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Midwives' recording of urinary output
The prevalence of urinary incontinence in women has been well documented (1, 2, 3), but several women attending a continence clinic also complained of a feeling of not completely emptying their bladder. It was observed that these complaints tended to come from mothers who had had an epidural anaesthetic during labour, with or without a forceps delivery, and when a Foley catheter had been in situ. It occurred in both primigravidae and multigravidae pregnancies. This pilot study examined the extent of documentation of urinary output, measured by midwives, during labour and in the immediate postpartum period when epidural anaesthesia had been administered. This highly susceptible group of mothers can develop hypotonic detrusor activity, which may go unrecognised unless it has been carefully monitored (4). A sample of convenience, over a two-week period from two maternity units, provided 20 mothers for study. They all had epidural anaesthesia and vaginal deliveries. Two questionnaires with predetermined questions were used to collect the data, one for midwives, the other for the investigator in using patients' records. The results showed that documentation for urinary output during labour was recorded for 60 per cent of the sample, while 20 per cent had urinary output recorded in the postnatal ward. It is suggested that 50 per cent of the mothers could have been discharged home with unrecognised hypotonic detrusor activity.
The prevalence of urinary incontinence in women has been well documented (1, 2, 3), but several women attending a continence clinic also complained of a feeling of not completely emptying their bladder. It was observed that these complaints tended to come from mothers who had had an epidural anaesthetic during labour, with or without a forceps delivery, and when a Foley catheter had been in situ. It occurred in both primigravidae and multigravidae pregnancies. This pilot study examined the extent of documentation of urinary output, measured by midwives, during labour and in the immediate postpartum period when epidural anaesthesia had been administered. This highly susceptible group of mothers can develop hypotonic detrusor activity, which may go unrecognised unless it has been carefully monitored (4). A sample of convenience, over a two-week period from two maternity units, provided 20 mothers for study. They all had epidural anaesthesia and vaginal deliveries. Two questionnaires with predetermined questions were used to collect the data, one for midwives, the other for the investigator in using patients' records. The results showed that documentation for urinary output during labour was recorded for 60 per cent of the sample, while 20 per cent had urinary output recorded in the postnatal ward. It is suggested that 50 per cent of the mothers could have been discharged home with unrecognised hypotonic detrusor activity.