The Birth Small Talk blog has grown rapidly in reach since I started it. I’m aware that readers include people who work in maternity care and know the lingo, and also people who don’t. For those of you who aren’t up to speed with what fetal heart rate monitoring is about, I have written several blog posts that provide an orientation to the topic. Even for those of you who work in maternity care, you might like to take a look them to be sure you know the basics.
What is CTG monitoring?
This post covers what a CTG (or cardiotocograph) is, the equipment used to collect the data on which the CTG is based, and how CTG monitoring might be used. You can read the post here.
What is intermittent auscultation?
This post covers the most common alternative fetal heart rate monitoring option, intermittent auscultation (or IA). You’ll find information about the types of equipment used for intermittent auscultation, some pointers on how to do IA well, and a plea to think about the language we use when speaking about fetal heart rate monitoring here.
How did we get here?
Understanding the history of healthcare helps make sense of the present. I have written two blog posts about the history of fetal heart rate monitoring. The first is here, and addresses early mentions of hearing the fetal heart, and touches on the shift from a woman centred focus in obstetric care to becoming more fetus centred. The other history related post is here, and examines the development of the cardiotocograph and some of the factors that were associated with the rapid adoption of CTG technology in maternity care.
Where to next?
Are there any other “basics” that you would like to see me explain to better help you make sense of fetal heart rate monitoring? You are welcome to contact me by email, on Facebook, or Twitter (@birthsmalltalk) and let me know what you would like to see. You can also add a comment to this post for me to read.
- Stopping the oxytocin infusion when the CTG is abnormal
- Population effects of introducing STAN technology
Categories: Basics, CTG, EFM, History, IA, Language
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