Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about failure to progress.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash failure to progress

or in the labour and delivery section of the zero to finals obstetrics and

gynecology book. So let's get straight into it. Failure to progress refers to when labour is not

developing at a satisfactory rate. This increases the risk to the fetus and to the mother.

It's more likely to occur in women in labour for the first time

compared to those that have previously given birth.

Progress in labour is influenced by the three P's,

power referring to uterine contractions,

passenger referring to the size, presentation and position of the baby,

and passage, referring to the shape and size of the pelvis and the soft tissues.

P P.

P can also be added as a fourth P, referring to the support and antinatal preparation that's

been made for labour and delivery.

Let's talk about the first stage of labour.

The first stage of labour has three phases, the latent phase, which is from 0 to 3 centimeters dilation of the

cervix, and this progresses at around 0.5 centimeters per hour, and during the latent phase

there are irregular contractions of the uterus. The active phase, which is from 3 centimeters to 7 cm dilation of the cervix, and this progresses

at around 1 cm per hour, and there are regular contractions of the uterus, and the transition

phase, which is from 7 to 10res dilation of the cervix,

and the transition phase progresses at around 1 centimetre per hour,

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