[Evaluation of the compliance rate of partograph use in a Tunisian Maternity ward: a targeted clinical audit]

Partograph is an essential tool in routine delivery room practices. It is a written reflection of the quality of mother and child health management during delivery and in the immediate post-partum period. Our study aims to assess compliance rate of partograph use within our maternity ward and to propose areas for improvement of its quality. We conducted a retrospective clinical audit of 400 patients? medical records who gave birth on the labour ward at University of Kairouan from 1 January to 31 December 2014. The reference guidelines used were those from the French Health High Authority (2006) containing 29 criteria divided into 3 categories (PARTOten, PARTOobs, PARTOeve). The overall compliance rate (OCR) of partograph use in our audit was 55.9%. With regard to the first area, such as « La tenue du partogramme » (partograph use, PARTOten) the overall compliance rate was 88, 9%. With regard to the second area, such as « la traçabilité du déroulement du travail » (track labor progression, PARTOobs) the overall compliance rate was 51, 4%. With regard to the third area, such as « la traçabilité des actes, des évènements et des traitements au cours du travail » (the tracing of actions, events and treatments during labor, PARTOeve) the overall compliance rate was 27.4%. Our study has helped identify several areas for improvement. The ultimate goal of this clinical audit was the improvement of professional practices. Therefore, we implemented an action plan (training, awareness raising?) followed by a review aimed to verify the continuity of the corrective actions.