Background: Early detection of abnormal progress and prevention of prolonged labour can significantly improve the outcome of labour. Partograph is an inexpensive tool which can provide a continuous pictorial overview of labour and is essential to monitor and manage labour. The objectives were to study the course of normal and abnormal labour and to evaluate the maternal and perinatal outcome using simple and composite WHO partogram.Methods: This was a randomized study conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Government Medical College, Amritsar, a tertiary care centre in North India. 200 women with term, singleton, vertex gestation, in spontaneous labor were included in the study. In 100 cases composite partograph was plotted and in rest 100 cases simple partograph was plotted. The following outcomes were compared: labor crossing the alert and action line, augmentation of labor, rate of cesarean section, perinatal and maternal outcome.Results: The partogram crossed the alert line (p 0.008) and action lines (p 0.017), causing increased need for augmentation (p 0.034) in the composite partogram which was statistically significant. The numbers of vaginal deliveries were high (p<0.001) and decrease number of cesarean sections (p 0.007) and instrumental deliveries (p 0.009) in the simplified group. NICU admissions were also higher in the composite group (p<0.05), though most of the NICU admissions were due to hyperbilirubinemia and low birth weight and was not directly related to monitoring of labour.Conclusions: It was observed in the present study that labour can be managed without the latent phase being plotted on the partograph. The interventions were higher when the latent phase was included, with increased number of labours crossing the alert and action lines, increased no. of augmentations and larger number of caesarean sections. Our study favours the use of the WHO modified partograph, which should become routine practice in monitoring labour for better maternal and perinatal outcome.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, of 536,000 maternal deaths occurring globally each year, 136,000 take places in India. Maternal death has serious implications to the family, the society and the nation. It deprives the surviving infant of mother's care. This study was done to assess maternal mortality in a tertiary care centre in north India where large numbers of patients are referred from the peripheral centers and the rural parts. This study was done to assess the causes of maternal mortality and suggest remedial measures to reduce the same. Objective of present study was to assess the causes of maternal death over a period of one year at G.M.C Amritsar, India.Methods: A retrospective hospital based study of 22 maternal deaths over a period of 1 year from June 2012 to June 2013. The information regarding demographic profile and reproductive parameters were collected and results were analyzed.Results: Over the study period, there were 22 deaths and 7272 live births (Majority were referral from other districts all over Punjab). Most common direct cause of maternal mortality was haemorrhage and anemia was the most common indirect cause. Most maternal deaths were seen in patients from rural areas, unbooked, illiterate patients and patients from low socioeconomic status.Conclusions: Proper health education should be given to the women; early registration of antenatal cases should be done which allows for rapid diagnosis and treatment of high risk cases. Also constructing a well equipped health care facility with trained staff and prompt transport facilities for early referral can bring down the maternal mortality rate in our country.