The Malinas score is an
evaluation
Evaluation is a
systematic determination and assessment of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization, program, design, project or any other intervention or initiative ...
that allows to determine whether a
pregnant woman is about to
give birth.
It was invented by
Yves Malinas
Yves may refer to:
* Yves, Charente-Maritime, a commune of the Charente-Maritime department in France
* Yves (given name), including a list of people with the name
* ''Yves'' (single album), a single album by Loona
* ''Yves'' (film), a 2019 Fren ...
(
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, 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:
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
A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, m ...
or a medical structure. When the score is six or more, an imminent
parturition
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
(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.
[''Prehospital emergencies in Obstetrics: home deliveries'' V. Marel et al. in ''Journal Europeen des Urgences'' Volume 14, Number 3, September 2001](_blank)
/ref> 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.[''Survey on Unexpected Home Births: Regulatory Strategy'' P.L. Jouan et al. in ''La Revue des SAMU'', 2001, p. 402](_blank)
References
{{reflist, 2
Obstetrics
Medical scales
Midwifery