Overdiagnosis and CTG monitoring
Unlike Dr Who, we can’t drop into our future timeline to see what the consequences of our current decisions are. If we could, would we make different choices?
CTG
Cardiotocograph monitoring
Doctor Who and changing the future
Don’t change the future! I quite like watching Doctor Who. One of the common threads in the show involves the Doctor warning their companions not to meddle with the present (our past) in a way that might alter the future (our present). Of course, what inevitably happens is the Doctor and companions end up being compelled take action to ensure that everyone arrives at the end of the episode happy […]
Reviewing the evidence for Intermittent Auscultation
I was excited to see a new paper, setting out the evidence for intermittent auscultation in labour (Anderson, et al., 2023). It was published in a journal for US based nurse-midwives, so it relates to the context of care in that country. Let’s see how they did in terms of getting the facts right. Is their evidence accurate? They wrote that: All this is correct, except that one of the […]
Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy prevention: is it working?
Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (or HIE) is a condition affecting newborn infants. As the name suggests, it relates to low oxygen supply (hypoxia), and / or reduced blood flow (ischaemia) causing damage (-pathy) to the brain (encephalo-). Other parts of the body might also show signs of damage from low oxygen, like the kidneys or the gut. It is diagnosed when there is a combination of high acid levels in umbilical […]
Antenatal CTGs in the Netherlands: the impact on midwifery continuity of care
While last week’s post questioned whether we should be doing antenatal CTGs at all, this week’s post explores the positive impact of a shift from referring women into obstetric care for antenatal CTG monitoring to providing this in primary midwife-led care. Maternity care in the Netherlands The Netherlands offers a very different approach to maternity care than most other high income countries. Midwifery care is very much accepted and supported […]
Antenatal CTG monitoring: Does it work?
As I have been refreshing older blog posts, I realised I never did get around to writing about antenatal CTG use. Today’s post solves that gap! What is antenatal CTG monitoring and when is it used? Mostly I write about the use of CTG monitoring during labour. But this is not the only time CTGs are used in maternity care. Maternity professionals also use CTGs during pregnancy in an attempt […]
Smart surveillance and the caesarean section rate: Have they cracked the code?
A recently published paper from Taiwan has caught my eye (Cheng, et al., 2023). Researchers don’t often find new technology can reduce the caesarean section rate, but that’s what this group have done. Let’s dig in and see what it was all about. (The paper is open access so feel free to grab a copy and read along with me). What was the new tech? The authors described a newly […]
Can CTGs harm? Part 3
Does CTG monitoring generate more harm than benefit for babies? Here’s the evidence….
Can CTGs harm? Part 2
What are the psychological consequences of CTG monitoring? Sadly, we don’t actually know….
Can CTGs harm? Part 1
It’s just a CTG – it can’t hurt to do one. Or can it? This week’s post explores the risks of CTG use.
Birth Small Talk 