Three things to stop saying about fetal monitoring
Terms like “happy,” “tired,” and “distressed”have no place in fetal monitoring discussions. Let’s use accurate language to describe fetal health, instead of emotional interpretations.
Tag Archive for ‘fetal distress’
Should we focus less on heart rate and more on meconium?
Today’s post reflects on a 1959 trial concerning “fetal distress”. It highlights findings that meconium was a critical indicator of poor outcomes, while abnormal fetal heart rates weren’t reliably predictive. Should we be reevaluating current obsessions with CTG use and focusing on alternative clinical markers?
Inventing the CTG
The development of the cardiotocograph (CTG) in obstetrics evolved from earlier fetal monitoring methods over a century. While intended to enhance fetal safety, its integration shifted focus towards legal liability and technology reliance, often undermining maternal care. Concerns about research integrity and the effectiveness of CTGs suggest the need to reassess their use in maternity care.
Myth Busting #2: CTG misinterpretation harms babies
Does CTG misinterpretation harm babies? Or is something else going on?
Can the AAT predict outcomes as well as antenatal CTG use?
This is the third post in a series I am writing about the Auscultated Acceleration Test or AAT. If you haven’t been following along and don’t know what this test is – you can read about it here. The goal of antenatal CTG monitoring is to predict which fetuses are at risk of a poor outcome relating to low oxygen levels, so action can be taken and therefore avoid death […]
Language matters
I write about the importance of language from time to time. Here’s a collection of all these thoughts in the one place.
Birth Small Talk 