Investigation of midwives' knowledge and opinions about intrapartum ultrasonography

Aim: This study was conducted to find out the ideas and opinions of midwives about intrapartum ultrasonography. Appliance and Method: The study was descriptive cross-sectional and all midwives with experience of working in the delivery room constituted the population of the study and those who agreed to participate in the study (n: 143) constituted the sample. A questionnaire form was created for data collection and made available on Google Forms. In the evaluation of the data, SPSS 20 programme was used and the data were evaluated with percentage distribution and chi-square tests. Findings: Among the midwives who participated in the study, 44.1% were between the ages of 25-29, 77.6% were undergraduate graduates and 72.7% were working within the first five years of their profession. In the delivery rooms where they work, ultrasonography is performed abdominally by 61.8% and used for the evaluation of the incoming part and position by 30%. 81.1% of the midwives stated that ultrasonography was useful in labour follow-up and 95.8% stated that it was useful in the detection of malpregnancy. 88.1% of the midwives stated that they would like to receive ultrasonography training. A significant difference was found between the level of education of the midwives and the statement that it was useful to follow the birth with ultrasonography (p<0.002). Moreover, it has been found a meaningful relationship between midwives' experience year in working and women's satisfaction with the use of ultrasonography (p<0.02). Conclusion: According to midwives who encountered intrapartum ultrasonography in the delivery room, it was found to be useful to follow labour with ultrasonography, to reduce infections, to be useful in caesarean section decision making, to support the protection of privacy and to be comfortable for the woman.