Utilized approximately 3.2 million times in 2003 accounting for 85% of all live births and is the most common obstetrical procedure performed in the U.S.
Fetal monitoring refers to the assessment of a fetus’s well-being during pregnancy and labor.
It primarily involves tracking the fetal heart rate, which can provide important information about the baby’s health.
There are two main types of fetal monitoring:
Internal Fetal Monitoring-This method involves placing a sensor directly onto the fetal scalp through the cervix.
This method is usually done during labor when the water has broken.
Internal monitoring provides more accurate and continuous data about the baby’s heart rate.
External Fetal Monitoring: This non-invasive method uses a Doppler ultrasound or external monitors positioned on the mother’s abdomen to track the fetal heart rate.
This is more common during prenatal visits and can be used during labor as well.
Fetal monitoring can help identify potential issues such as fetal distress, allowing healthcare providers to intervene if necessary.
It is an important part of prenatal care, especially for high-risk pregnancies.
Efficacy is controversial and may be responsible for the detecting nonreassuring fetal heart rates and may contribute the escalating Cesarean rate.
Heart rate monitoring during labor attempts to identify fetal oxygen deprivation and related acidosis that results from it anaerobic metabolism in its early stages, allowing medical staff to intervene before hypoxic brain injury occurs.
Certain fetal cardiac rhythms during labor, especially tachycardia, bradycardia, and transient decrease in pulse rate are associated with neonatal depression and central nervous system injury.
Electronic fetal monitoring uses either Doppler wave technology or a contact electrode apply to the fetal scalp to generate a continuous visual recording of fetal heart rate.
Fetal acidosis is associated both with heart rate abnormalities and with a diminished moment to moment fluctuations in rate.