Penelope Layton and Nurse Greer Mennella
After many years of advocating and planning, the RBWH’s Maternity Services team has welcomed their new integrated digital foetal monitoring system for pregnant women, FetaLink.
The system allows the team to monitor cardiotocograph (CTGs) both centrally and remotely within clinical and non-clinical locations and provides live visibility to clinicians whilst digitally recording and capturing the CTGs for future access and review.
The project is a joint collaboration between RBWH Women’s and Newborn Services and Digital Metro North, with strong midwifery and medical leadership. Extensive training has since been delivered to midwives, medical officers and administration officers to allow them to champion the FetaLink implementation across the service.
Digital Metro North Maternity ieMR Implementation Lead Marcia Morris said the Women’s and Newborn team are proud to support the use of new and innovative technology in the delivery of clinical care.
“This new service is part of our ongoing commitment to providing the highest standards of safe, quality care to women and their families,” Marcia said.
“The use of this digital technology is a key milestone within Womens and Newborn Services and leads the way for future digital transformation within the maternity setting.”
RBWH Maternity patient Penelope Layton was the first patient to use the new FetaLink system.
“As a long-term maternity patient with daily monitoring with CTG monitors, it has been exciting to see the heartbeat of my twin girls emerge on the big screen in different colours, instead of tracing on paper,” Penelope said.
“The new system adds comfort to the patient experience, with the alarm system connecting directly to the nurse station and detecting potential issues in real time.
“It was great to witness the staff training becoming a reality and to be part of the excitement as RBWH takes another step forward to a digital future.
“It’s going to be a great story to share with my girls when we talk about their pre-birth days at RBWH.”
The improvements in safety for expectant and labouring mums thanks to the new system is substantial. Well done to Team Maternity for a fantastic implementation.