Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026
Acquisition and Semi-Automated Analysis of Respiratory Muscle Surface Electromyography
Published on: January 24, 2025
[Recording expulsive forces during childbirth using intercostal muscle electromyogram: a pilot study]
F Demaria1, R Porcher, S Sheik-Ismael
1Service de gynécologie-obstétrique, hôpital Rothschild, AP-HP, 33, boulevard de Picpus, 75012 Paris, France. fabien.demaria@rth.ap-hop-paris.fr
Objective:
The expulsive forces of childbirth can be included among the many potential risk factors implicated in the subsequent development of perineal disorders. The objective of this study was to devise a non-invasive way to measure abdominal pushing that would accurately represent the expulsive forces during childbirth.
Patients And Methods:
By means of intravesical and intrauterine manometry, and electromyography (EMG) of intercostal muscles, we quantified these forces in 21 women during vaginal delivery.
Results:
A mixed Ancova model showed the integral of intravesical pressure to be significantly associated (P<0.001) with the integral of intercostal muscle electrical activity during the first 6 uterine contractions during the phase of fetal expulsion.
Discussion And Conclusion:
Electromyography is a non-invasive measurement that can replace intravesical determinations to quantify these forces as it reflects the real intra-abdominal pressure.
