Work package 1
This work package is complete. We carried out an online national survey to investigate and describe intermittent auscultation (IA) practice across different birth settings. This is the first national survey of IA practice in the UK. Data were collected between November 2022 and February 2023.
We used the UK Midwifery Study System (UKMidSS) to contact all UK midwifery units, supplemented by invitations to heads of midwifery and fetal monitoring lead midwives in NHS organisations without midwifery units.
What was the survey about?
The survey asked respondents about devices used to conduct IA, methods used to count the fetal heart rate, IA training and competency assessment, and the frequency and content of IA audits.
What did the survey tell us?
Of the units contacted, 174 (73%) responded, representing responses from 80% of NHS organisations providing maternity care. Overall, we found widespread variation in IA practice:
- Most units had local guidance on IA in place
- Annual training and competency assessments for IA was required in 58% of units; 18% of units had no specific training requirements.
- Annual IA audits occurred in a third of units, and 67% reported that there was no set frequency or did not know the timing of their unit IA audit
- At least six different methods for counting the fetal heart rate were reported, with 45% using some form of 'Intelligent IA' counting method.
- Just under half of units reported implementing 'fresh ears' for IA.
