Opinions of midwives and pregnant women on prelabour ultrasound examination

Abstract

Objectives: To survey the opinions of midwives and pregnant women on prelabour ultrasound examination.
Methods: Questionnaires on prelabour ultrasound examination were distributed to 40 midwives and 125 pregnant women in a regional hospital.
Results: 34 (85%) midwives and 125 (100%) pregnant women responded. Most midwives agreed or strongly agreed that prelabour ultrasound examination is acceptable with respect to workload (73.5%), enables labour ward beds to be utilised more efficiently (61.8%), should be encouraged for women not in labour (55.8%), and improves patient care (70.6%), and that most midwives are willing to learn and perform pre-labour ultrasound examination in future (85.3%). Subgroup analysis showed that the agree and non-agree groups did not differ significantly in terms of the
number of prelabour ultrasound examination performed or years of labour ward experience. For pregnant women, 90.4% reported that it was their first ultrasound examination after admission for show or irregular contractions; 99.2% considered the study purpose clearly explained; 84.8% felt reassured that they were not yet in active labour after vaginal examination alone and 92.8% felt reassured with additional ultrasound examinations; 97.6% were satisfied with ultrasound examination and 95.2% would recommend it to others; and 72.8% reported no pain during
ultrasound examination.
Conclusion: Most midwives support prelabour ultrasound examination and are willing to learn the technique. Prelabour ultrasound examination is well-tolerated by pregnant women. It should be introduced to midwives and pregnant women to improve intrapartum care.