Monitoring high risk pregnancies from their mothers home
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What are the effects of home CTG monitoring on women’s experience of antenatal care?
IRAS ID
320812
Contact name
Alexander Heazell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 5 days
Research summary
Some women who are at increased risk of complications or have already developed complications (such as problems with the baby's growth) need additional monitoring. The baby’s heart rate can be measured and recorded, called cardiotocography (CTG). In the UK this is usually undertaken in hospital. However, it is also possible to record a CTG at home after the mother has been trained to do so. The Dutch HOTEL study and a Danish study researched the safety and outcomes of home CTG monitoring in high risk pregnancies and found that it is as safe as hospital care.
The proposed study wants to look specifically at patient experience of home CTG monitoring in the UK to see whether this new technology improves women’s experience of fetal monitoring.
We will ask women who need regular fetal monitoring, either because of a problem in the current pregnancy or due to previous history e.g. previous stillbirth whether they would be willing to monitor their babies at home rather than attending regular monitoring sessions in hospital.
The study will be conducted at Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the Antenatal Assessment Unit and in the Specialist Research Clinics (that care for women with current and prior complications in pregnancy).
The study will last for up to 12 months. Following recruitment, participating women will be trained in recording the CTG at home and will discuss the outcomes after each monitoring session. The primary outcome is patient satisfaction which will be assessed using two questionnaires, one before monitoring and one after monitoring, and compared to output from the HOTEL study. Our other outcomes include cost-effectiveness and environmental costs.REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/PR/0015
Date of REC Opinion
27 Feb 2023
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion