Indian doctor makes calculating time of deliveries easy

VARANASI: How about referring to a paperless partogram for monitoring the progress of labour and arriving at an accurate decision for intervention to ensure safe delivery? 

While the WHO recommended partogram, used extensively by obstetricians and gynaecologists in the world, has proved to be complex and cumbersome requiring a lot of paperwork, the one devised by an Indian doctor has made the task easy and simple so that even an auxiliary nursing midwife (ANM) can ensure safe delivery. 

"We call it Indian partogram that gives instant results and is now successfully used in the country," said former president of Indian Society of Perinatology and Reproductive Biology (ISOPARB) AK Debdas while talking to TOI on Sunday. "We have coined the new formula that makes easy and simple application of Friedman formula that has been used since 1972 in the world. It not only reduces the hassles of paperwork but also ensures safe delivery with precise and timely intervention," claimed the man from Jamshedpur, who was in the city to participate in a CME and general body meeting of ISOPARB. 

Saying that earlier partogram (recommended by WHO) had been made complex and cumbersome over a period of time, the mastermind behind the Indian partogram emphasised that the technique still used the 'Golden Friedman Formula' but with easy and simple application and interpretation. "We look for openings and dilation of cervix at 4cm and then expected time of delivery (ETD) is calculated using the Friedman formula that records rate of dilation at one cm per hour. After 10 cm dilation, or six hours of ETD, the period of alert ETD starts and it the time where 75 per cent of delivery takes place. We add four hours to make it action ETD and the time limit ensures accurate intervention for safe delivery," he informed. 

It may be mentioned that Dr Debdas has also presented the paper on paperless partogram in a recent international conference at Pune and is all set to present it at the forthcoming National Association of Reproductive and Health in India, a national conference to be held in Nagpur on September 25 this year. 

"The paperless partogram has received encouraging response particularly in Indian context and doctors have also found it simple and easy to use, not bothering about complex curves and graphs to record developments during labour," he said, highlighting the advantages of the technique. "Even, doctors working in shifts can easily look at ETD and plan the deliveries accordingly," he added.