Condition
The active first stage is a period of time characterized by regular painful uterine contractions, a substantial degree of cervical effacement and more rapid cervical dilatation from 5 cm until full dilatation for first and subsequent labours. 2-3-5 It is fundamental to reaffirm and reassess that the woman is in active first stage
The median duration of active first stage is 4 hours (95th centile is up to 12 hours) in first labour and 3 hours (95th centile is up to 10 hours) in second and subsequent labours, when the starting point of reference is 5 cm cervical dilatation. A cervical dilatation rate of less than 0.5 cm to 1 cm per hour during this phase is commonly considered to be slow progress of labour, with the trigger for intervention stipulated at a variable period following such deviation. While it is widely acknowledged that labour tends to be faster among multiparous compared to nulliparous women, the same criteria often apply for identification of delay in both groups in clinical practice.2-3-5