Women's Opinions on Cardiotocograph Monitoring and Staff Communication During Labour.

Abstract

Aims This study was undertaken to ascertain women’s opinions of having fetal monitoring done in labour, how they felt the staff taking care of them communicated with them about cardiotocograph (CTG) and how they rated their birthing experience. Methods An anonymous survey was given to women in September 2018, asking them about their experience of CTG monitoring and staff communication. Results All forty-eight women said the staff explained the CTG to them, and 93.8% were satisfied with this communication. Nearly all women, 97.9%, felt confident that the staff knew what they were doing and 89.6% felt included in any clinical decision that was made. Of the forty-eight women, 20.8% said they wanted to know something about the CTG but didn’t ask at the time. When asked about their overall experience of communication from staff, 60.4% said excellent. Conclusions It is important to assess patient’s satisfaction with communication from staff members.