In 1980, University of Oxford Professors Geoffrey Dawes and Chris Redman initiated a pioneering programme to computerise the recognition of diagnostic features of electronic fetal heart rate traces before labour. The Dawes-Redman CTG Analysis System represents one of the University’s most successful and long-standing clinical advances, and is widely recognised as the reference standard for the assessment of fetal health during pregnancy.
The system has undergone extensive testing and continual refinement over the last 40 years and supported by over 70 peer-reviewed articles, has a proven level of performance accepted by clinicians worldwide.
The Dawes-Redman antepartum CTG is recommended by NHS England as the best way to assess the fetus before labour. It analyses the fetal heart and measures a number of criteria. These provide a readout of the hypoxic status of the baby since the fetal heart is controlled by the fetal brain.
The requirement for training in the use of CTG has been highlighted by a number of clinical bodies including the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle 2, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch and the Ockendon Report.
The team at Oxford comprising Professor Redman (co-inventor of the Dawes-Redman system), Beth Albert (Director of Dawes-Redman Education) and Manu Vatish (Professor of Obstetrics) have created a bespoke education programme for Dawes-Redman to address these needs This has only been possible by the generous support of Huntleigh Healthcare who have pledged £131,600 over three years.
Prof Manu Vatish commented: "The Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford are extremely grateful for Huntleigh Healthcare's generous donation in support of the educational training programme for Dawes-Redman CTG Analysis."
The virtual training sessions are led by Beth Albert, who is a Lead Midwife/ Manager in the Fetal Maternal Medicine Unit at Oxford University Hospital Foundation Trust. She is a specialist midwife for Dawes-Redman CTG monitoring and the lead for education.
