Five P's of Labor

Labor is a coordinated sequence of involuntary uterine contractions resulting to effacement and dilatation of cervix followed by expulsion of products of conception.

The five P's include:

A. Passenger: the fetus

• Attitude - relationship of fetal body parts to each other, normal uterine posture is completely flexed
• Lie - relationship of fetal spine to maternal spine. Longitudinal or vertical is when fetus is parallel to mother's spine, transverse or horizontal if fetus is at right angle to mother's spine.
• Presentation - portion of fetus that enters pelvis first: presenting part could be cephalic or breech (frank, footling)
• Position - relationship of fetal reference point to one or four quadrants or sides of mother's pelvis. Maternal pelvis side: L-left, R-right; Fetal Reference points: O-occiput, M-mentum, B-brow, S-sacrum; Maternal Pelvis Quadrant: A-anterior, T-transverse, P-posterior
• Station - degree of engagement from presenting part to ischial spine; Station 0 means at ischial spine, minus station means above spine, and plus station is below the spine.

B. Passageways

• Pelvis
• Soft tissues - lower uterine segment, cervix, vagina, and introitus

C. Powers
- forces acting to expel fetus; primarily by involuntary uterine contractions, secondarily by voluntary bearing down.
- functions of uterine contraction are effacement and dilation

D. Person

E. Psychological Response
- response to contraction, perceptions and beliefs, pre-natal care and education, support systems and communication skills.

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner