Where do you get the traces used in the book? Also did you need to get permission from the woman? who do they actually 'belong' to the woman or the NHS trust?

Hello Sue!

Here is my question (well, questions actually):

In the trust that I work in, we have now been instructed to use interpretation stickers every time we interpret a CTG - the same stickers are used regardless of gestation and circumstances (ag antentatal/labour).

These give a green, amber or red warning for normal, suspicious or pathological traces. However, these stickers do not give leeway for features such as early decelerations in second stage, or reduced variability for up to 40 minutes, which, alongside other reassuring features can be normal. This is something which we are attempting to rectify, as at times, interpretation of a CTG isn't as simple as ticking boxes - the rest of the clinical picture also requires evaluation. With this in mind, here are my questions:

Do you think that use of stickers such as this makes interpretation of CTG safer?

Do you think that by use of such prompts, as midwives, we'll actually be de-skilling ourselves in the area of CTG interpretation?

We have to sign the trace, and use a sticker in the notes - I usually write additional notes alongside the sticker too and I wonder whether it's any more beneficial than the old DR.M.C.Q.BRAVADO which we used to use.

Hello Sue

I would like to ask, what are the most common mistakes people make when interpreting CTGs and how can we avoid making these mistakes?

I'd like to ask Sue what made her want to write CTG made easy?