The Robson classification, also known as the 10-groups classification or ten groups classification system (TGCS), is a system for classifying

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...

women who undergo

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births globall ...

. It was developed to allow more accurate comparison of

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

rates between different settings, whether they be individual hospitals or entire regions or countries. Endorsed by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

in 2015, it differs from other classification systems in that it accounts for all women who undergo delivery, and not just those who proceed to cesarean section. The ten mutually-exclusive groups were first described by the

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

Michael Robson in 2001, and are defined based on the category of the pregnancy, the woman's previous obstetric record, the course of the labour and delivery, and the

gestational age In obstetrics, gestational age is a measure of the age of a pregnancy which is taken from the beginning of the woman's last menstrual period (LMP), or the corresponding age of the gestation as estimated by a more accurate method if available. Su ...

at delivery. #

Nulliparous In biology and human medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a woman is or has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional te ...

, single

cephalic A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals m ...

pregnancy, at least 37 weeks' gestation, spontaneous labour #Nulliparous, single cephalic pregnancy, at least 37 weeks' gestation, with either induced labour or a cesarean section prior to the onset of spontaneous labour #

Multiparous In biology and human medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a woman is or has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional t ...

, no previous caesarean section, single cephalic pregnancy, at least 37 weeks' gestation, spontaneous labour #Multiparous, no previous caesarean section, single cephalic pregnancy, at least 37 weeks' gestation, with either induced labour or a cesarean section prior to the onset of spontaneous labour #Previous caesarean section, single cephalic pregnancy, at least 37 weeks' gestation #Nulliparous, single

breech Breech may refer to: * Breech (firearms), the opening at the rear of a gun barrel where the cartridge is inserted in a breech-loading weapon * breech, the lower part of a pulley block * breech, the penetration of a boiler where exhaust gases leav ...

pregnancy #Multiparous, single breech pregnancy #

Multiple pregnancy A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bir ...

#Single pregnancy with transverse or oblique lie #Single cephalic pregnancy, 36 weeks' gestation or less The classification is increasingly used to monitor and compare rates of caesarean section in many countries, and some further subdivisions of the ten groups have been proposed.

References

{{reflist Childbirth Caesarean sections