Midwives' attitudes to the use of the cardiotocograph machine

Background. The literature would suggest that midwives' attitudes towards t he use of birth technology are mainly focused around issues of 'trust and d ependence' yet there has been no published research to refute or substantia te these beliefs. Aim. This paper reports on an empirical study that aimed to identify midwiv es' attitudes to technology usage in the labour ward and specifically the u se of the cardiotocograph machine (CTG) for electronic foetal monitoring. Design. A postal survey was conducted and the questionnaire included a 25-i tem attitude scale, which was designed to assess attitudes towards the use of the CTG machine. All midwives (1086) on the United Kingdom Central Counc il register for Northern Ireland were surveyed. The data were factor analys ed and compared using several categorical groupings including age, perceive d skill, prior training with computers and trust in the machines. Results. The results indicate that midwives reject any notion of them being , or becoming, dependent on machines in their practice. However, midwives w ho trust machines are more disposed to their use and trust is affected by p erceived competence. Conclusion. The paper concludes with a recommendation for the future educat ion of midwives to develop and maintain competence based craft skills in na tural birth as well as high-tech birth.