[Premature labour-use of external tocography in an attempt at classification (author's transl)]

The limiting value (WI) was derived from the product of labour parameters frequency (F) and time which had been determined by tocography. The following equation was used: (see formula in text). That limiting value is an absolute number, with any tocographic findings in excess of it being interpreted as premature labour. Tocographically negative findings were retrospectively compared to pregnancy outcomes. Deliveries of underweight children occurred only in four cases, two of them having been caused by premature rupture, though only one third of 147 women, transferred to the authors' hospital for safely diagnosed (n=108) or suspected (=39) premature labour, had been hospitalised and tocolysed. This seems to confirm the authors' approach which is likely to result in higher standards in obstetric practice.