About 20 % of all delivering mothers suffer from dysfunctional labour. This often results in extremely long deliveries, putting heavy strain on both the mother and the resources of delivery wards. Many of these women finally deliver their babies by caesarean, ventouse or forceps after long and agonising labour that often results in fetal distress.

New research shows that it is possible to predict which women are going to suffer from dysfunctional labour. By monitoring AFL, Amniotic Fluid Lactate level, predictions of outcome are possible at an early stage in the delivery.