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Evaluation of midwife’s vaginal examination by virtual reality model

Bulletin of health sciences Kobe

32

17-32

Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe University

2016

2017-03-22

The objectives of this study were to determine the vaginal examination techniques used by midwives through measurements with objective indicators; to determine the relation between midwives' vaginal examination techniques, number of years of work experience, and number of years of providing birth assistance; and to provide basic data for the development of an educational model of noninvasive vaginal examination. The study was conducted on 103 midwives working in hospitals. An actual measurement of five items (Cervical dilatation, position of the cervix, cervical consistency, cervical effacement, and station of the presenting fetal head) involved in vaginal examination was performed by using the first virtual-reality model of vaginal examination developed in Japan. The accuracy rate of the vaginal examination based on the total score was 57.8%. Of the five evaluation items, the “station of the presenting fetal head” had the lowest accuracy rate. No relationship was found between the total scores of vaginal examination techniques, the midwives' clinical experience, and the number of births they had assisted. This study will serve as basis for constructing basic data for practical use in an educational system for the learning and mastery of diagnostic skills.

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