centimetres dilated in childbirth

[Scorpio60]

Not sure if this is the right topic for this question but it didn't seem to fit anywhere else
I was just reading a book where a woman is in labour and the midwife says she's 10 centimetres dilated. The book is set in the US in 1964 - were doctors in America really using metric measures then?

[Lil O'lady]

Good point Scopio - the US still seems to use imperial units in all walks of life even now. Plus, I wonder whether midwifery practice then went into such technical detail with women? I get the impression that active involvement in birth was a late 1970's development, before that you just did what the doctors or midwves told you.

[Scorpio60]

Exactly what I thought. I hate authors that don't research subjects properly - puts me off the book entirely

[theprof]

I find this a bit odd too. Having worked in the USA on and off for a good few years, I can't recall reading standard books with anything other than inches etc mentioned. Yes, I've come across the odd old textbook with metric measurements mentioned, but in general the USA have fiercely guarded what they see as their right to use imperial measurements. Modern USA medical textbooks almost always use imperial measurements unless they're for the international market.

Incidentally, people in the UK often think that metrication is a relatively new introduction here. Yet, it was was pretty common for chemists and other scientists (not pharmacists) to weigh in grams from the early part of the twentieth century.

I also doubt the need for disclosure of such detail to a mother all those years ago.

[dot.hawkes]

this must be based on some medical reerence book that introduced the cm measuring, surely befor that they didn;t use inches did they? how precise would that have been? I think it was probably to replace the finger measuring

[Goodsoulette]

Doctors in america do almost al their measurements and dosages metrically and have done since the earlier part of the last century apparently.

[Scorpio60]

You're probably right Goodsoulette, looking on various sites it appears metrication reached US before it did most of Europe. Which surprised me as they still seem to use imperial measurements a lot
Maybe I'll carry on reading my book after all