2020 Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 1_3-1_10
The purpose of this study was to elucidate the development of diagnostic techniques based on pelvic examinations by midwives. Midwifery students and midwives performed pelvic examinations following eight patterns using a pelvic examination simulator. The diagnosis of the five components of the Bishop score and the content of other observations were then investigated and compared in four groups based on the number of delivery care cases: a student group, a group that had provided delivery care in 99 or fewer cases, a group that had provided delivery care in 100‒199 cases, and a group that had provided delivery care in 200 or more cases.
The study participants were 24 midwifery students (37.5%) and 40 midwives (62.5%), among which, 17 were in the group that had provided delivery care in 99 or fewer cases, nine were in the group that had provided delivery care in 100‒199 cases, and 14 were in the group that had provided delivery care in 200 or more cases.
The results showed that of the five components of the Bishop score, the rates of agreement in the diagnosis of “cervical effacement,” “cervical consistency,” and “cervical position” were significantly positively correlated with the number of delivery care cases that had been provided. These findings suggest that diagnostic techniques improve with accumulated experience. At the same time, the results also showed a tendency to become more inaccurate with regard to a diagnosis of “fetal station” as the number of delivery care cases increased. These results are similar to previous reports, indicating the need to elucidate the causes of these trends.
