Listen2Baby: improving fetal monitoring for women having an uncomplicated labour

Listen2Baby is a programme of research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Its aim is to improve the way that midwives monitor babies' heart rates using intermittent auscultation, or IA – listening to the fetal heart rate at regular intervals during labour.

The research led to the development of the Listen2Baby Toolkit,a free, web-based quality improvement resource designed to support best practice in IA. The Toolkit was implemented and evaluated in selected NHS maternity sites from September 2025 before a national launch in May 2026, followed by a wider rollout.

Listen2Baby is led by Professor Rachel Rowe with collaborators from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Cardiff University, the University of Birmingham, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and The Point of Care Foundation.