Data about IA
These resources are designed to strengthen the consistency, accuracy and completeness of your routine data collection about IA practice. Resources are also available to support extraction and collection of baseline data to help you monitor implementation of the Listen2Baby Toolkit and improve the quality and safety of IA practice.
Why is this important?
Poor and inconsistent recording of IA and the FHR in women’s notes have been highlighted in confidential enquiries and other investigations into perinatal deaths. Accurate documentation of IA is essential for safe care and effective communication. See our Documenting IA section for more.
Consistent, accurate, complete and timely recording of routine data supports early and appropriate action to improve the safety and quality of IA.
The extraction and use of these data at unit level supports: 1) assessment of the quality and completeness of record keeping; 2) training and quality improvement; 3) the monitoring of progress and evaluation of steps taken to improve the quality and safety of IA.
What Listen2Baby found
We reviewed 115 sets of case notes from seven NHS sites and found wide variation in what was recorded about IA and the quality of the data. For example, just 18% of notes had evidence of a discussion about monitoring. Overall two-thirds of notes had clear documentation of IA every 15 minutes in the first stage of labour. Read more in our Documenting IA section.
Next Steps
- Review, identify and agree on the key routine information to record related to intermittent auscultation (IA)
- Identify gaps and review quality of routine data being collected.
- Make any changes to improve data collection about IA
- Consider additional data collection to help monitor progress
- Regularly feedback to staff in monthly meetings as part of your ongoing review of performance, to inform training, and guide improvements.
- Use audit data to encourage staff and influence positive change
Remember that information gleaned from audits should not be used punitively with staff
Collect baseline information on IA
Do you know the number of women arriving in your unit, who should be offered IA and who have IA at the start of their labour? You may have a good sense, but putting a number to these estimates is powerful.
This information will help:
- strengthen the case to Leadership;
- inform training & professional development;
- support the launch of Listen2Baby, and monitor implementation progress.
We recommend you undertake a prospective audit for your setting over a period of seven days using our Listen2Baby Baseline Audit tool (PDF) or Listen2Baby Baseline Audit tool (Excel).
This study is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)