Screening obstetric ultrasound training for a 5-country cluster randomized controlled trial.

With decreased equipment cost, provision of ultrasound is now feasible in some low resource settings. Screening obstetric ultrasound may identify potential pregnancy complications and with this knowledge, allow women to plan to deliver at the appropriate level of care. In this paper we describe a ten-day course with quality assurance activities to train ultrasound-naive non-physician healthcare professionals at mid-level health facilities to perform screening obstetric ultrasound. Those trained will participate in a cluster-randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of screening obstetric ultrasound on maternal and newborn outcomes.