QUAIL

This study is now completed. Thank you for your support.

What is QUAIL?

QUAIL (Quality of Anaesthetic Information given for Labour) is an anaesthetic trainee-led audit of labour analgesia and anaesthesia information provision to maternity patients across Greater London.

Why is it being done?

The OAA/AAGBI guidelines from June 2013 state that all women, irrespective of birthing plan, should be given up-to-date, evidence based information on analgesia for labour and anaesthesia for caesarean section. These guidelines recommend that this information is formulated by the obstetric anaesthesia department and is provided to the women during the antenatal period. Feelings of lack of control during labour contribute to a negative birth experience, which has been shown to increase the risk of postnatal depression. As anaesthetists we should be ensuring that the women we attend to on labour ward have been provided with adequate information prior to hospital admission to ensure they have a greater feeling of control over their choices.

The aim of this audit is to determine maternity patient perceptions of the content and quality of information received on anaesthesia/analgesia in labour. This data will be compared against standards set out by the OAA/AAGBI.

When is it happening and how can you find out more about QUAIL?

The audit will involve a survey of recently delivered mothers across London to elicit what information they received and from where during their preparations for birth and whether they feel this was good enough to prepare them for labour. We plan to trial a BYOD (bring your own device) approach to electronic data collection and transfer.

Update: Data collection took place in November 2017, and ran for two non-consecutive days at each site.

QUAIL project lead

• Dr Rebecca Brinkler

• Dr Zara Edwards

• Dr Sonia Abid