“EFM has become a quintessential example of the perils of adopting new medical technologies without proper study of risks and benefits,” says a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
EFM: ubiquitous yet flawed
Tag: fetal heart monitoring
“EFM is a waste of extremely scarce resources…”
“EFM is a waste of extremely scarce resources while simultaneously adding another layer of useless staff training complexity as well as significant morbidity and mortality to a desperately critical situation.”
Continuing the electronic fetal monitoring debate
“Four centuries ago, the Catholic Church declared heliocentrism to be heretical, banned all heliocentric books, and ordered Galileo to refrain from holding, teaching, or defending heliocentric ideas. A similar effort is taking place today. It seeks to suppress debate over…
Pinard Wisdom (part 2)
Over the years, I have been repeatedly asked by student midwives for a reference to an article that gives basic information on how to use a Pinard to listen to a baby’s heartbeat, either to supplement learning in practice, or…
Pinard Wisdom (part 1)
Over the years, I have been repeatedly asked by student midwives for a reference to an article that gives basic information on how to use a Pinard to listen to a baby’s heartbeat, either to supplement learning in practice, or…
Fetal monitoring and cherry picking evidence…
Two senior doctors have written to the British Medical Journal to commend them for publishing a recent debate which highlights the way “in which the doctors supporting monitoring seem to cherry pick evidence” (Bewley and Braillon 2018). During this debate,…
The undiscussed cost of electronic fetal monitoring…
“In randomised clinical trials comparing electronic monitoring with intermittent auscultation, electronic monitoring increased the risk of caesarean by 63% (relative risk=1.63, 95% confidence interval 1.29 to 2.07). This suggests that, if electronic monitoring had not been used in those 620…
Electronic Fetal Monitoring: Rearranging The Titanic’s Deck Chairs
“EFM was introduced into clinical practice with no instruction manual, no clinical trials, with unrealistic expectations of efficacy, and without clearly defined use parameters. Fifty years of trial and error have not cured its shortcomings. By omission and blindness, BRPOs…
Discussing intermittant auscultation…
Today, I want to share an open access article on intermittent auscultation which I found really interesting, and I rather suspect that many readers of this blog will too, because the problem that the researcher’s work addresses is one common…
Quote of the Month (August 2015): EFM and Murphy’s law
“EFM inventors sidestepped the scientific method and simply branded their machine a success. They failed to question the fundamental principles underlying EFM theory — the nineteenth century myth that asphyxia caused CP. Rather, influenced by twentieth century man’s newfound control…