Slow progress in the first stage of labour was treated in 792 mothers by digital dilatation. This manoeuvre is described. Partial dilatation was converted to complete dilatation in 94·4 per cent of all cases, the incidence of success being 90·0 per cent in primiparae and 96·0 per cent in multiparae. Difficulties are described, but serious complications were conspicuously absent.The manoeuvre was helpful with mothers unable to resist premature bearing down, and especially valuable for reducing delay before applying forceps for fetal distress. The early perinatal loss of 20 (in the first 200 cases) was reduced to 3·3 (in the last 599 births) after a change of technique.
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