The development and validation of an activity monitoring system for use in measurement of posture of childbearing women during first stage of labour

Hollins-Martin, CJ; Kenney, LPJ; Pratt, T; Granat, MH

Abstract

Introduction: There is limited understanding of the type and extent of maternal postures that midwives should encourage or support during labor.
The aims of this study were to identify a set of postures and movements commonly seen during labor, to develop an activity monitoring system
for use during labor, and to validate this system design.
Methods: Volunteer student midwives simulated maternal activity during labor in a laboratory setting. Participants (N = 15) wore monitors
adhered to the left thigh and left shank, and adopted 13 common postures of laboring women for 3 minutes each. Simulated activities were
recorded using a video camera. Postures and movements were coded from the video, and statistical analysis conducted of agreement between
coded video data and outputs of the activity monitoring system.
Results: Excellent agreement between the 2 raters of the video recordings was found (Cohen’s κ = 0.95). Both sensitivity and specificity of the
activity monitoring system were greater than 80% for standing, lying, kneeling, and sitting (legs dangling).
Discussion: This validated system can be used to measure elected activity of laboring women and report on effects of postures on length of first
stage, pain experience, birth satisfaction, and neonatal condition. This validated maternal posture-monitoring system is available as a reference
and for use by researchers who wish to develop research in this area.

Citation

Hollins-Martin, C., Kenney, L., Pratt, T., & Granat, M. (2015). The development and validation of an activity monitoring system for use in measurement of posture of childbearing women during first stage of labour. Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, 60(2), 182-186. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12230

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 20, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 7, 2015
• Journal: Journal of Midwifery &Women’s Health
• Print ISSN: 1526-9523
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 182-186
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12230
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12230
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1542-2011