The project mainly performs research about fetal monitoring during labour and birth, in healthy women with low risk of complications.
The aim of intrapartum fetal monitoring is to identify fetuses threatened by asphyxia, and to enable timely interventions to prevent injuries.
Norwegian and international guidelines recommend monitoring with intermittent auscultation in healthy women with low risk for complications, and continuous electronic monitoring in women with high risk for complications.
Intermittent auscultation is the technique of listening to and counting the fetal heart rate for short periods, usually every 15 to 30 minutes.
Through “Needs-Led-Research”, mapping the body of research and current practice including user involvement, and a comprehensive systematic scoping review, we have identified research questions relevant for users, and that will fill existing research gaps within the field.
Our overall aim is to provide more knowledge about intrapartum fetal monitoring in low-risk women, and thereby to a more evidence-based practice.
Participants
More about the project
PhD projects
- PhD candidate Kristin Jerve Aanstad: More knowledge-based practice: Fetal monitoring with intermittent auscultation. Aanstad's PhD project is part of OsloMets' Bridge Building Initiative, where users and healthcare professionals are involved in identifying relevant issues. The project has the following study questions:
- Investigate and map different methods for fetal monitoring during childbirth in Norway in the period 2019–2020. We will also investigate whether there are variations with regard to the type of birth unit, region and the woman's risk status.
- Investigate trends in the proportion of women who are considered to be low-risk births, and who can therefore be monitored with IA, over a 20-year period.
- PhD thesis: Christina Hernandez Engelhart. Intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring; exploring reliability, agreement, and traditional midwifery knowledge. Oslo Metropolitan University: Oslo, 2024.
Master's thesis
- Guro Helen Gresberg Sveen and Karoline Nordby Fremstad, master’s students: "Midwives' experiences with fetal monitoring during labor in women with low risk of complications (low-risk births)" will examine midwives' experiences and thoughts with fetal monitoring of low-risk births.
- Kristin Jerve Aanstad. A national survey of fetal monitoring routines in Norway. A quantitative study. Oslo: OsloMet, 2017.
- Ida Karin Rosset and Kaia Lindahl. A descriptive study on how midwives practice intrapartum fetal monitoring in two maternity units in Norway. Oslo: OsloMet, 2018.
- Karoline Berg and Eirin Øystese Haave. A digital support for midwives when performing intermittent auscultation – Potentials of the app PocketPinard. Oslo: OsloMet, 2019.
- Frederikke Udbye and Kristine Ekelund.Midwives’experiences of using continuous CTG during labour. Oslo: OsloMet, 2023.
- Kjersti Ure Flåte and Monica Sundheim Steinaa. Labour admission test in low-risk labours. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Oslo: OsloMet, 2025.
- Caroline Nydahl and Noemia Campos. Intrapartum intermittent auscultation: cross-sectional study of practice among midwives in Norway. Oslo: OsloMet, 2025.
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Bridge-Building Initiative
The Bridge-building Initiative at the Faculty of Health Sciences aims to establish closer connections between research, education, and clinical practice.
