Patient attitude toward home uterine activity monitoring

Forty private patients using a home uterine activity monitoring system and daily contact with nursing staff (Term Guard monitor and Tokos Perinatal Nursing Service; Tokos Medical Corp., Santa Ana, CA) were surveyed after delivery. Twenty-seven responses (67.5%) were obtained. The majority of the responding patients (81%) felt that the monitor helped their pregnancy and 92% would recommend it to family and friends. Eighty-five percent thought that the monitor and related nursing services would be something that they would use in future pregnancies. No subject concluded that the monitor depersonalized their obstetric care. Forty-one percent of the patients felt that the device was an intrusion into their life-style. Seventy-eight percent thought that the device was beneficial in their understanding of preterm labor and in learning to perceive their own baseline uterine activity. Almost 60% of the subjects noted that the monitor was useful in determining uterine activity because they did not perceive any contractions. Approximately 65% felt that unnecessary trips to the hospital for prolonged monitoring were prevented by the availability of 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week emergency transmission and nurse contact. Nearly three-fourths of the patients felt that unnecessary calls to the physician were prevented by their ability to monitor. In summary, the services were well accepted by the patients and, despite the intrusion into their life-style, most felt that home uterine activity monitoring improved the outcome of their pregnancy.