Malinas score
Encyclopedia
The Malinas score is an evaluation
Evaluation
Evaluation is systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards.Evaluation often is used to characterize and appraise subjects of interest in a wide range of human enterprises, including the arts, criminal justice,...

 that allows to determine whether a pregnant woman
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...

 is about to give birth. It was invented by Yves Malinas (French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, died 20 January 1997).

It is mainly used in case of unexpected prehospital cases: the score indicates if it is possible to transport the pregnant woman or if it is best to let her give birth onsite. It is based on five criteria: how many times she has been pregnant, the duration of the labour so far, the duration of each contraction, the interval between two contractions, and whether or not her waters have broken. Each criterion is evaluated by a number between zero and two:
Malinas score
Score Number of pregnancies to date Duration of labour Duration of contractions Interval between two contractions Breaking of waters
0 One < 3 hours < 1 minute > 5 minutes No
1 Two Between 3 and 5 hours 1 minute Between 3 and 5 minutes Recently
(< 1 hour)
2 Three
or more
> 6 hours > 1 minute < 3 minutes
(at least 2 in 5 minutes)
> 1 hour


The score is the sum of these five criteria. When the score is less than five, it is possible to transport the pregnant woman to a maternity hospital
Maternity hospital
A maternity hospital is a hospital that specializes in caring for women while they are pregnant and during childbirth. The hospital also provides care for newborn infants....

 or a medical structure. When the score is six or more, an imminent parturition (i.e. childbirth) is likely, especially if the woman feels a need to push.

Criticisms

In a study published in 2001, it was suggested that the Malinas Score alone was not a reliable indicator of imminent birth as approximately 25% of unplanned homebirths in the study had a Malinas Score of less than five. An amended scoring system has been proposed which would add additional scores for hemorrhaging, whether the expectant mother was panicking and how long transport to the hospital would take. This amended system would result in the pregnant woman being transported on a score less than seven.
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