Questionnaire
The questionnaire was divided into two parts:
The first part included questions about the participant: level of experience, place of work, frequency of use of second-line methods (frequent or infrequent), participation in specific training in physiology-based CTG interpretation and the type of training.
The second part focused on clinical cases. Ten medical records of patients who delivered in our unit and for whom foetal scalp blood sampling (pH) was performed during labour were presented with the following information: medical history, notable events during pregnancy, detailed description of the labour with a partograph and CTG. All presented information was anterior to the decision to perform foetal scalp blood sampling: information about what happened after this decision was hidden from the participants on the partograph and the CTG. For each medical record, the participants were given three options: (i) perform a second-line method, (ii) continue labour without performing a second-line method, or (iii) perform a caesarean section without performing a second-line method.
After completion of the questionnaire, the participants received an email in which the real outcomes (foetal scalp blood sampling, mode of delivery, neonatal status) were presented for each medical record. They could not modify their answers after their completion of the questionnaire.