LO
Policy mandateCognitive automation2023-06-01
Labour wards should have a second person review fetal heart traces at least hourly, while computerised analysis is recommended before labour, NHS England's care bundle said
Midwifeoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2023-06-01
Evidence stage
Policy mandateRegulation, subsidy or public procurement is requiring or funding adoption — the mirror of a constraint. It shows adoption is being required, not that it has happened, so one mandate is never enough on its own; two independent ones are.
Tasks this bears on
Antenatal care and risk assessment
Checking the mother and baby through pregnancy, spotting risks such as high blood pressure or reduced movements, and referring when needed.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Monitoring labour
Listening to or tracing the baby's heart rate during labour, reading the trace and deciding when to escalate.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
England. The national maternity care bundle requires all staff who care for women in labour to undertake annual training and competency assessment in fetal monitoring, says a buddy review should be undertaken at least hourly when a trace is used, and asks units to name dedicated lead midwives and obstetricians for fetal monitoring. Before labour, after reduced fetal movements, it says computerised traces are recommended over visual reading because they may reduce human error. More human review in labour, more software before it.
What this means
England's national maternity rules add human checks to fetal monitoring in labour and back software only for checks before labour.
What it does not yet show
A care bundle for England; it does not measure how units comply or how midwives' time changes.
What you can check
Open NHS England's Saving Babies' Lives Care Bundle version 3 and find "at least hourly when CTG monitoring is used".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. Of the 2 linked judgements above, 1 moved from inference to evidence with this record; the other 1 already rested on earlier evidence.
Source
NHS England — Saving Babies' Lives Care Bundle, Version 3 (V3, 1 June 2023) · verified 2026-10-01 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-10-01 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.