Fetal welfare IPE improves learning and clinical outcomes

Abstract

Interprofessional education (IPE) or ‘learning and teaching together as a team’ is a relatively new concept for postgraduate maternity professional education. In 2007 work commenced on an IPE program ‘Fetal welfare, Obstetric emergency, Neonatal resuscitation Training (FONT)’. One of the aims of the program was to improve clinicians understanding of fetal heart rate (FHR) pattern interpretation and neonatal outcomes associated with FHR interpretation. In total, 240 clinicians, including obstetricians, general practitioners and midwives were trained as FONT trainers to provide local FONT education sessions in maternity units across the state. A pre-test/post-test study was designed to evaluate the clinicians interpretation of one pathological and one normal FHR pattern. The preand post-test interpretation measured the use of consistent language and assessed the overall ability to interpret the FHR pattern. Neonatal clinical outcomes were assessed using de-identifiedneonatal outcomedata fromtheNSWNeonatal Intensive Care Unit System (NICUS) from Jan 2006 (one year prior to the implementationof FONT) toDec2011. Thedata described thenumber of babies born with an Apgar score of <6 at 5min of age, rates ofhypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) and rates of antenatal and intrapartum stillbirths. Serious adverse events associatedwith FHR pattern interpretation were also determined for the same sixyear period to assess alteration in clinical outcomes. Preliminary analysis shows a 77% improvement in clinicians use of a common language for reporting FHR decelerations in a pathological pattern and a 35% improvement in identification of a normal FHR pattern. Further evaluation of the preand post-test will be ready for the conference. The serious adverse events associated with FHR monitoring and the neonatal outcomes for the years 2006–2011 will also be provided.