What you need to know about CTG paper

Cardiocotography (CTG), is a non-invasive monitoring technique used to assess the well-being of the fetus during pregnancy and labor. It records the fetal heart rate (FHR) and the mother’s uterine contractions. Commonly used in the third trimester of the pregnancy. These two data provide valuable insights into the condition of the fetus, assisting healthcare professionals to make informed decisions for the mother to manage their pregnancy.

The recording and documenting of the fetal heart rate and the uterine contraction is done on the cardiotocography paper (CTG paper). It is a two-graph representation of the fetal heart rate and uterine contractions over time. This paper recording is an important data documentation process for obstetric care.

So, what is the CTG paper used for, and why is it so important?

Purpose of CTG paper

Monitoring Fetal Well-Being: The main purpose of the CTG paper is to record the data on the fetal heart rate so the healthcare professional can monitor, assess and document it for reference. Healthcare professionals look at the fetus’s heart rate and its fluctuation. This is done to detect any abnormalities that could indicate an issue with the fetus’s well-being. One such issue is the lack of oxygen. For more details, read this article.

Assessing Uterine Activity: In addition to monitoring the fetal heart rate, the CTG graph also records data about the uterine contractions. Both fetal heart rate and uterine activity played a role in the well-being of the fetus. Increased uterine contraction could lead to a lack of oxygen provided to the fetus. Identifying it early to come up with a recommendation is important to prevent brain damage to the infant.

Why a good quality CTG paper is necessary for the healthcare industry?

In the healthcare industry, the quality of the CTG paper plays a crucial role in the documentation process. Proper documentation facilitates the healthcare professionals’ work in many ways. The data recorded on the paper is used for accurate analysis to monitor or give recommendations if necessary. From the data, a conclusion and recommendation are formed. This recommendation will also need to be communicated to the mother or other healthcare professionals. Since the care of the patients can go beyond the patient’s discharge from the hospital after the treatments, the data recorded on the graph needs to be long-lasting.

Accuracy in diagnosis & correct recommendation of treatments

To come up with a correct recommendation for treatment, first, an accurate diagnosis is needed. This means the accuracy of the recorded data of fetal heart rate and uterine contraction plays an important foundation for every other work required.  On the CTG paper, there are two types of graphs recorded at the same time, the top looks at the fetal heart. The bottom graph looks at the uterine contraction.

For the data to be accurately presented on the paper, the gridline spacing needs to be precise. The gridline spacing must be accurate to a milimetre. Each big square represents one minute. Healthcare professionals measure the number of contractions and the average fetal heart rate in 10 minutes period. If the squares are inaccurate, it will skew the data and could significantly affect the diagnosis. This is why we manufacture our CTG paper, we take great care to make sure that each gridline is precise. Precise gridline spacing makes sure that each data recorded is accurate within a minute, and this will eliminate inaccuracy in forming a conclusion, especially when the data needs to be looked at over a long time.

Patients History

The data recorded on the CTG paper is not only for analysis to come up with a recommendation. It is also for documentation to serve as a patient’s history during the pregnancy. It serves as evidence of data gathered on the patients’ pregnancies, which could be used as a reference. This requires the recording on the paper to be readable for a long time. It is a regulation in some regions to document a patient’s history for a minimum of 7 years. Knowing the importance of this, we also design our CTG paper to hold onto the image, so it lasts up to 10 years. The paper cannot be compromised by using a cheaper material to produce a cheaper product. For the healthcare industry, the regulation is strict.

Reviewing Data

A long-lasting and accurate CTG graph is a requirement to facilitate the reviewing process. Sometimes the healthcare professional needs to refer to the patient’s historical record to review that the recommendation made was correct for that particular situation, or to come up with the next recommendation based on the previous data. This process could be done years afterwards. So the paper must not only be manufactured in such a way that it is precise, it must also be long-lasting. When formulating our paper, we made sure to choose the material that would last 7 to 10 years. We used a specific type of thermal paper for this in mind. This is more than enough for the strict requirements in the healthcare industry.

Reducing Risk

In an industry that involves people’s well-being, healthcare professionals have to be careful in how they treat their patients. Healthcare mishaps are not unheard of and the effect of it can be very costly and undesirable for both parties. This is why documentation and availability to review the data are important. They are evidence of due diligence. If any further addition or recommendation is required, it is due to the availability to review the accurate data no matter how many years old the data is.

What are some of the common sizes of CTG Paper?

We Manufacture and Export CTG Paper Internationally

Tele-Paper has been manufacturing and exporting medical chart paper, including CTG paper, globally. We manufactured our paper to follow strict healthcare industry guidelines so that the quality is suitable and long lasting. We have many sizes for all machine brands. Visit our product page for more details or click here.