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Below the delivery record on the labour record sit two views of the same observations: a Cervicograph and a Labour observations matrix.

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She needs a bed first

Record observation is disabled until she has a ward admission, and the page says why: “Observations are recorded against a ward admission. Admit her to a bed to start the labour chart.” A woman showing Not admitted on the labour board cannot be charted.

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Chart an observation

1

Select Record observation

The sheet is headed Labour observation and names her.
2

Set Observed at

The field states the rule: “When the observation was MADE, not when it is being typed.” A future time is refused.
3

Labour progress

Cervical dilatation, Head descent (fifths palpable), Contractions per 10 minutes, Contraction strength, Contraction duration, Moulding and Caput.
4

Fetal condition

Fetal heart rate and Liquor.
5

Maternal condition

Pulse, Blood pressure, Temperature, Urine volume, Urine protein and Urine acetone.
6

Treatment

Oxytocin running, Drugs and IV fluids, and Notes.
7

Select Chart observation

It confirms Observation charted — “It is on the labour chart.”
An entirely empty observation is refused: “Record at least one observation — an empty entry would look like a gap that was covered.” Chart what you took, and leave the rest blank.

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The cervicograph

Cervical dilatation against hours since the onset of active labour — not against the clock. The card states where hour zero comes from: the recorded onset of active labour, or, where none is recorded, the first observation at the active-phase threshold.

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Two charting systems, and they disagree on purpose

The chart carries a badge naming which is in force, every time, because the two judge differently and a reader who does not know which is speaking cannot read the flags at all. Your hospital chooses which one it runs — see Choose your labour chart. The Labour Care Guide draws no alert or action line because WHO retired the fixed 1 cm/hour gradient in 2020 — it over-diagnosed slow progress. The chart says so under itself, so its absence reads as the guideline rather than as a fault. The same reading can therefore be a flag on one chart and nothing at all on the other. A fetal heart rate of 115 bpm, recorded once, is Fetal heart rate below the reference range on the classic chart and no flag on the Labour Care Guide.
The classic chart ends at full dilatation and evaluates nothing after it. Once she reaches full dilatation the chart says so itself: “That silence is a limitation of this chart, not a statement that the second stage was normal — the Labour Care Guide is the version with second-stage rules.” An empty chart in the second stage means the chart is not looking. Do not read it as reassurance.
The chart is measured against whichever system is set at the moment it is opened. Nothing is recalculated, nothing is migrated and no observation changes — so a hospital that switches charts changes what its charts say about labours already in progress. The badge on the Cervicograph is always the answer to “which one am I reading”.

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Gaps are gaps

Nothing is interpolated and nothing is carried forward. The notes under the chart print how many plots stand, the longest interval between plots, and how long ago the last observation was — with the point spelled out: “the segment between two plots joins them, it does not stand for observations in between.”

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The flags are advisory, and silence is not reassurance

Findings appear under the chart with the values that fired them, headed Advisory findings — read them, and dismiss any you disagree with. Nothing here is a decision. Each carries the stage it belongs to. With none, the chart says: No flags from what is recorded. That is not a statement that the labour is progressing normally, and it does not mean an observation was taken.

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Labour observations

The matrix is one column per charted observation, one row per parameter. Its caption: “Each column is one charted observation. Values are shown as recorded — nothing here is judged; the findings are under the cervicograph.”
  • Each column header carries the time and + the interval since the previous one — stated, never judged.
  • A parameter nobody has charted reads not recorded on any observation — never a zero, never “normal”.
  • Only the most recent observations are shown; where earlier ones are off the end it says Showing the most recent … observations · … earlier not shown.
  • An entry with no usable time cannot be placed on the chart and is surfaced as unplaced rather than dropped.
  • The bottom row carries a Correct button under each standing observation — see below.
  • Empty: No labour observations have been charted yet.

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Correct an observation

The word is deliberately never “Edit”. A correction adds a new observation that supersedes the original — both stay on the chart, and the reason is what makes the pair readable. The matrix’s own footnote says it in full:
Correct does not edit an observation and does not remove it. It opens a new observation that supersedes the one you picked, with a reason — the original stays here, struck through, beside its correction. An observation that has already been corrected offers no Correct: correct the observation that superseded it instead.
1

Find the column and select Correct

The bottom row of Labour observations is labelled Correct — “adds a new observation; the original stays” — with a button under each standing column.
2

Check the time

The sheet is headed Correct an observation and names which one. It opens on the original’s time, not on now, because you are re-stating what was found at that moment.
3

Enter what should have been recorded

The same fields as any observation. Enter the values as they should stand.
4

Say why in Why this is being corrected

Required. Above the first field the sheet restates what is about to happen: “This writes a new observation that supersedes … The original is not changed or removed — both stay on the chart, and the reason below is what makes the pair readable.”
5

Select Chart correction

It confirms Correction charted — “The original stays on the chart beside it, struck through.”
One observation can be corrected only once. A column that has already been superseded shows corrected in place of the button rather than a control that would fail. If a correction itself was wrong, correct the correction.

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What a struck-through column means

The original keeps its place — drawn hollow and dashed on the cervicograph, struck through in the matrix, with the correction’s reason on the cell. The matrix states it: “Struck through is an observation a later entry corrected. It stays on the chart: the record of what was believed at the time is part of the record. Hover a cell for the correction’s reason.” That is the whole point — a reader can see what was believed at the time, not just what is believed now.

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Check it worked

  • A new column appears at the right of Labour observations, at the time you set.
  • The dilatation you charted is a new plot on the Cervicograph.
  • Last observation on the labour board resets, and the count rises.

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If something goes wrong

She has no ward admission. “Observations are recorded against a ward admission. Admit her to a bed to start the labour chart.”
The same cause, from the server: the admission went away, or was never linked to the delivery record.
Observed at is ahead of now. It takes the time the observation was made.
Every field was left blank. Chart at least one value.
The chart plots cervical dilatation against time. Observations with no dilatation appear in the matrix but have nothing to plot. The empty chart states its own reason.
The pregnancy record was closed. Nothing further can be added to it.
That observation has already been superseded. Correct the observation that superseded it — the one standing to its right.
“The original stays on the chart, so the reason is what makes the pair readable.” Write what was wrong with the original.

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FAQ

Yes. The clinic owner sets it once for the whole hospital, on the Partograph card under Settings → Facility. The card compares the two side by side before you commit — see Choose your labour chart. Every chart carries a badge naming the one in force.
Nothing was rewritten. Her observations are untouched; they are simply measured against the new system from the moment you save, so flags can appear or disappear without anyone re-examining her. The card says so before the save and again in the confirmation.
You are on the WHO Labour Care Guide (2020), which retired the 1 cm/hour line. Its absence is the guideline, not a fault — the chart says so under it. If you want those lines, the owner can switch the hospital to the Classic partograph (alert and action lines).
No. The chart is append-only — nothing is removed. Use Correct instead: the mistake stays, struck through, beside what should have been recorded and the reason.
No. Flags are shown with the values that fired them and nothing else happens. Reading them and deciding is yours.
Progress is judged against how long the active phase has run, so the chart is drawn in hours since its onset. Each observation’s clock time is on its column in the matrix.