You have used ST Analysis at your department since 2004. What were your experiences from when you first introduced the method?
When we made the decision to implement ST Analysis, we were very much focused on education and training. Before going live with the method all 160 midwifes and doctors went through theoretical and practical education and became certified Stan users. Right from the start regular sessions for retrospective case discussions have been part of a continuous learning process.
And was the implementation successful?
Yes, very successful. It was worthwhile spending efforts on education already from the start. We believe it reduced the risk of deliveries with adverse outcome due to staff not understanding the methodology or not following the guidelines.
From the start we also created a simple research form, a CRF to register all Stan cases in order to be able to follow-up our performance. We recently published our 5-years results that include over 6,000 high risk cases monitored with ST Analysis.
Over the five years, our usage of ST Analysis increased and was by the end of the study period almost 34 %. The proportion of cord metabolic acidosis cases decreased with 79% over the study period, and at the same time the overall cesarean delivery rate also decreased.
You gave a presentation at the Nordic Congress of Ob/Gyn in June about how you have organised your data collection. Can you tell us about that?
All our Stan monitors are connected to Ethernet, which is the requirement for digital archiving of the recordings. This makes it possible to organise a digital library of Stan recordings for retrospective analysis, education and research. We can find and open any specific recording at any time at any connected hospital computer and look at the file with Stan Viewer software.
For the antepartum observation of high risk patients we use Stan monitors equipped with the STV feature. These recordings are of course stored digitally as well, which simplifies the assessment and signing.
We also use the Stan Viewer Live program, which allows us to look at on-going recordings in real time from any of the hospital computers. When you are called, you can assess the on-going recording from your office within seconds and decide whether to go to the labour ward immediately or not. It has also become easy to discuss on-going recordings with colleagues outside the delivery room. All our staff is very content with these programs which have simplified our work flow considerably.
