Hi Soo,

1.       At my local trust VE is often performed without referring or recording it on a partogramme i.e. IOL,

2.       Yes, all the elements would be necessary to make a decision whether or not to intervene, I think many places are adhering to 4 hourly VEs which go hand in hand with partogrammes, but this is something that our trust does not always follow, the practitioners look at the whole picture before deciding whether a VE is necessary. Therefore a midwife can be using a partogramme to record FHR, maternal observations, strength of contractions etc but not necessarily VE.

Best Wishes

Onje Yuill

Lecturer in Midwifery

Pilgrim Hospital

Education Centre

University of Nottingham

Pilgrim Hospital

Sibsey Rd

Boston

Lincs

PE21 9QS

Tel: 01205 875062

 

From: A forum for discussion on midwifery and reproductive health research. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Soo Downe
Sent: 02 August 2011 08:34
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: query about the use of vaginal examination in labour and/or the use of the partogramme

 

Dear all

 

We are completing a protocol for a review on the value of the vaginal examination as a measure of progress in labour. We have been advised that the VE is never used without the partogramme (and without attention to all the elements on the partogramme). From our clinical experience, we are not sure that this is the case - we have practical experience of the VE being used as a measure of progress in labour without reference to the partogramme (even where it is part of the routine recording process) but our experience may well be very limited. We would be very interested in your experience in the following areas:

 

1. In your experience, is vaginal examination ever used on its own, without using a partogramme?

2. Where the partogramme is used as a record, are all the elements of it usually used in a decision on whether to intervene?

 

Many thanks for your advice

 

All the best

 

Soo


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