After more than six decades of research, the value of cardiotocography (CTG) for improving long-term perinatal outcomes has yet to be demonstrated. Nevertheless, it continues to be widely used because of its perceived value as a tool for managing the risks of labour. The potential harms of routine CTG use as a way to reduce risk—resulting in unnecessary interventions based on false positives—remain underexplored. The relative invisibility of the risks generated by CTGs support the view that “they can’t hurt, so we might as well keep using them”. The prevalence of CTG monitoring as a strategy to manage the risks of labour offers an example of how perceptions of risk and risk mitigation can lead to the use of technologies that harm rather than help.