Assessing Women in Pregnancy and Labour: Is it Better to Palpate?
Celi MY MAK Registered Nurse & Midwife, Hong Soo WONG Consultant, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong Traditionally, midwives have used non-invasive ‘hands-on’ assessment skills such as abdominal palpation to assess maternal and fetal condition in pregnancy and labour. It is a quick and accurate assessment tool. Moreover, care and concern could be demonstrated to the women by the ‘human touch’ that accompanies abdominal palpation. However, the increasing utilization of medical technological means e.g. ultrasound (USG) and cardiotocography (CTG) for fetal and maternal assessment has largely replaced the ‘human touch’. Consequently, the practice of abdominal palpation is employed less frequently and the art may be devalued or lost. Identification of midwives’ attitudes, knowledge, practice and confidence in abdominal palpation may help to shed some light to the value of this art at present. In this study, a self-reporting questionnaire was used
