Unborn babies at risk of severe complications identified sooner with new tool

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By Daniel Pye

A digital tool that identifies whether babies are at an increased risk from severe complications as soon as monitoring starts in labour has the potential to support better triage and earlier decision-making, according to researchers in Oxford.

Fit4Labour combines routine cardiotocography (CTG) monitoring with existing clinical information, such as the baby’s gestation and maternal health, to give an individual risk assessment.

It was tested on long-term maternity records in Oxford as well as data from more than 145,000 births in the UK and Sweden. The tool provided an assessment 8 hours on average before birth.

This could create a “valuable time window for better-planned individualised care, rather than a late emergency,” the University of Oxford team said.

Labours identified as highest risk by Fit4Labour were between 2.5 and 8 times more likely to result in severe fetal compromise that those in the lowest group, the researchers found.

The tool has already been used in the care of 90 women at two hospitals, and more than 30 doctors in three other hospitals are conducting usability sessions.