In plain words
The Friedman curve is a line on a chart of labor progress. It was built from hospital labor records in the 1950s. The line shows the cervix opening at a steady pace once labor is active. It has a slow start and a faster middle. For decades, clinicians used it as a standard for normal labor. A labor that ran slower than the line was often treated as a problem. Later studies found that many labors with healthy outcomes are slower than the curve shows. Today the is generally counted from about 6 centimeters. You may hear the term when a provider talks about labor pace. The curve describes groups of labors. It cannot predict how one labor will go.
The deeper version
Friedman's graphicostatistical analysis of primigravid labor (Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1955) plotted against time and described a sigmoidal active phase. That description became the reference for judging labor progress, with arrest defined by slow dilation against the curve. Zhang and colleagues (Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2010) analyzed a contemporary cohort of spontaneous labors with normal neonatal outcomes and found the active phase slower than the classic curve describes. ACOG Obstetric Care Consensus No. 1 (2014) moved the start of the active phase to 6 centimeters and set longer time limits before a labor is called arrested. The controversy concerns whether the original norms cause unnecessary deliveries and whether any single curve can serve people with different parity, size, and status.
Where it comes up
- Very fast and very long laborsBirth and the First Days
- Signs labor is startingGetting Ready for Birth
- The stages of labor, plainlyBirth and the First Days
- Induction: why, how, and what to askGetting Ready for Birth
What mothers here say about Friedman curve
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Sources
- Friedman EA — Primigravid labor: a graphicostatistical analysis. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1955
- Zhang J and colleagues — Contemporary patterns of spontaneous labor with normal neonatal outcomes. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2010
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Obstetric Care Consensus No. 1: Safe prevention of the primary cesarean delivery (2014)