Self-administered measurement of symphysis-fundus heights

• Background. Antenatal identification of infants small for gestational age (SGA) improves their perinatal outcome. Repeated measurements of the symphysis-fundus (SF) heights performed by midwives is the most widespread screening method for detection of SGA. However the insufficiency of this method necessitates improved practices. Earlier start and more frequent SF measurements, which could be acomplished by self-administered measurements, might improve the ability to detect deviant growth. The present study was set up to evaluate wether pregnant wome can reliable perform SF measurements by themself. Method. Forty healthy women with singelton and ultrasound-dated pregancies from 2 antenatal clinics in Uppsala, Sweden, were asked to perform 4 consecutive SF measureemnts once a week, from 20 to 25 weeks of gestation until delivery. The self-administered SF measurements were recorded and systematically compared with midwives' SF measurements. Results. Thirty-three pregnant women performed self-administered SF measurements over a 14-week period (range 1-21). The SF curves constructed from self-admiinistered SF measurements had the same shape as previously constructed population-based reference curves. The variance for self-admiinistered SF measurements was higher than that of the midwives. Conclusions. Pregnant women are capable of measuring SF heights by themselves, but with a higher individual variance than midwives. Repeated measurements at each occasion can compensate for the higher variance. The main advantage of self-administered SF measurements is the opportunity to follow fetal growth earlier and more frequently.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Matematik -- Sannolikhetsteori och statistik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Mathematics -- Probability Theory and Statistics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Symphysis-fundus measurements

self-administered

intrauterine growth retardation

small for gestational age

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

Obstetrik och gynekologi

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Symphysis-fundus measurements; self-administered; intrauterine growth retardation; small for gestational age

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)