One of the problems I see over and over again is the over simplification of complexities in relation to fetal heart rate monitoring in labour. Education and clinical guidelines tend to produce what appear to be logical and straightforward explanations and advice when there is a lot of mud in the pond. Here are two examples: In both of these cases the situations are much more complicated (like this and […]
When you have been using a test for years and years, you assume someone way back at the beginning did some pretty decent research to determine what numbers are “normal” and a sign of good health, and what numbers are “abnormal” and a sign of poor health. But is that always the case? Why do we test cord blood acid levels? The testing of fetal and neonatal blood acid levels […]
Going to sleep lying flat on the back (supine position) has been linked to a higher rate of stillbirth between 28 weeks of pregnancy and the start of labour, with the chance rising closer to the end of pregnancy (McCowan, et al., 2017). Because of this, many countries now issue public recommendations about going to sleep in a side lying position in late pregnancy. The McCowan study also showed a […]
There’s a fair bit of controversy about whether, how, and when to test for diabetes in pregnancy. This post focusses on one decision women with a diagnosis of diabetes are often asked to make – when to give birth. (If you are after information about other aspects of diabetes in pregnancy, Rachel Reed and Sara Wickham both have great blogs about this, and both have books on induction of labour.) […]
In a slight departure from normal programming, I’m tackling perineal trauma today. This is a topic I have posted about before (like this, this, and this), and have contributed to research in this area (Allen, Small, & Lee, 2022). A bit of background In the birth-world, the term perineum is generally used to mean the area between the back of the vagina and in front of the anus (back passage). […]
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 […]
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 you accurately guess fetal blood pressure from the heart rate pattern? #AI #CTG #EFM #FetalMonitoring #Physiology #Sheep
If you wouldn’t use runes to decide whether to do a cesarean section, why would you use a #CTG?
Does #STAN reduce the #caesarean rate when #CTG monitoring is in use? New Australian research!
Birth Small Talk 