significantly to the global maternal mortality crisis. The use of the partograph would engender a remarkable reduction in the number of these deaths since abnormal markers in the progress of labor would be identified early on. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the non-physician obstetric caregivers' (OCGs) knowledge of partograph use, assess the extent of its use, determine the factors that impede its usage, and unravel the relationship between years of experience and partograph use among the respondents (OCGs) in General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. METHODOLOGY: Using a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 130 purposely selected and consenting OCGs working in the General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. RESULTS: The majority of the respondents (70.8%) had good general knowledge of the partograph but lacked detailed and in-depth knowledge of the component parts of the partograph. Knowledge of partograph (χ(2) =12.05, P=0.0001) and partograph availability (χ(2) =56.5, P=0.0001) had a significant relationship with its utilization. Previous training (χ(2) =9.43, P=0.002) was significantly related to knowledge of partograph. Factors affecting utilization were: little or no knowledge of the partograph (85.4%), nonavailability (70%), shortage of staff (61.5%), and the fact that it is time-consuming to use (30%). CONCLUSION: Lack of detailed knowledge of the partograph, nonavailability of the partograph, poor staff numbers, and inadequate training are factors that work against the effective utilization of the partograph in the study facility. Usage of this tool for labor monitoring can be enhanced by periodic training, making partographs available in labor wards, provision of reasonable staff numbers, and mandatory institutional policy.
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DOI: 10.2147/ijwh.s49188
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