Human labour is an inflammatory event, physiologically driven by an interaction between hormonal and mechanical factors and pathologically associated with infection, bleeding and excessive uterine stretch. The initiation and communicators of inflammation is still not completely understood, however the role of cytokines and chemokine have been implicated. We summarise the current understanding of the nature and role of cytokines, chemokines and hormones and their involvement in signalling within the myometrium particularly during labour.