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Tuesday 6 February 2018

First rate paper exploring why Continuous Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM) is used despite its uselessness.

Thanks to Ruth Weston of Aquabirths for alerting me to this very interesting article exploring the widespread use of EFM (or CTG as it is more commonly known in the UK) in face of the evidence that it is not only useless but harmful.
https://mhnpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40748-017-0060-2
The paper is not only interesting regarding EFM but also about the interfaces between health and law and ethics.  
The whole mad parallel world of Labour Ward practice is embedded in the premise on which EFM is based:  Surveillance and rapid intervention, not necessarily in that order.  The care and support of women and the safeguarding of the hormonal dance of labour plays second fiddle to that, and that is being kind about most labour wards, which are no places for birthing women.  In UM's experience and opinion.

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