The shifting sands of medico-legal intra-partum Ctg (I-P Ctg) monitoring

Abstract

Intra-partum (IP) surveillance of the unborn child by cardiotacography (CTG) monitoring is the commonest obstetric procedure in the developed world. 1 It is also the most medico-legally contested obstetric procedure in labour. In 2011, ‘birth asphyxia’ comprised 50% of the UK National Health Service (NHS) litigation costs, 2 and in the 2000–2010 decade, the same NHS paid out £3.1 billion for maternity medico-legal claims (the highest of any speciality), mostly involving cerebral palsy and CTG misinterpretation. 3 This article looks at a number of characteristics of IP CTG monitoring which argue for its questionable solidity of base in court proceedings.