Labour rhythms vs labour progress: one final update.

The author offers information on publications that contribute to the debate on birth labour rhythms and labour progress. He agrees that the knowledge of midwifery has suffered due to the lesser number of research regarding the alternatives for partograms and vaginal examinations in the assessment of labour rhythms. He examines a journal paper by Zhang et al on birth labour. Also investigated are the history of labour, the active phase of labour and the book "Childbirth, Midwifery and Concepts of Time," by Chris McCourt.