08/09/2022
How do we know if a baby is struggling during labour? In hospitals mostly they use CTG monitoring. The monitor is strapped to a woman’s body (those 2 big discs)…
But There is ZERO evidence that the use of CTG (cardiotocograph) offers ANY benefit to ANYONE… not in low risk circumstances or high risk circumstances… in fact, using it during preterm labour actually increases the risk of cerebral palsy. I’m not even joking, I wish there was some research that showed it was a good idea to use a CTG because almost every woman in labour will be offered it at some point, but if there is, researchers haven’t found it.
Some of the most exceptional research minds (, Mary Sidebotham, Jennifer Fenwick & Jenny Gamble) have looked at all the evidence and found 9 randomised controlled trials and 26 other studies, pooled the data and found, ‘no statistically significant differences in perinatal mortality rates’ and that the majority of the research was at critical risk of bias and should not be relied upon to inform clinical practice. So dire is the research that they called for an urgent need on research on CTG to be able to work out if there is actually any benefit to using it.
Don’t take my word for it, or send hate mail until you read the article yourself, it’s free and open access. Google scholar it using the title ‘intrapartum cardiotocograph monitoring and perinatal outcomes for women at risk: literature review’ and see for yourself.
If you are a midwife or practitioner who takes comfort in the use of a CTG thinking it’s going to keep babies safe… the research doesn’t show this and the culture of your workplace has lulled you into a false sense of security. Please remind yourself every time that you put a CTG on a woman that it’s not for hers or her babies benefit, it’s for the benefit of your workplace culture and satisfies an unfounded need to record everything - but it’s not evidence based.
Alternatives to CTG for women who want to monitor their babies heart beat in labour could be a Doppler.
