Pattern of descent of foetal head in normal labour.

The phenomenon of foetal head descent and the effect of station of foetal head at admission on the course of labour were studied on the basis of a prospective partographic study in 100 cases of normal labour. Only 16.9% of nulliparous women had engaged foetal head at admission in labour. Engagement of foetal head occurred during the period of maximum slope of cervical dilatation in nulliparous women and at the onset of deceleration phase in multiparous women. Parturients with unengaged foetal head entered hospital much earlier in labour than those with engaged foetal based. Course of labour was uninfluenced by the degree of engagement of foetal head. However, multiparous women showed faster rate of foetal head descent than nulliparous women (p < 0.001) and women with lesser haemoglobin concentration demonstrated slower rate of descent of foetal head (p < 0.01).