Exploring a Novel Approach to Monitoring Labor Progression: Can the Distance Between the Fundus of the Uterus and the Xiphoid Process During Contractions Serve as a Predictive Index for Cervical Dilation?

Abstract

Background: Digital vaginal examination is a well-known method for determining the progress of labor. Although, there is a limited amount of literature on indicators that predict whether labor will result in vaginal delivery. Objectives: This study aimed to identify an alternative method for determining cervical dilation in labor by assessing the distance between the fundus and the xiphoid process of the sternum during uterine contraction. This is an indirect and noninvasive method for determining cervical dilation. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on pregnant women admitted for vaginal delivery. Among them, 352 women were selected using a convenient sampling method at an academic center. Two data collection tools were used: an interview questionnaire to gather information on age and gestational age and a measure of the distance between the uterine fundus and the xiphoid process during uterine contraction and comparing it with cervical dilation. Results: The study population had a mean age of 27.39 ± 0.71 and a gestational age of 38.9 ± 0.14 weeks. There was a significant inverse relationship between the distance from the uterine fundus to the sternal xiphoid process during contraction and cervical dilation in both the latent and active phases of labor (P = 0.000, r = - 0.45). Conclusions: Using the distance between the uterine fundus and the xiphoid process to estimate cervical dilation can be an innovative and practical index for determining labor progress. However, further studies are needed to determine this method's accuracy.